918 Spyder Slays Nurburgring in 7:14

Whoa now. Even in it’s prototype stage, the 918 Spyder is stepping on toes at the Nurburgring Nordschleife by claiming a lap time of 7:14. Ring times might not mean much to the average driver, but times are a semi-accurate way of judging a car’s capabilities. For reference, Porsche’s last super car, the Carrera GT lapped the Nordschliefe in 7:28. That’s hilariously fast. But if Porsche is to be believed, the 918 is in the company of the Nurburgring Edition LFA. That’s the only other production car to break the 7:18 barrier on street tires.

That just goes to show that power is only part of the equation. That’s not to say that it’s lacking in that department, however, as the 918 is expected to have somewhere around 770 hp. The real question is if it was using street tires to get that time. Dodge’s ACR is faster on track compounds, but the LFA was able to do it with street tires too. There’s really no reason to think they haven’t been using production considering the attention to detail that Porsche has poured into this car. After taking into account it’s power, weight, and other technology, we’d be surprised if it didn’t approach the Gumpert Apollo’s 7:11 on track rubber.

The 918 is shaping up to be the ultimate expression of Porsche’s racing heritage. Not only is it ridiculously fast around the Nordschliefe, but you can also drive around with Martini’s iconic livery as well. That era might’ve passed on, but the spirit that drove it certainly hasn’t.

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