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Porsche 918 Spyder - Superhybrid
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Porsche has been associated with racing cars for years and one of the proofs stands next to me.
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This is Porsche RS Spyder that has successfully competed in many races, for instance in 24h Le Mans.
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However, as we all know, there are numerous Porsche cars with sports pedigree on the roads as well.
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Among them there's the 959, a groundbreaking car from the eighties.
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There's also the Carrera GT, the car that has brought a revolution to the supercar world back in 2003.
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And then, there is a new car we're going to test today. This is Porsche 918 Spyder.
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At Porsche they have one great thing about them. Every time they say they do something that's the best in the world, they allow us to try it out.
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And this is what we're going to do today...
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In Poland this car costs 4 million Zlotys, equivalent to nearly one million Euro and yet there are five people in our country that have decided to buy it.
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Of all 918 cars Porsche has sold slightly more than a half so far.
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You operate this car with a conventional key.
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You put it in the ignition and turn waking up all the electric systems on board this Porsche and there are a lot of them.
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Let me get back to it a bit later.
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So, shall we start it?
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That's it! The car is running.
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I mean, all the electric motors are working now.
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The combustion engine is still asleep somewhere behind my back, but I hope to wake it up in a moment and hear it working at full revs.
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We're leaving in electric mode.
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Never in my life have I entered the race track from the paddock without the assistance of a combustion engine.
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I feel a bit like an underground train operator.
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We switch the dial twice to the right to activate the Sports mode and finally the V8 comes alive behind me.
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Yes! This is it!
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I can catch up with the 911 GT3 driven by a racing driver without any effort.
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This is Timo Kluck!
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The steering is electrically assisted but you don't feel this at all.
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There's nothing artificial to it, nothing we know from other cars with similar mechanism.
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The braking pedal is a bit dead and some might find it irritating.
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It's not natural because in a car that has both combustion and electric motors that you can operate separately
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there is always a forced resistance on the brake pedal and here you can feel it.
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But apart from this...
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That's fast!
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I can't say too much right now as I'm too busy driving this car but this is just incredible!
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One electric motor up front, one electric motor in the back and this petrol V8 engine that produces over 600 horsepower.
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Altogether this powerplant produces nearly 900 horsepower!
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I can see how Timo is struggling wit his 911 GT3 trying very hard to stay in his racing line
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and I feel I could reach out my hand and touch him here.
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I haven't done 6500 laps on the Nürburgring in various Porsche cars as he has.
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I actually do not have to reach for the paddles to change gears
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because this seven speed double-clutch PDK gearbox does this job for me,
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especially when it comes to downshifts.
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Look, we are trying to catch this 911 and we can do it so easily!
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Get out of my way!
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The ESP system intervenes only when the situation is critical and it does not cut in any earlier.
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I could feel a little of oversteer right now.
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Let's go!
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We are now pushing the red button, named hot lap to make one quick round on the circuit.
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It is even faster now! All the power from the engines has been released.
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My god! If he has not been driving in front of me, I would have never gone so fast on this corner.
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Now the electric motors act as a kind of special boosters. They try to release the maximum power.
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O mother...
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You can feel that ESP breaks in even later now and allows the rear to slide much more.
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Incredible!
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This is unbelievable! Go!
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I'm speechless, I simply am speechless but the emotions are incredible.
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Again, the rear a bit oversteery.
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I have to tell you that this feeling is terrific, absolutely terrific.
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Even some racing cars, and I say it with full responsibility, do not drive so good on the race track like this Porsche 918 Spyder.
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Look, we have Porsche 911 GT3 in front of us, a car that is basically a racing machine allowed to be driven on public roads.
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And despite this, even though there is a professional racer driving it, he couldn't escape us.
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I'm absolutely impressed, hugely, hugely impressed by this car.
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And I'll tell you one thing. I'm already jealous about those five guys who bought this car in Poland.
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I hope that one day they will have a chance to come to a race track like this and try the potential of their cars to the maximum.
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But to do this you need a guy like this in front of you.
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Without this the driver or the owner of this 918 will never be able to use the full potential of their car. This is incredible!
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My heart is racing.