Luke Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 That's what put me off a 918, the recalls. I decided on a Vauxhall Vivaro instead. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 Much as I love the 599gto and 458 speciale and think the 918 is the greatest of the hyper cars. It's Wopps 991 turbo S that I covert the most. One would fit my life so nicely. Hands off - it's mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 Dare I ask....what's the mpg like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipex Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 (edited) My pick of Wopps cars would have to be the GTO. Much as like the rest of them, that's the one for me, the 458 is a bit common (in Ferrari terms), 911's don't interest me at all, and the 918, epic as it is, doesn't really float my boat as an ownership proposition. There is just something a bit special about the GTO. Edited May 26, 2015 by Tipex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calm Chris Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 For the avoidance of doubt, if any become available then I'm not fussy I saw what you ate, I can confirm that. Then neither was I or the Mudder woman thing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calm Chris Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 Dare I ask....what's the mpg like? According to the net about 12 miles when running on the AAA battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 Not sure I could pick a favourite among Woppum's stable. GTO or 918 but the Turbo S holds a very strong attraction, possibly that it is the only one I might own in reality. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdiesel Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Have you seen the EVO vid of Jethro lapping Anglesey in the Turbo S. It beats the speciale time and gets pretty close to the 918. Impressive for such a usable car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woppum Posted May 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 I am sorry, the car is epic & I will never even ever afford to get anywhere near one, and I hate to sound off, but that interior! It just looks like Porsche have loaded a blunderbus with dials & switches & pulled the trigger to decide where to put them! I think maybe it looks better in the carbon? I think it's best interior of any car I have ever seen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarMad Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 I think it looks great, also its hard to appreciate what its like without sitting in the driving seat and seeing how you interact with it as you drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woppum Posted May 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 I did a little review on the other forum you may be interested in : Well it's about time I get my first impressions of the 918 down. I have deliberately been biting my tongue so far because I don't want to make any premature judgments. The car was a lot of money and for this reason it could be very easy to persuade yourself it is the best thing ever. In fact with any car it's very easy to say whatever you own at that particular point is the best, 'xxxx' for example is the biggest culprit of this and of course it's impossible to take anything he says seriously because of it I will do my best to be impartial and straight forward. Firstly I must say thank you to the previous owner, he really did do a good job of speccing it for me with my busy schedule it really was impossible to spec the car myself. I don't think there is really anything I would change. The seats are alcantara/leather mix and this is defiantly my preferred choice as they hold you in place better and it's nicer to the touch. The only issue is because the 918 is a convertible, on those occasions you do get caught out in the rain - leather you could simply wipe off, alcantara may mark ? Just something else to manage. The rest of the car is really spot on. I'm very glad he didn't spec the WP pack, really not a fan to be honest and in London, my underground car park just something to go wrong. The standard wheels in my eyes are just the best looking wheels on the planet. I remember thinking when the concept car came out there is no way they will get anyway near them for production... Well they did and to me they look like the posh ones not the BBS type ones. I better move on now before Baf calls me a demented **** again ! Next point to mention is just how impressed I was with the set up at Reading. Stuart Jenkins and Andy Keywood instantly made me feel like one of the family. I have their mobile numbers and after the most enjoyable and informative handover ever I was told to call them no matter how trivial the question. I can tell already I'm going to really enjoy this relationship in exactly the same way as I do with Paul from Guildford. Over the years I have been lucky enough to have the pleasure of managing relationships with Ferrari, Rolls, Bentley, Maybach etc etc but nothing comes close to the level of service I know I am going to get with these guys from Porsche Reading/Guildford. Seriously impressed. I suppose I better start talking about the car now.... Since collecting from Doug I have covered about 350 miles and used 2 tanks of fuel. A tank is 60ltrs FYI which suggests as you would expect drive it hard and it will drink... But drive it normally I believe it will do over 50mpg ! Those of you familiar with Porsches PDK boxes may know that the computers that work the shifting in auto mode are so clever that they know better than you how and when to change. In the 918 the ring time was actually done in auto mode I believe and Porsche actually say for the fastest times keep it in auto. In manual mode the box is not as aggressive or responsive as the box in the Speciale. It's not as quick witted. Now thinking about it as I type I wonder if it's partly the electric torque that accentuates this issue. There is a way around it and that is to hold on to gears for longer, Rev till about 4-5k in each gear and you get more power from the engine to offset the electric torque and the changes I think are sharper and crisper plus the noise is miles better. With 300bhp on tap all the time through the battery you can be in any gear, floor it and you shift like nothing I have ever experienced. This is an odd feeling, and it is not a naturally aspirated one because you can both hear and feel the electric motors at work. For example in a conventional engine you have to wring it's neck to be in the power band in this as you start accelerating from zero rpm you go from lots of battery power/minimal engine power (and noise) to the exact opposite. It makes your job as a driver very easy but the feeling is a little synthetic or false. There is a big however though because once you hit maybe 3k (out of 9k) the noise kicks in and the synthetic feeling is gone, it feels n/a it bellows the most guttural noise all the way to 9k. With the roof down it sounds really mega actually, but I do wish it made some more noise lower down. I'm going to have a word with Andy about whether the valves can be opened or something but I'm sure that would not be advisable and I'll just get used to it. Considering the power and the torque I'm flabbergasted how well the car puts its power down. There is no fuss at all and the car stays so flat, so composed. You can take corners at speeds where I think the Speciale or even turbo would be be starting to scrub but the 918 is on rails, almost magnetised to the road. The steering is heavy but with zero slack and so accurate. It is a bit dead at low to normal speed, where the spaz will be dancing around in your hand the Porsche feel numb. When you start to push on though it starts to weight up nicely with load. I'd like to try it on a track like silly and see how it feels because on the road it's just too fast to get anyway near its limits. It's a fun car to drive 100%, but despite its crazy power it's ultra civilised and controlled, it's not neurotic puppy with add like the spaz - not an issue just different... The car gets a lot of attention, but I wouldn't say more so than the Speciale. Because it's black it's less shouty I suppose, however it looks like nothing else on the road and people either don't know what it is or they do know and then are party to just how special the car actually is. It's super cool in a way no other hypercar is, because it's stylish and in a way understated. He quality inside and out is just first class. I have never seen another car this well put together. It really feel very special and I'm pleased I have bought it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdiesel Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Great write up. Looking forward to hearing more. Have you used the car in pure EV mode? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_C Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 You appear to have a giant as a passenger! Small world - the last pic was taken by Graeme H who I have met a few times via RS246 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woppum Posted May 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 You appear to have a giant as a passenger! Small world - the last pic was taken by Graeme H who I have met a few times via RS246 Yes he is a car spotter from London but total car nut and really good chap (yournotmyfather on IG), I thought it would be nice to offer him a ride on Sat...trouble is he is 6'8 so lucky I had the roof off ! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woppum Posted May 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Great write up. Looking forward to hearing more. Have you used the car in pure EV mode? Yes it's amazing ! Took my out for a ride in it last week. She said it was like a milk float lol ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Yes he is a car spotter from London but total car nut and really good chap (yournotmyfather on IG), I thought it would be nice to offer him a ride on Sat.. Good on you. I like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Man, you have ALL the fun Wopps. I bet your mum secretly hoped you'd floor it. Mine did first time in the ML500 - so she got her wish in the C63. (Not quite the same league though p.d.q. for a Novocastrian housewife and mum). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woppum Posted May 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Good on you. I like that. Thanks, I'm a big fan of sharing the passion. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdiesel Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 So. The 918 is stunning and such an amazing piece of tech. How long do you guys think it will be till a) the tech will be available ( I know plug in hybrids are available now but the systems and calibration and hardware are a step apart on the 918) on mor affordable cars. And b) how long till a level of performance approaching the 918 is available in say an M3 level motorcar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woppum Posted May 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 (edited) So. The 918 is stunning and such an amazing piece of tech. How long do you guys think it will be till a) the tech will be available ( I know plug in hybrids are available now but the systems and calibration and hardware are a step apart on the 918) on mor affordable cars. And b) how long till a level of performance approaching the 918 is available in say an M3 level motorcar. Good questions and ones that I thought about too.First of all the the battery tech in the 918 is so advanced it is said that it will not be replaced for a very long time.orsche warrant the battery for 7 years. The P1 by comparison uses much cheaper and lower powered battery tech with inadequate cooling (hence all the issues). Rumour has it the next gt3 RS in 3-4 years will have an n/a engine and 918 battery technology. The engine in the 918 alone will be worth more than that car and the styling and performance will not be surpassed by Porsche for at least another 10 years. Like the CGT, they will never bring out a direct replacement and it it will firmly mark a milestone in Porsches history. In terms of performance it is so much faster than anything else on sale. My Speciale feels half as quick (if that). An m3 being this quick is 10+ years away.... Maybe 20 Edited May 28, 2015 by Woppum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarMad Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 I can see the next M5 having some of the hybrid tech coming from the i8 to move the game on. Toyota still have one of the best and most integrated solutions for mainstream cars and are selling that to other manufactures. Add it into a good road car without the need to push MPG so much and head for performance and thing could get interesting. I could see the likes of the new Bentley GT getting some big hybrid solution that could make that quite interesting. More and more of the high end luxury customer are actually looking for economy but still keep the performance. They said that was quite a big push when I met with them people no longer excepted very low MPG and sod the cost anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woppum Posted May 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 I can see the next M5 having some of the hybrid tech coming from the i8 to move the game on. Toyota still have one of the best and most integrated solutions for mainstream cars and are selling that to other manufactures. Add it into a good road car without the need to push MPG so much and head for performance and thing could get interesting. I could see the likes of the new Bentley GT getting some big hybrid solution that could make that quite interesting. More and more of the high end luxury customer are actually looking for economy but still keep the performance. They said that was quite a big push when I met with them people no longer excepted very low MPG and sod the cost anymore. I agree with all of what you have posted. The thing is there are many different types of hubrid systems. The Prius, 918, P1 and Laf all have a different way of attacking the problem of performance vs economy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdiesel Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Given an e30 M3 did 0 to 60 in 7 seconds and the f80 takes 4.2. I would say 30 years to get downe to the 2.6 or what ever the 918 number is would be realistic. Though that would mean 4wd as 3 seconds plus is the traction limited 2wd limit. I think it will take longer to approach the high speed performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_C Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 MRCs 500 bhp B8 S4 clocked 3.1 seconds at GTI international iirc several years ago. Cars getting lighter again, smaller lighter engines with forced induction and more torque, incredibly fast double clutch gearboxes, and increasingly large wheels have hammered down 0-60 times over the last few years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Without any increase in power a dual clutch box is gonna save about 0.5secs. That's a big jump. It also means that manufacturers don't have to play with silly gearing to do 60 with the least number of gear changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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