**The Porsche 918 Spyder: A Hypercar That Defies Expectations**

When it comes to hypercars, two names that often come to mind are McLaren and Ferrari. However, there's another player in this exclusive club that's worth mentioning - the Porsche 918 Spyder. In a recent comparison test on the same track with the McLaren P1, we got to experience firsthand what makes the 918 so special.

**A Closer Look at the Porsche 918**

The 918 Spyder is a four-wheel drive car with torque vectoring on the front axle, making it a formidable opponent on the track. But despite its impressive specs - 887 horsepower and 900 Nm of torque - it's not as light as some of its competitors. Weighing in at 1634 kg, this chunky hypercar may not have the same level of agility as the P1 or LaFerrari, but Porsche has a reputation for making its power go further.

**The Engine: A Symphony of Sound and Performance**

One of the standout features of the 918 is its V8 engine, which screams with delight on the track. The throttle response is impeccable, and the instant torque delivery makes it feel like you're glued to the floor. But despite this impressive power output, the 918's four-wheel drive system gives it an edge in terms of traction and adjustability.

**A Heavier, More Agile Car?**

Compared to the P1, the 918 feels heavier on the track - there's more steering weight, and a higher center of gravity. But don't let that fool you - this car is a joy to drive. The engine sounds incredible, and the gearbox is one of the best we've ever experienced. The brakes are superb as well, with regenerative braking adding to their effectiveness.

**A Prop Monster on the Track**

The 918's four-wheel drive system gives it a unique edge on the track. It can still slide in corners, especially when you're pushing hard and using fourth gear. This adjustability is crucial in making the most of the car's performance capabilities. And let's be honest - who needs less traction than this? The P1 may have been seen as the more exciting option before, but with this level of grip, the 918 is definitely up there.

**The McLaren P1: A Worthwhile Challenger**

But despite its impressive performance on paper and track, the 918 still has a way to go. In contrast, the McLaren P1 is light, agile, and ridiculously fast - a testament to the British brand's expertise in building high-performance cars. We tested the P1 with a set of Pirelli Trofeo R tires, which improved its performance even further.

**A Battle for Supremacy**

The two hypercars faced off on the track once again, this time with a clear winner - the McLaren P1. The 918 was close, but it just couldn't quite keep up with the P1's incredible pace. However, as we pointed out earlier, the Porsche had a few advantages of its own, particularly in terms of traction and adjustability.

**The Verdict**

At the end of the day, both cars are incredibly impressive in their own right. The numbers may not matter so much - it's the experience that counts. Both cars make you feel alive on the track, with every turn pushing you to your limits. And when it comes to on-road performance, the Porsche 918 edges out its competitor. Still, this argument could go on forever - after all, which car is better? The P1 or the 918?

**A Love Letter to Hypercars**

Let's be honest - there's just something special about hypercars that sets them apart from other cars. There's an excitement, a thrill, and a sense of exclusivity that comes with owning one. And when you get behind the wheel of these incredible machines, it's like nothing else matters. They're not just cars - they're experiences. We're privileged to have had the chance to drive both the Porsche 918 Spyder and McLaren P1 on launch day, and we can't wait to relive those moments again.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthere's no question that the McLaren P1 has blown the minds of everyone who's experienced it but then again how couldn't it its combination of a 3.8 L twin turbocharged va8 and electric motor produces a combined 93 horsepower at 75,000 RPM and 664 LBT at 4,000 RPM and all that pushing just 1395 kilos and McLaren say it produces 600 kilos of downforce at 160 mph when in its Optimum race mode when it was launched they also said it would be the fastest superc car around a racetrack any racetrack we're at angle seat to experience the p1's mindbending capabilities and to see just how fast this hyper car is compared to Mere supercars against the watch so today is the day that I finally gets drive a McLaren P1 and uh I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to driving this car which has won the most hpe and praise amongst everyone who's driven it so I'm expecting really really great things okay it's an English summers's evening we've got a racetrack to ourselves and miraculously it's dry which I'm really really pleased about we're at angle SE now this is sort of our new home circuit absolutely gorgeous place but we haven't lapped many cars around here the quickest thing we've done is a Ferrari 458 Special Ferrari turned up with seven sets of tires Engineers race driver Etc it was the best speciality you could ever imagine with the best prep the best tires and all the time you throw at it this is a bit different we're on slightly ragged tires we're on the P0 cors and not the trao which are the really grippy tire and we've got about three laps just to have a go so this is not an Optimum lap but it's a chance to feel what the p1's all about feel how much it moves the game on even above something like a special so a quick reminder about this car 3.8 V8 twin turbo 700 60 y horsepower plus the Electric boost so we got 93 horsepower pushing 1490 dripping wet so this thing is fearsome properly properly piercing it's also got a ton of down Force monster aono carbon brakes and it's got a track mode which we're in which low as the car it's not road legal it gives it the ultimate Arrow setup let's just say it is designed for places like this I've just not sure I'm designed to drive a car as quickly as this thing wants to go okay but before we get down to the lap time what what is this thing like what does it do to your senses get it on a track you turn everything up and everything off it blows your mind I think it's fair to say the performance is unbelievable and there's so much grunt to unstick the tires and the crazy thing is but it does it on the exit of Corners 4K corners and the tires just keep spinning it's really drivable but you need to have your wits about you it's a proper thing so what's amazing I guess people have talked about the torque fill a lot which stops any turbo like I have to say you still wait for the turbo sometimes but the car is so drivable you can just tune it around this is a little track there you go waiting for the turbo and then they come in it's just everything comes out so quick in this car it's got the quality in the controls that you can cope with it over steer all whatever it's doing it's just Wicked it's absolutely Wicked fun as you can tell the P1 has the ability to make you feel like a superhero and is overwhelmingly exciting to drive quickly disappointments well there aren't many although the engine note sounds amazing on video inside the car you lose some of the v8's Bassy anger and get lots of Turbo flutter and whoh instead it's dramatic but somehow a bit industrial and the torque field just hasn't quite got the grunt to completely mask the heavily turbocharged engines delivery but that a 93 horsepower hypercar is so drivable so playful and so confidence inspiring seems almost miraculous so to the lap time recorded before all the sideways stuff of course the P1 feels Sensational but and I almost hesitate to say this doesn't quite have the grip I expected perhaps angle SE isn't a fast enough track to feel the downfalls truly come to life perhaps the P0 corses couldn't quite deliver the response that the chassis and arrow wanted but the P1 pushed into under steer on Turnin on virtually every corner even the long fast right-hander that should have hinted at some of the true Arrow potential in terms of corner speed it edged The Benchmark Ferrari 458 Speciale but not by the margin you'd expect even so breaking later carrying just a shade more speed and accelerating so much more quickly it records a 112. 6 1.6 seconds f faster than a speci Al with full technical support a mountain of tires to chew through and two days to chip away at each sector so the P1 sets a mighty time but the real achievement with this car is that it's so much fun to drive on the circuit and that it makes over 900 horsepower feel entirely exploitable it is a breathtaking car but I guess it's hard to judge that achievement without another hyper car to drive alongside it now if only we could find one okay so we're back by brilliant coincidence the very next day in the Porsche 918 spider same track same conditions and it's the same deal really we got no Engineers here to help us we got one set of tires Mitchell and Pilot Sport cup two so a stickier tire but of course on paper the 918 should not be as quick as the McLaren it's got 887 horsepower plays 9003 but crucially it's 1634 kilos this car with a bcec pack so it is a chunky thing compared to the P1 or LaFerrari but Porsche has a habit of making its power go further this car is of course four-wheel drive it's got torque vectoring on the front axle it's just a very clever car if that sounds clinical don't for a minute think that it is because the V8 screams and it sounds so much better than the V1 and the throttle response is better despite that torque fill on this car na plus all that electric power and it's it's just got instant throttle response so how does it feel on the track well for a start it feels heavier than the B1 there's no doubt about that there's more steering weight you feel like you're sitting higher the center of gravity is higher of course it hasn't got the trick suspension that can lower it down for that race mode but it feels fabulous I love the engine the gearbox is absolutely the brakes are superb as well these got regen these brakes the ma doesn't but you barely barely notice it it really is defined by the motor and the traction and I'll tell you what it feels every fit as fast as the V1 I don't care what the numbers say hit is a prop monster and we're privileged to drive this on the launch it was very controlled here we can do what we want which means quite a lot of that and we can discover what the balance of this thing's like and it's wicked the four-wheel drive you might think that sounds a little less exciting than something like the P1 but it's got real adjustability and it's got so much grunt you can still slide it fourth gear corners and it will slide on the exit it's fun it's fun this car and it's fun like I said whatever the outcome two absolutely fantastic cars totally different in feel but created by people who just love cars love engineering you love giving drivers the options wooho to just play with the car I love this this is proper this is proper so far from the poor relation in this new world of the hyper car the 918 feels right on the pace his 4.6 L V8 is so sharp and when combined with a much bigger hit of electrical assistance and the P1 the result is incredible imagine the response of a 10 L V8 in the low and mid-ranges but the centilating top end of a high compression race engine with a rev limit of 9,000 RPM now add in the best twin clutch gearbox I've ever experienced massive stability total traction and yet real adjustability and the combination is well a massive headache for the lighter more powerful McLaren out of nowhere it records a 112 .4 and it feels like there's much more time to come given a few more sessions and a bit of tire pressure tweaking the 918 arrived on a truck with no technical support no spare tires but Porsche was right to be confident what a car that's not quite the end of the story though McLaren agreed with us that the pzero courses can't quite live with the demands put upon them on track by the P1 sophisticated chassis and massive Arrow so they delivered another P1 a few weeks later this time fitted with P0 trao R Tires the weather was kind again and the P1 set another lap time and this time it felt more like the car I'd read and heard so much about still exploitable but now with so much more grip at the front and much improved traction too just check out the fury and control of this car at full noise oh w in the end and on these super sticky tires the P1 decimates its previous lap time and that of the 918 setting a 111.2 of course this argument could go on forever and probably will but having experienced these cars the ultimate numbers somehow seem less important they're intense exciting mind scrambling and magnificent me it sounds so good more importantly they immerse and involve the driver despite all the technology they make 900 horsepower seem entirely reasonable in fact 918 or P1 well on the track the McLaren edges it but out on the road the porsch feels more exciting and more polished I'd sell my soul to relive these days again and again for once the cliche is true it really does not get any better than this for more videos like this subscribe to the Evo channel if enough of you do you never know Ferrari might even agree to give us a La Ferrari to put round angle C2there's no question that the McLaren P1 has blown the minds of everyone who's experienced it but then again how couldn't it its combination of a 3.8 L twin turbocharged va8 and electric motor produces a combined 93 horsepower at 75,000 RPM and 664 LBT at 4,000 RPM and all that pushing just 1395 kilos and McLaren say it produces 600 kilos of downforce at 160 mph when in its Optimum race mode when it was launched they also said it would be the fastest superc car around a racetrack any racetrack we're at angle seat to experience the p1's mindbending capabilities and to see just how fast this hyper car is compared to Mere supercars against the watch so today is the day that I finally gets drive a McLaren P1 and uh I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to driving this car which has won the most hpe and praise amongst everyone who's driven it so I'm expecting really really great things okay it's an English summers's evening we've got a racetrack to ourselves and miraculously it's dry which I'm really really pleased about we're at angle SE now this is sort of our new home circuit absolutely gorgeous place but we haven't lapped many cars around here the quickest thing we've done is a Ferrari 458 Special Ferrari turned up with seven sets of tires Engineers race driver Etc it was the best speciality you could ever imagine with the best prep the best tires and all the time you throw at it this is a bit different we're on slightly ragged tires we're on the P0 cors and not the trao which are the really grippy tire and we've got about three laps just to have a go so this is not an Optimum lap but it's a chance to feel what the p1's all about feel how much it moves the game on even above something like a special so a quick reminder about this car 3.8 V8 twin turbo 700 60 y horsepower plus the Electric boost so we got 93 horsepower pushing 1490 dripping wet so this thing is fearsome properly properly piercing it's also got a ton of down Force monster aono carbon brakes and it's got a track mode which we're in which low as the car it's not road legal it gives it the ultimate Arrow setup let's just say it is designed for places like this I've just not sure I'm designed to drive a car as quickly as this thing wants to go okay but before we get down to the lap time what what is this thing like what does it do to your senses get it on a track you turn everything up and everything off it blows your mind I think it's fair to say the performance is unbelievable and there's so much grunt to unstick the tires and the crazy thing is but it does it on the exit of Corners 4K corners and the tires just keep spinning it's really drivable but you need to have your wits about you it's a proper thing so what's amazing I guess people have talked about the torque fill a lot which stops any turbo like I have to say you still wait for the turbo sometimes but the car is so drivable you can just tune it around this is a little track there you go waiting for the turbo and then they come in it's just everything comes out so quick in this car it's got the quality in the controls that you can cope with it over steer all whatever it's doing it's just Wicked it's absolutely Wicked fun as you can tell the P1 has the ability to make you feel like a superhero and is overwhelmingly exciting to drive quickly disappointments well there aren't many although the engine note sounds amazing on video inside the car you lose some of the v8's Bassy anger and get lots of Turbo flutter and whoh instead it's dramatic but somehow a bit industrial and the torque field just hasn't quite got the grunt to completely mask the heavily turbocharged engines delivery but that a 93 horsepower hypercar is so drivable so playful and so confidence inspiring seems almost miraculous so to the lap time recorded before all the sideways stuff of course the P1 feels Sensational but and I almost hesitate to say this doesn't quite have the grip I expected perhaps angle SE isn't a fast enough track to feel the downfalls truly come to life perhaps the P0 corses couldn't quite deliver the response that the chassis and arrow wanted but the P1 pushed into under steer on Turnin on virtually every corner even the long fast right-hander that should have hinted at some of the true Arrow potential in terms of corner speed it edged The Benchmark Ferrari 458 Speciale but not by the margin you'd expect even so breaking later carrying just a shade more speed and accelerating so much more quickly it records a 112. 6 1.6 seconds f faster than a speci Al with full technical support a mountain of tires to chew through and two days to chip away at each sector so the P1 sets a mighty time but the real achievement with this car is that it's so much fun to drive on the circuit and that it makes over 900 horsepower feel entirely exploitable it is a breathtaking car but I guess it's hard to judge that achievement without another hyper car to drive alongside it now if only we could find one okay so we're back by brilliant coincidence the very next day in the Porsche 918 spider same track same conditions and it's the same deal really we got no Engineers here to help us we got one set of tires Mitchell and Pilot Sport cup two so a stickier tire but of course on paper the 918 should not be as quick as the McLaren it's got 887 horsepower plays 9003 but crucially it's 1634 kilos this car with a bcec pack so it is a chunky thing compared to the P1 or LaFerrari but Porsche has a habit of making its power go further this car is of course four-wheel drive it's got torque vectoring on the front axle it's just a very clever car if that sounds clinical don't for a minute think that it is because the V8 screams and it sounds so much better than the V1 and the throttle response is better despite that torque fill on this car na plus all that electric power and it's it's just got instant throttle response so how does it feel on the track well for a start it feels heavier than the B1 there's no doubt about that there's more steering weight you feel like you're sitting higher the center of gravity is higher of course it hasn't got the trick suspension that can lower it down for that race mode but it feels fabulous I love the engine the gearbox is absolutely the brakes are superb as well these got regen these brakes the ma doesn't but you barely barely notice it it really is defined by the motor and the traction and I'll tell you what it feels every fit as fast as the V1 I don't care what the numbers say hit is a prop monster and we're privileged to drive this on the launch it was very controlled here we can do what we want which means quite a lot of that and we can discover what the balance of this thing's like and it's wicked the four-wheel drive you might think that sounds a little less exciting than something like the P1 but it's got real adjustability and it's got so much grunt you can still slide it fourth gear corners and it will slide on the exit it's fun it's fun this car and it's fun like I said whatever the outcome two absolutely fantastic cars totally different in feel but created by people who just love cars love engineering you love giving drivers the options wooho to just play with the car I love this this is proper this is proper so far from the poor relation in this new world of the hyper car the 918 feels right on the pace his 4.6 L V8 is so sharp and when combined with a much bigger hit of electrical assistance and the P1 the result is incredible imagine the response of a 10 L V8 in the low and mid-ranges but the centilating top end of a high compression race engine with a rev limit of 9,000 RPM now add in the best twin clutch gearbox I've ever experienced massive stability total traction and yet real adjustability and the combination is well a massive headache for the lighter more powerful McLaren out of nowhere it records a 112 .4 and it feels like there's much more time to come given a few more sessions and a bit of tire pressure tweaking the 918 arrived on a truck with no technical support no spare tires but Porsche was right to be confident what a car that's not quite the end of the story though McLaren agreed with us that the pzero courses can't quite live with the demands put upon them on track by the P1 sophisticated chassis and massive Arrow so they delivered another P1 a few weeks later this time fitted with P0 trao R Tires the weather was kind again and the P1 set another lap time and this time it felt more like the car I'd read and heard so much about still exploitable but now with so much more grip at the front and much improved traction too just check out the fury and control of this car at full noise oh w in the end and on these super sticky tires the P1 decimates its previous lap time and that of the 918 setting a 111.2 of course this argument could go on forever and probably will but having experienced these cars the ultimate numbers somehow seem less important they're intense exciting mind scrambling and magnificent me it sounds so good more importantly they immerse and involve the driver despite all the technology they make 900 horsepower seem entirely reasonable in fact 918 or P1 well on the track the McLaren edges it but out on the road the porsch feels more exciting and more polished I'd sell my soul to relive these days again and again for once the cliche is true it really does not get any better than this for more videos like this subscribe to the Evo channel if enough of you do you never know Ferrari might even agree to give us a La Ferrari to put round angle C2\n"