GTP Cool Wall: 2013+ Porsche 918 Spyder

[White & Nerdy]

You do realise that driving a car this fast involves kicking in a 600-horsepower V8 engine? And the whole idea of the electric part of the drivetrain is that aside from further boosting performance, it's most effective when not driving fast? So doesn't actually go against your blinkered assumptions of what a supercar should be in the first place?

This one is more about principle. Seems to me the whole point is so that car-hating liberals with a lot of money (actors and politicians) can have their cake and eat it too.

I'd defy anyone not to drive hard after seeing the 918 review vids on the internet. Sadly, W&N seems to think that all hybrids are created to an equal, low standard and driven in the same manner.

Honestly, with me it'd be easier to find a car I wouldn't drive hard, but I get the feeling most of the people who buy this will leave it in pansy mode when they drive it at all.

How is caring about our future uncool? Surely you must care about your future, it's the responsible thing to do.

You do know the global warming people cooked the books quite thoroughly, right? And that the earth has been significantly warmer in the past, when we weren't burning nearly as much fuel?

Correct me if I am wrong, but car enthusiasts are quite boring to non-enthusiasts, are they not? I'll even admit that my enthusiasm about automobilia is rather uncool.

No, we're just too cool for average people to understand.

But I'm not so set in my enthusiasm to where I believe progress shouldn't be made in the way we travel. Walking and biking are all around more favorable to me for traveling short distances (3-5 miles for walking, 5-10 for biking).

That's a bit much on both counts. Maybe a mile for walking and three miles for biking, but in either case I'll probably try to combine it with another trip so I have an excuse to drive.

In short, it is considered cool to be an anti-enthusiast.

There must be a lot of liberals where you live, because here no one seems to have a problem discussing cars. I once brought up my car while working, and a customer who just happened to be walking through mentioned that he had a straight-piped Cavalier 2.8 once and it sounded totally cool. Reason #2,000,000 Alaska is a cool place.

It doesn't take an anti-enthusiast to buy an environmentally friendly car. I would buy one.

Pretty, isn't it?
That is the Fisker Surf. 100% electric, and 100% enthusiast friendly. Sure, you won't hit 200MPH in it, nor does it run on powdered kitten faces, but it is certainly cool.

I hesitate to call any full-electric or series-hybrid car enthusiast-freindly on any level. One, no noise (unless it's a series hybrid and the generator kicks in, which will probably make CVTs sound cool). Two, single forward speed. Three, extremely short range when being used hard, plus long recharge times. Four, you look like someone who uses a lot of Apple products.

True enthusiasts don't need speed to enjoy a car.

But they do need computerized GPS/infotainment and heated leather everything.

Yeah right!

And that's why supercars are almost invariably uncool.

No, that's why they're cool. Liberals are some of the least cool people on the planet, so cars that annoy them are cool.

As for your trendsetting, I can think of something a lot cooler. The Bugatti Veyron, which started the top speed wars and makes no apology for being rated in GPM instead of MPG. That's cooler than any "environmentally freindly" hypercar ever will be.

 

[Kent]

Just the fact you think the veyron started the top speed wars says so much more about you than your post.

Being on a tablet Im going to stop there but that post is so full of crazy I'm starting to think you arent trolling and you really believe your own rhetoric.

 

[Azuremen]

TIL "liberals" aren't human beings worth talking to, apparently.

Can we just ban someone for being profoundly ignorant already and move on with the Cool Wall and, well, the rest of this Automotive section in general.

 

[McLaren]

No, that's why they're cool. Liberals are some of the least cool people on the planet, so cars that annoy them are cool.

As for your trendsetting, I can think of something a lot cooler. The Bugatti Veyron, which started the top speed wars and makes no apology for being rated in GPM instead of MPG. That's cooler than any "environmentally freindly" hypercar ever will be.

Except the Veyron also caters directly to those people who want all those fancy features you so deeply despise, so it's not any cooler than the electric cars you rant about....

 

[White & Nerdy]

Just the fact you think the veyron started the top speed wars says so much more about you than your post.

Being on a tablet Im going to stop there but that post is so full of crazy I'm starting to think you arent trolling and you really believe your own rhetoric.

Of course there had been high-top-speed cars before - McLaren F1, Koenigsegg, et al. But the Veyron took it to another level entirely and inspired Shebly Supercar to try and claim the crown for America, which they did. Then Bugatti hit back with the Veyron SS, and now we have the Henessy Venom GT as well, plus Koenigsegg trying to get back in the game with the Agera R, which they were claiming at one point could go 273 MPH. The Veyron turned a pile of smoldering embers into a blaze.

 

[niky]

The McLaren F1 wasn't even made to do speed records. The speed record attempt was done when they realized it was aerodynamic enough and powerful enough to attempt one.

This one is more about principle. Seems to me the whole point is so that car-hating liberals with a lot of money (actors and politicians) can have their cake and eat it too.

Call us about principle when you get rid of your consumer-friendly appliance and buy a motorbike.

Honestly, with me it'd be easier to find a car I wouldn't drive hard, but I get the feeling most of the people who buy this will leave it in pansy mode when they drive it at all.

Just like the people who buy Veyrons. Except those who trailer them cross-country because they don't want to get them wet. Which is seriously, uncool.

You do know the global warming people cooked the books quite thoroughly, right? And that the earth has been significantly warmer in the past, when we weren't burning nearly as much fuel?

When it was fifty degrees out and dinosaurs ruled the Earth? Quite.

No, we're just too cool for average people to understand.

First rule of cool. If you call yourself cool, you're not.

There must be a lot of liberals where you live, because here no one seems to have a problem discussing cars. I once brought up my car while working, and a customer who just happened to be walking through mentioned that he had a straight-piped Cavalier 2.8 once and it sounded totally cool. Reason #2,000,000 Alaska is a cool place.

Hm. Have you ever met a living, breathing liberal? I mean... are you sure they exist? Just a hypothetical question. And did you check to see if they had hemp underwear and unshaven armpits? I mean, the armpits are a dead giveaway. Or so I hear. I've never met one of these mythical beings myself.

I hesitate to call any full-electric or series-hybrid car enthusiast-freindly on any level. One, no noise (unless it's a series hybrid and the generator kicks in, which will probably make CVTs sound cool). Two, single forward speed. Three, extremely short range when being used hard, plus long recharge times. Four, you look like someone who uses a lot of Apple products.

Wait, wait... let's fix this...

I hesitate to call any old school muscle car enthusiast-freindly on any level. One, they sound like tractors. Two, just three forward speeds. Three, extremely short range when being used hard, plus long refueling times. Four, you look like a seventy year old rancher.

I'm here all night, folks.

No, that's why they're cool. Liberals are some of the least cool people on the planet, so cars that annoy them are cool.

Let's not forget, they smoke weed, promote gay marriage and contribute to the decay of western civilization.[/irony]

As for your trendsetting, I can think of something a lot cooler. The Bugatti Veyron, which started the top speed wars and makes no apology for being rated in GPM instead of MPG. That's cooler than any "environmentally freindly" hypercar ever will be.

The Veyron was a car built specifically to meet exacting engineering and luxury standards.

It was built with enough user-friendliness that octogenerians could drive it.

It was built to be utterly reliable.

It was built with enough leather and infotainment to amuse rich owners in traffic.

And it looks like an egg.

Sounds an awful lot like a Prius, doesn't it?

Now, if you started of with the F1 or the F40, maybe... but the Veyron? A car built specifically to cater to the "my car is better more expensive than yours" billionaire coffeeshop crowd?

 

[Bopop4]

But the Veyron took it to another level entirely

F1 beat the previous record by almost 30mph.
Veyron beat the F1 by 13.

F1 held the record for 12 years, in a time when the record was broken on an almost yearly basis.

Saying that the Veyron took it up to another level is like saying that the F-100 took it up to another level against the F-86.


That just shows a lack in the very basics of car enthusiasm, which falls in quite nicely to your..."other" tastes.

 

[White & Nerdy]

The thing is, no car until the Veyron had so many improbable numbers swirling around it. 250+ MPH, 1,000 horsepower, four turbochargers on a 16-cylinder engine. People had indeed fought back and forth for years, going 190 MPH, then 200, then 220, and then the F1 shut them all up with its 240MPH run, while Koenignegg built car after car with just a couple MPH on it... and then Mr. Piech said "ain't that just adorable?" and handed his engineers what they thought was an insane assignment. But they did it and, instead of shutting everyone else down like the F1, it became the new target.

So while it may not have started the top speed wars, it definitely restarted them.

 

[Encyclopedia]

Liberals bla bla bla liberals bla bla bla.....

You really like that word don't you?

 

[homeforsummer]

Seems to me...

but I get the feeling

Here we have one of the major problems with everything you write.

Everything you say is based on assumptions and virtually all of those assumptions have no basis in reality. It's just the way you think the world works. The stupid thing is, you won't even see the bright side in things like this - preferring to assume the 918 is driven by rich hippies rather than enthusiasts based entirely on its hybrid drivetrain - because you have a massive inferiority complex and negative attitude, and you'd much rather be right about things than happy about things.

The bad news for you is that you're neither right, nor happy. Though I suppose being wrong and unhappy might make you happy anyway, so who knows.

I hesitate to call any full-electric or series-hybrid car enthusiast-freindly on any level. One, no noise (unless it's a series hybrid and the generator kicks in, which will probably make CVTs sound cool). Two, single forward speed. Three, extremely short range when being used hard, plus long recharge times. Four, you look like someone who uses a lot of Apple products.

And once again, you speak entirely on assumption.

I'd be surprised if you've even set foot in a hybrid or electric car of any type, let alone driven one for any distance. And yet you have this big picture built up in your head of what they're like to drive. Guess what? It's also wrong.

Fun story: Tesla Motors has spent most of the last year battling state dealer associations across the country in court. Tesla sells cars straight from the factory using shops, rather than using a third party dealer. Third party dealers are worried people will like this rather than having to talk to sleazy salesmen so they're fighting Tesla's desire to sell in their own manner.

Dealer bodies are quite big, powerful organizations. Tesla isn't. Yet each time there's a hearing of any sort, Tesla brings along a car and lets the politicians, democrat and republican, have a bit of a go. Regardless of political slant, they all love it. That's because a car like the Model S has nothing at all to do with fabricated images of what a hybrid or electric car should be like and everything to do with it being a great car. So far, the majority of states where there's been a legal battle have swung Tesla's way. Most people are smart enough to realise it's a great car and that its buyers love not being hassled by salesmen and being at the mercy of dealer service.

Again, this also seems to hinge on your limited definition of "enthusiast-friendly", too. Which is dubious at best.

 

[Kent]

In 92 or 93 the McLaren F1 was doing 231 (though it may have been 241mph)

For the veryon to hit those speeds 20, almost 30 years later is by no mean taking it to another level.

If anything, the veryon was showing just how badly the car industry hit a brick wall of physics between now and then.

Again, if you think the Veyron really did something to start the top speed race you are a fool.
The top speed race has been running since before my grandparents were born (which was apparently at least 20 years before yours being that I'm 32 y/o).
To only get 30 or 40 mph over the Mclaren F1 after almost as many years is nothing near a new level imho.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

In 92 or 93 the McLaren F1 was doing 231 (though it may have been 241mph)

For the veryon to hit those speeds 20, almost 30 years later is by no mean taking it to another level.

If anything, the veryon was showing just how badly the car industry hit a brick wall of physics between now and then.

Again, if you think the Veyron really did something to start the top speed race you are a fool.
The top speed race has been running since before my grandparents were born (which was apparently at least 20 years before yours being that I'm 32 y/o).
To only get 30 or 40 mph over the Mclaren F1 after almost as many years is nothing near a new level imho.

Whoa whoa kent I love your post but as a man born in 1990 I'm no where close to be 30 yet, don't speed up my age friend. Everything else I agree with, and I don't think the industry hit a brick wall, I think they stopped thinking outside the box and just oriented toward the everyday man.

If there is one thing Bugatti and Pagani have the likes of saying is that they've made every back yard car tinker and major developer want to push more for speed before they no longer can. Other than that, they didn't revolutionize anything really that hadn't already been done aftermarket wise or production side. Not to be rude but do you touch the sauce White & Nerdy cause these ludicrous rage filled rants have me worried as the frequency begins to occur on a level prior to you being banned before.

 

[Bopop4]

Plus they had to use 4 turbos and an army of pistons to do it.

Double the power for another 20-30mph, "efficiency".

 

[Kent]

Whoa whoa kent I love your post but as a man born in 1990 I'm no where close to be 30 yet, don't speed up my age friend. Everything else I agree with, and I don't think the industry hit a brick wall, I think they stopped thinking outside the box and just oriented toward the everyday man.

If there is one thing Bugatti and Pagani have the likes of saying is that they've made every back yard car tinker and major developer want to push more for speed before they no longer can. Other than that, they didn't revolutionize anything really that hadn't already been done aftermarket wise or production side. Not to be rude but do you touch the sauce White & Nerdy cause these ludicrous rage filled rants have me worried as the frequency begins to occur on a level prior to you being banned before.

Lol never been banned.

Moreover, when you are older you might appreciate that the top speed game is age old, as old as the car itself.
The rate of technological and mechanical progression over the last 100 years is well known and to see cars go from striving to hit 200mph, then 240, then 260 doesnt make me stand in awe of the ten radiators it takes for the vayron to make it happen.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Lol never been banned.

Could have sworn White and Nerdy was banned or I saw his name on the list but whatever.

Moreover, when you are older you might appreciate that the top speed game is age old, as old as the car itself.
The rate of technological and mechanical progression over the last 100 years is well known and to see cars go from striving to hit 200mph, then 240, then 260 doesnt make me stand in awe of the ten radiators it takes for the vayron to make it happen.

Yes it is amazing.

 

[Kent]

Could have sworn White and Nerdy was banned or I saw his name on the list but whatever.



Yes it is amazing.

Thought you meant me.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Thought you meant me.

Nope

 

[homeforsummer]

Plus they had to use 4 turbos and an army of pistons to do it.

Double the power for another 20-30mph, "efficiency".

Quite. For further comparison:

Engine required to hit 1000hp in the Veyron: Eight litres, four turbos, 16 cylinders.
Engine required to hit ~900hp in the 918: 4.6 litres, no turbos, 8 cylinders, two electric motors.

I actually quite like the Veyron, but in engineering terms the Porsche interests me far more. It's very obviously doing almost as much with a hell of a lot less. That's before you get to the fact it's 500 lbs lighter despite all the electric kit and even sounds a whole heap better too.

And whatever W&N thinks, I still find it cool that you can slink around town in the Porsche using no gas and causing less pollution and noise than the most miserly city car. I simply don't find it very cool to waste your hard-earned gas money sitting in traffic when it could be much better used going quickly.

 

[LancerEvo7]

Reason #2,000,000 Alaska is a cool place.

Reason #2,000,001: The temperature. *badumtish*

I voted sub-zero for the reasons everyone's already gone over.

 

[Cano]

Reason #2,000,001: The temperature. *badumtish*

👍

 

[OriginalCheezIt]

This one is more about principle. Seems to me the whole point is so that car-hating liberals with a lot of money (actors and politicians) can have their cake and eat it too.



Honestly, with me it'd be easier to find a car I wouldn't drive hard, but I get the feeling most of the people who buy this will leave it in pansy mode when they drive it at all.



You do know the global warming people cooked the books quite thoroughly, right? And that the earth has been significantly warmer in the past, when we weren't burning nearly as much fuel?



No, we're just too cool for average people to understand.



That's a bit much on both counts. Maybe a mile for walking and three miles for biking, but in either case I'll probably try to combine it with another trip so I have an excuse to drive.



There must be a lot of liberals where you live, because here no one seems to have a problem discussing cars. I once brought up my car while working, and a customer who just happened to be walking through mentioned that he had a straight-piped Cavalier 2.8 once and it sounded totally cool. Reason #2,000,000 Alaska is a cool place.



I hesitate to call any full-electric or series-hybrid car enthusiast-freindly on any level. One, no noise (unless it's a series hybrid and the generator kicks in, which will probably make CVTs sound cool). Two, single forward speed. Three, extremely short range when being used hard, plus long recharge times. Four, you look like someone who uses a lot of Apple products.



But they do need computerized GPS/infotainment and heated leather everything.

Yeah right!



No, that's why they're cool. Liberals are some of the least cool people on the planet, so cars that annoy them are cool.

As for your trendsetting, I can think of something a lot cooler. The Bugatti Veyron, which started the top speed wars and makes no apology for being rated in GPM instead of MPG. That's cooler than any "environmentally freindly" hypercar ever will be.

To all of civilization, I sincerely apologize for these unfortunate examples of American sterotypes. Please do not allow it to affect your judgement on I, nor any other decent citizen of the United States.

 

[White & Nerdy]

Like I said, I guess the Veyron only restared the TS wars. Definitely something though. After more than a decade with the McLaren as king, the Bugatti got everyone interested again.

 

[Kent]

Like I said, I guess the Veyron only restared the TS wars. Definitely something though. After more than a decade with the McLaren as king, the Bugatti got everyone interested again.

You really don't get it.
I'm sorry but I just don't relate to anything you say.
You say the Verwrong restarted the TS wars but before you said the veyron started them. You say the veyron got everyone interested again... That just says you weren't interested during that time... Do I need to supply manufacturers who were trying to get TS out of cars between F1 and Veyron dates?

More importantly, can I make you understand how "over-doing" it mechanically is not cool.
Like the way you are crazy about hating electronics yet stand by the veyron... Throw enough money...

Btw, you didn't say the veyron Restarted anything.
You said the veryon started it... Not right.

 

[Roger the Horse]

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

So much troll feeding going on here. The 918 is cool.

 

[McLaren]

In 92 or 93 the McLaren F1 was doing 231 (though it may have been 241mph)

For the veryon to hit those speeds 20, almost 30 years later is by no mean taking it to another level.

If anything, the veryon was showing just how badly the car industry hit a brick wall of physics between now and then.

Again, if you think the Veyron really did something to start the top speed race you are a fool.
The top speed race has been running since before my grandparents were born (which was apparently at least 20 years before yours being that I'm 32 y/o).
To only get 30 or 40 mph over the Mclaren F1 after almost as many years is nothing near a new level imho.

Between then & now wasn't just a brick wall of physics, imo. The economy took a huge dive & a $1 million car definitely wasn't on anyone's priority list. Nearly everyone that had a supercar not under Ferrari or Lamborghini lost major sales in the early-mid 90's. By the time everything had recovered & Bugatti had set forth the idea, it still took them 7 years (if you date back to when the idea started; 4 to finally begin work on it & 2 to finally produce it) of engineering feats to get it. I think that's what puts it at a new level, though, not just its speed.

If there is one thing Bugatti and Pagani have the likes of saying is that they've made every back yard car tinker and major developer want to push more for speed before they no longer can. Other than that, they didn't revolutionize anything really that hadn't already been done aftermarket wise or production side. Not to be rude but do you touch the sauce White & Nerdy cause these ludicrous rage filled rants have me worried as the frequency begins to occur on a level prior to you being banned before.

Bugatti actually did. The Veyron accomplished speed, power, reliability, luxury, & accessibility in 1 package. Most cars sacrifice something on that list & almost none actually have a warranty standing behind it. It's getting close to a decade since the Veyron's introduction to the world & we still haven't seen anything do everything it does. I think Koenigsegg has come very close, but the reliability & accessibility of it has never been truly shown.

Quite. For further comparison:

Engine required to hit 1000hp in the Veyron: Eight litres, four turbos, 16 cylinders.
Engine required to hit ~900hp in the 918: 4.6 litres, no turbos, 8 cylinders, two electric motors.

I actually quite like the Veyron, but in engineering terms the Porsche interests me far more. It's very obviously doing almost as much with a hell of a lot less. That's before you get to the fact it's 500 lbs lighter despite all the electric kit and even sounds a whole heap better too.

I think the 2 are technological marvels in their own right when you look at what they bring to the table & had to overcome to do it. I do agree the Porsche though, is far more interesting considering the old myth that hybrid supercars may never work.

 

[Azure Flare]

I don't know how W&N calculates the results, but it looks like another car I nominated will be named Cool.

 

[Bopop4]

I don't know how W&N calculates the results, but it looks like another car I nominated will be named Cool.

sz=2
c=1
m=0
u=-1
su=-2

Add them all together, divide by number of votes.

 

[TheBook]

Currently it's at 0.86, which puts it in the high end of Cool, right between the SRT Viper and Citroen DS.

 

[DeathSmiles]

Relevant to our discussion.