Following the first press drive event for the 918, Porsche now confirms the official technical specifications of its new hyper car. On paper, the 918 Spyder has already lost the battle to the McLaren P1 and the LaFerrari. But the Germans have a habit of underrating themselves to fool the adversary!

The Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid hyper car has three motors. The gasoline-powered one comes from the LMP2 race car and is mounted in the middle, making 608 horsepower. Then there are electric motors, on on each axle. The one at the back makes 154 hp and the one on the front makes 127 hp. That is a combined output of 887 horsepower and 940 lb.-ft. of torque.

As you know, both the P1 and LaFerrari make well over 900 horsepower, and as a result they are much quicker than the 918. All three will do 0 to 100 km/h (60 mph) in 2.8 seconds, there and thereabout, but to the Brit and the Italian are way faster than the German to 300 km/h (186 mph). The Porsche is over 5 seconds slower.

The 918 also seems unnecessarily complicated. It is in essence a rear-drive car with bespoke PDK transmission, but the front axle has its own gearbox for driving the front wheels (decoupled from 146 mph). Then there is the weight of the electric motor and the battery pack, and then the 5-way adjustable driving mode system.

The driving mode system offers a fully-electric mode called E-Power with a range of up to 18 miles, a Hybrid mode in which the petrol engine and the electric motor work alternately with a focus on maximum efficiency, a Sport Hybrid mode in which the petrol engine is constantly on with the electric motors engaging briefly for added boost, a Race Hybrid mode which is like the sport hybrid with a different setting for the PDK, and finally the Hot Lap mode, activated via a dedicated button, in which everything is focused on maximum performance.

We do hope that after Porsche sold all 918 units of this hybrid sports car they release an ‘unplugged’ version without all the electronic nonsense we mentioned above. A lightweight 918 – which would weigh 1,100 kg compared to the Spyder’s 1,600 kg – with only the V8 engine and no hybrid stuff is a much more desirable car than these spaceship. This thing has 55 different ECUs for crying out loud!

UPDATE: New pictures for your viewing pleasure: