Top Gear may be the first magazine to bring together all three of the new hybrid hyper cars for a thorough test and review, but this is the first head to head track battle between two of them recorded on film. This is McLaren P1 v Porsche 918 at the beautiful Anglesey circuit in England, and Evo’s Jethro Bovingdon is your adjudicator.
Granted, lap times, top speed, and acceleration figures are meaningless numbers and they are not going to change how you feel about any of these cars. But you can’t deny it is so exciting. McLaren P1 v Porsche 918 is like Arsenal v Man United, Shaq v Kobe, God v Satan!
Of course, you all know about the specs of these cars, but just to recap, McLaren P1 has a 3.8 liter twin-turbo V8 engine with an E-motor where the starter usually goes. Together they generate a smooth 916 PS and enough torque to allow the P1 accelerate like a V2 rocket. Porsche 918 Spyder, however, has a naturally-aspirated V8 which is gets from the RS Spyder race car and it benefits from a couple more E-motors than the P1. Despite that is has less power at 887 PS and is more of a road car than a full-on racer.
