Porsche is paying homage to its Le Mans 24 Hours-winning 917 racing car from 1971 by covering its
918 Spyder sports car prototype in Martini Racing livery. The car has been lapping the Nürburgring-Nordschleife circuit in Germany recently, with a development goal of lapping it in under 7 minutes and 22 seconds.
Martini Racing and Porsche have made a new deal that will see the Martini Racing livery available exclusively on the production versions of the 918 Spyder. Martini was the Porsche factory team's official racing partner between 1973 and 1978. The livery has been wildly popular on the 917 race cars, as seen below. Martini colors and logos also appeared on Porsche's 908, 917, 935, 936 and various 911 RS or RSR race cars throughout the years. Martini is a brand of Bacardi & Company Limited of Switzerland.
The 918 is a hybrid, using a 4.6-liter, 570-horsepower V8 engine and two electric motors, one for each axle. The rear motor is rated at 121-horspower, while the front makes 107. The combined power output is 770 horsepower, while the NEDC fuel consumption rating is expected to be nearly 3L/100km (about 78.4MPG). The car is said to reach a top speed of 93mph on electric power alone, or 202mph otherwise. It can also accelerate to 62mph from a dead stop in under three seconds, Porsche claims. Its electric range is said to be 15.5 miles.
The 918 Spyder also uses a carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) construction. The aerodynamics are said to be fully variable and a two-piece targa roof is in place as well.
