Porsche 918 Spyder

After just under two years of production (21 months to be exact) the final Porsche 918 Spyder has been built. The hybrid supercar that permanently owns the production car lap record at the Nurburgring (more on this a bit later) is capable of over 65 mpg or it can lap the famed track in 6 minutes and 57 seconds.

The 918 is a technologically advanced car that showcased advances that we’ll likely see in future sports cars. It was also the first of the hybrid supercars to make its debut and it helped ignite competition between itself, the McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari for making the best of the next generation of supercars.

Click past the jump to find out more about the last 918 Spyder and what the future holds (or scroll down if you came directly to the full article).

The mid-engined V8 powered high performance machine with top facing exhaust pipes cost just under $1 million. For that price, as you would expect, the build quality is top notch and fine materials are used throughout.

As I said earlier the hybrid holds the permanent production car lap record at the Nurburgring. The reason for this is not that future cars could not be faster. No, it is because the track recently announced that they will no longer be keeping lap records. So, baring them changing their mind in the future, it is guaranteed to hold the record.

Technology, such as the hybrid system used in the 918 Spyder will be the basis for future sports cars. It is very likely that within the next five to ten years that the 911 will have a hybrid that has performance figures very close, if not better, than the 918. In the future it will be looked back at the same way that the 959 and Carrera GT are now, as a showcase of what future cars will be like (at least future cars that aren’t considered pure supercars).

But now that the 918 Spyder has reached the end of the line what is next? Will Porsche be creating a new supercar?

If rumors are correct then they will be making a new exotic car that will sit in the lineup above the 911. However, this machine will not replace the 918, instead it would bridge the gap between the 911 lineup and the 918 Spyder (if it was still in the lineup).

Rumors have this new mid-engined sports car competing against the Ferrari 488 GTB and the McLaren 650S. As such expect for the price to be in the $250,000 range and it will likely have a V8 power plant that could be turbocharged. Speculation has the higher performance machine being called the 913, but much is still unknown. However, it is expected that it could debut later this year, so keep your eyes open for it.

The 918 Spyder is a huge step forward in a world with more strict government regulations for fuel economy. It is one of the first cars to show that we can have it all. A machine with gas mileage that would make a Prius owner jealous and performance to rival the best in the world. The bar that has been set is very high, but expect for more affordable sports cars to continue to get closer to it over the next few years. None the less, the 918 gives us hope that incredible supercars are not a thing of the past.