This is the Porsche concept car that they’ve managed to keep under the wraps so far while other Geneva debuts like the new Cayenne were prematurely leaked. It will debut alongside the Cayenne and the 911 GT3 R Hybrid on Porsche’s Geneva stands.

The 918 Spyder reminds us of the Carrera GT and thanks to its hybrid powertrain, it can hit 100km/h in under 3.2 seconds. It can also do the Nurburgring in less than 7 minutes and 30 seconds, which Porsche says is faster than the original Carrera GT! Even with these impressive figures, Porsche claims an average fuel consumption of just 3 litres per 100km though you’ll use far far more than this when you are really gunning it as hard driving isn’t factored into ‘combined fuel consumption’ driving behavior.

The car is built on a modular monocoque bodyshell made of carbon reinforced plastic as well as magnesium and aluminum. Thanks to that, curb weight is only 1,490kg, despite having to carry the entire hybrid system. That’s a lot of stuff there – the combustion engine which will no doubt be large and powerful since this is a performance car, and then we also have the batteries and the multiple electric motors.

The hybrid powertrain in question combines a 9,200rpm redline high revving V8 producing about 500 PS together with electric motors on both the front and rear axle. The motors produce a combined output of 218 PS. Peak combined output from all the power sources is 718 PS. Rear wheels are driven by the V8 and an electric motor through a 7-speed Porsche PDK dual clutch transmission, while the front axle’s electric motors drive the wheels via a fixed transmission ratio. These motors get their power from a liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery mounted behind the passenger cell, which seats two by the way.

The car can work in four different modes. In Hybrid mode, the 918 Spyder uses both the electric motors and the combustion engine but shuts either off depending on conditions, just like a regular series-parallel hybrid like the Prius. The Sport Hybrid mode turns on both electric and V8 power all the time, with most of the drive power going to the rear wheels. There is also torque vectoring so power is distributed well between the left and right wheels. In Race Hybrid mode, both power sources also work together, but there is also a “push to pass” button that feeds in extra power for overtaking. Finally, the E-Drive mode allows the car to move on electric power only up to 25km.

Look after the jump for three initial hi-res photos they’ve released.

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