One: a Le Mans-winning race car from the late 1960s. The other: a 21st century hybrid supercar meant to change perceptions of what electric motors could do for performance. Are they even comparable? Scott Evans drove both—yes
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MotorTranscript
00:00 (car engine roaring)
00:03 (upbeat music)
00:11 I'm Scott Evans and I'm here in Sonoma Raceway
00:17 with an incredible car, the Porsche 917.
00:21 This is a huge car for Porsche
00:23 because this is the one they built
00:24 to take on the best in the world.
00:26 And in the early 1970s,
00:27 they beat Ford and Ferrari at Le Mans.
00:29 Now the thing to understand about the 917
00:31 is that this was the first car Porsche ever built
00:34 that combined their experience with lightweight,
00:37 nimble cars and big giant engines needed to win at Le Mans.
00:41 This car is a 1970 short tail.
00:44 It's got a 5.4 liter flat 12 engine
00:46 that makes 600 horsepower.
00:48 Top speed, over 220 miles an hour.
00:51 Later 917s would gain turbochargers
00:53 and make over 1200 horsepower.
00:56 After so much racing success in the 1970s,
00:58 the owner of this car returned it to Porsche
01:00 where it became a development car for decades
01:02 and a VIP race car taxi.
01:05 And today I'm gonna drive it.
01:06 (car engine roaring)
01:10 Then there's this, the 918 Spyder.
01:16 Just one digit away from that Le Mans winning 917
01:20 and the modern Le Mans winning 919 hybrid.
01:24 It has a lot more in common with that modern Le Mans car,
01:26 but the spirit is still the same.
01:28 There's a high revving naturally aspirated V8
01:30 mounted right in the middle.
01:32 That's actually related to Porsche's LMP2 race motor.
01:34 Once integrated with two electric motors
01:36 and a seven speed dual clutch transmission,
01:39 it's a modern supercar that you can drive every day
01:42 that also does 220 miles an hour.
01:44 In addition to supercar performance,
01:46 the 918 was designed to prove that hybrids can be fast
01:49 because of their batteries and electric motors,
01:51 not despite them.
01:52 After my laps in the 917, I'll jump into the 918
01:55 and describe the ways in which it is
01:57 and is not that car's successor.
01:59 (car engine roaring)
02:02 It's awesome.
02:19 I mean, I was really worried that on these race tires,
02:20 we were gonna get out here and on this cold track
02:23 and it was gonna be kind of skatey and everything else,
02:25 but obviously we were going at very safe speeds
02:28 because this is a museum car,
02:30 we're not trying to set any records here today,
02:33 but it felt great.
02:33 I mean, it really had a ton of grip at these speeds, right?
02:37 And felt really good out there.
02:39 It was actually surprisingly easy to drive.
02:42 The brakes were great, didn't have to use them too hard,
02:44 didn't have to, it was just mostly just figuring out
02:47 where the gears were 'cause yeah,
02:49 first and third are kind of close together
02:51 and third's a little farther over than you think
02:53 and second's way back over here,
02:55 so it's kind of long throws,
02:56 but once I had that figured out, we mostly had it right.
02:59 (car engine roaring)
03:02 Heading onto the track in the Porsche 918 Spyder,
03:05 we've just come out of the 917
03:07 and well, I couldn't talk to you
03:08 while I was driving that one
03:10 'cause I couldn't hear myself, much less anyone else.
03:14 But the first thing you notice getting into the 918 here
03:17 is, well, that I don't have to shift it.
03:19 This thing has this incredible Porsche PDK dual clutch
03:23 gearbox that is, I think, just as clever as I am
03:28 and probably more so to the point where when I brake
03:33 and think about I need another gear, it's already there.
03:37 You know, by street car standards,
03:38 this incredible V8 engine is very loud,
03:43 but compared to a 917, not bad at all.
03:49 I don't even need earplugs for this one
03:51 and yet I will bet that this car is probably quicker
03:55 than the 917 and the reason I say that
03:59 is because with this all wheel drive capability,
04:03 these incredible tires and these electric motor assist,
04:07 this thing can put down so much power instantaneously,
04:11 it feels like.
04:12 You know, you just hit the throttle and you've got everything
04:16 whereas the 917, it's a naturally aspirated motor,
04:20 it's very linear so you've got a lot of pedal to work with
04:24 before you get the whole thing like this.
04:27 Woo, and that was some hot laps in the 918 Spyder.
04:33 Man, I still feel like it would be a very close race
04:36 with these two cars if it could really got at it
04:39 with the 917 and then I had this incredible 918
04:43 that even though they're so different,
04:47 they're both so easy to drive fast
04:50 that I think you could really,
04:53 I would love to see a race with these two cars.
04:55 It would be incredible.
04:56 So that's the 917 and the 918.
05:02 Just one digit and 50 years apart
05:04 but two very different ways of making power and going fast.
05:07 (upbeat music)
05:10 (rock music)