porsche 917 living legend 005 alyi
porsche 917 living legend 004 kbdz
porsche 917 living legend 007 i4c6
porsche 917 living legend 006 7m6w
917 concept 003 qb0o 8qru
John Mahoney27 Nov 2019
NEWS

Porsche 918 Spyder successor to get F1 power

Still-born turbo V6 hybrid powertrain from abandoned F1 project could drive next-gen Porsche hypercar

Fresh reports suggest the all-new replacement for the plug-in hybrid Porsche 918 Spyder hypercar due in 2023 will be powered by an advanced V6 turbo hybrid powertrain that was originally conceived for Porsche's still-born Formula 1 project.

Back in March this year Porsche boss Oliver Blume confirmed that a new Porsche hypercar was in the works, and it was thought the follow-up to the 918 would switch to pure-electric power.

Now, according to Autocar, the German Aston Valkyrie fighter could use a powertrain developed for Porsche's ill-fated F1 racer.

Porsche's battery-powered hypercar is on ice, says the Brit mag, due to internal concerns that even the latest solid-state battery technology developed by its Volkswagen parent company may not deliver Porsche's weight, efficiency or even range targets until the second half of this decade.

porsche 917 living legend 004 kbdz

Since the next Porsche hyercar is scheduled for 2023, engineers have been forced to reconsider a petrol-electric powertrain, with the 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 hybrid developed for Porsche's aborted return to F1 now reportedly in hot contention.

Designed, developed and engineered by Porsche Motorsport, the new Porsche hypercar will be a direct rival for the $4 million Mercedes-AMG ONE that is powered by an F1-derived powertrain.

However, Daimler's sold-out racer for the road has reportedly been pushed back to 2021 due to difficulties in making its F1-style engine, which will require rebuilding every 50,000km, meet Europe's latest WLPT emissions regs.

It's reported that the F1-powered Porsche hypercar would also help the famous German sports car maker fight Aston Martin and Toyota in the newly-formed Hypercar LMP1 class.

porsche 917 living legend 007 i4c6

As well as the F1 engine, engineers were originally considering using the 2.0-litre V4 hybrid from the Le Mans-winning Porsche 919 LMP1 race car, but Autrocar says those plans were dropped in favour of the smaller and more advanced F1 donk, which is said to be more durable for road use.

To help develop the new high-tech electrified powertrain, engineers are said to be likely to join forces with Rimac – the Croatian-based pure-electric hypercar-maker Porsche now owns a 15.5 per cent shareholding in.

There's no word on power outputs for the Porsche hypercar but it will be a matter of pride that it will weigh less than the 1000kg Mercedes-AMG ONE and produce significantly more power than its 746kW 1.6-litre V6 hybrid powertrain.

Share this article
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Download the carsales app
    AppStoreDownloadGooglePlayDownload
    App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
    © CAR Group Ltd 1999-2024
    In the spirit of reconciliation we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.