918 Spyder gets Porsche power surge 17 | 08 | 2010

IF YOU'VE got £400,000 burning a hole in your pockets and you're considering buying one of the 1200 Porsche 918 Spyders which will be built, then here's a bit of good news for you; it's going to have more than 500bhp. When the concept cars was unveiled in private to potential customers at Pebble Beach, no less, it was powered by a 500bhp V8 petrol engine — a development of the RS Spyder racer’s 3.4-litre unit — and a brace of electric motors with a combined output of 218bhp.

However, it was let slip that for production it's planned to increase both the power and displacement of the petrol engine. What was also made clear was the 918 is currently being developed wearing both Boxster and Cayman bodies; meaning it will be sold in both hardtop and soft-top forms.

While it's unlikely the concept’s 22-inch will make it to production, it was also hinted the side exhausts may move around to the rear. When owners settle inside the 918's cabin, they'll also have the use of a touch-screen infotainment system and cameras will replace the side mirrors, with the images appearing on the instrument cluster.