porsche 918 spyder vs mclaren p1 top gear

In the time of the Enzo, it put aero at visual front-and-centre, but now its rivals have entered that territory too, so Ferrari has gone back to what it does best: knee-trembling beauty. Ferrari isn’t saying yet but it won’t be vastly different. So we pile into different cars and disappear off into the hills to see if we can reprise the feelings of yesterday. It’s the product of a maker which has mastery of aerodynamics, but also has a masterly understanding that what really sets its cars apart is drop-dead desirability. What a noise. But you have to man up to the Mac – where the LaFerrari fills you with the joys of being alive, the P1 dares you to look into the abyss.The Ferrari was developed in these hills, and it shows. [Read more about Speed Week in issue 29 of TopGear Singapore]Local and international automotive news, test drive reports, and everything in between. Mind you that’s not to say it doesn’t also speak of function: the nose and doors give the impression that air moves through the car as much as the car moves through the air. But every so often it surpasses itself, spewing out entire Top Trumps-worth of the things. It’s also harder to get into with the roof on – the Ferrari’s side-impact crash structure lifts away with the door, making for surprisingly elegant and easy egress and ingress, but to clamber into the 918 is to post yourself into a smaller hole than you imagine possible.And yet the 918 is beguiling. And it is glorious. But the availability of so much electric power when the V8 is also running means that there’s scope for active front-rear torque split, and extra doses of regenerative braking for greater efficiency. Will that driveability gain offset the Porsche’s extra weight? McLaren P1 Vs. Porsche 918 Vs. LaFerrari ... Porsche 918 Spyder. It tears chunks out of roads, chunters, whooshes, crackles and spits flame. The rear end, meanwhile, is a sledgehammer of gusting turbos and overwhelmed tyres. The Porsche one is made by the same process - the comparatively low-cost RTM method - by the same supplier, Carbo Tech. The 918 will be between 1600-1700kg. This year is about the most epic of the lot, a place where even a new 911 GT3 and the extraordinary Lamborghini Veneno aren’t the biggest stories. I honestly think I’m quicker down an unknown road in the 918 than anything else. While the Ferrari’s naturally aspirated delivery picks you up and carries you along, the McLaren’s seems to leave you behind, clinging on, fighting for breath in the torque torrent.You can feel the electricity torque filling the turbo lag, but when the afterburners ignite, they hit so hard you’re not sure what to do. We’ve got eight more hours of driving, many more pictures to take. It’s a car you would never tire of: the journey to master it would be long and occasionally alarming but hugely rewarding.Having managed to keep the P1 in the right province and mostly pointing in the right direction, I pull into the last road before the meeting point, and by glorious coincidence see Ollie in the 918 drop into formation behind me.

And as a component, the P1 asks much of the driver, but if you’re on your game it’ll give you greater thrills, richer memories, deeper exhilaration.

Despite the very obvious talents arrayed on this peculiar little strip of Spanish tarmac, these are the two cars that drag the word 'exceptional' into deeper and darker linguistic territory. Also, McLaren buyers might be resistant to the fact their car shares its base engine, transmission and tub with the 12C.But none of this numerical Top Trumpery can tell us the true character of these three off-the-scale cars. The LaFerrari’s cloaked electrics mean it is more natural on the road, and the chassis is sweet as honey. You’ll get out of it with an inexplicable thirst and a desire to call your relatives to reassure them you’re OK. You won’t be able to, because you’ll be trembling. Its compactness is a huge advantage when there are batteries and motors to be packaged. Lifting off might have consequences. You get the impression the Porsche is the only car here that truly embraces the idea of hybridisation – it’s the only one that wears a Hybrid badge and the only one with EV running as a core mission statement, rather than a happy by-product. There are so many character traits, so much care and attention.