Z356

I have received a number of pm's & emails this week from committed 918 buyers informing me that the 918 Spyder, originally thought to begin series production in January 2014, has now been re-scheduled to start in mid-March, 2014!

In addition, it has been confirmed by Porsche that air freight will be provided for each 918 Spyder sold to North Americans customers at no additional cost. It is not technically a 'free' air freight. There is a very expensive $2975 'Destination Charge' imposed on each 918 Spyder sold in the US. In The Thermal test drive thread, I speculated that this nearly $3K charge must represent the built-in cost of air freight delivery from Stuttgart to the USA! But now we have it officially confirmed. And it makes sense. The sooner it gets to the customer, the earlier Porsche can received full payment for the 918! Given the high sales price of this super expensive model, it's not surprising that Porsche is making this unusual air arrangement to facilitate that the cars are quickly delivered and they get paid ASAP! For all other Porsche models, the existing seaborne & truck to dealer destination charge to US dealerships remains at only $995!

Overall, I believe most 918 customers will welcome & accept this slight delay (2 or 3 months) with the understanding - and hope - that the finished 918 Spyder end product they will be getting has had more time to be fully tested & built to the highest quality standards possible today at Porsche!

Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel
.
.

A430v

Cheap - considering air freight back in 2005 was like $12,000 or $15,000 for the Carrera GT if we were to check that box. The high price tag of the 918 does have its benefits.

TKO

Great photo Eduardo!

brake dust

Thought production started on 9/18?

ky1e

I haven't really been following the 918 but I thought people were already taking delivery. People in SoCal driving them on the freeway, others doing track days, what am I missing?

wtdoom

Cars not delivered yet .
They are development cars ( on the road ) and test drives ( on track ) that are seen .

Z356

I believe Sept 18, 2013 was the original targeted first date of series production...which was delayed!

No deliveries to end customers to my knowledge. The people driving them in Southern California and elsewhere in the US (e.g. high altitude testing in Colorado) were employees testing the prototypes.

The Thermal Club event (near Palm Springs, CA) that I attended right before Thanksgiving was the only large size 918 test drive event for deposit holders scheduled in the US. That was 'it' and no others are planned. Any other test drive of a 918 for a potential customer in the US will be arranged on a 'one-on-one' basis at some venue - probably at the 'Porsche Sport Driving School' at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. That will cease once all cars allocated to this market are spoken for. An earlier 918 event held in Las Vegas (believe in 2012) allowed deposit holders to be driven ONLY as passengers on the 918. The Thermal event was the first time any US, Canada, Mexico or South America customer, or potential customer from of those areas, got to drive a 918 prototype - period!

The recent track event at Circuit Ricardo Tormo near Valencia, Spain was for the international motoring press. All the 918 used at all of these events were, to my knowledge, pre-production prototypes - albeit much more developed & calibrated 918's than previous ones used. In particular, the 918's at The Thermal (and one I saw video at Valencia) had no specific number on the badge on the cabin (000), which would have designated it as to its specific # out of the planned 918 vehicles scheduled for final production.

Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel
.

gmblack3

One of my clients has a 918 on order, he tells me that production is now pushed back till June. He has optioned for the liquid metal paint. Can't wait to polish it.

wtdoom

E engines upgraded again , will provide a function like " over boost " on the 991 turbo .

cgt04115

Do we know by how much per motor?

I was told a long time ago something like this was going to happen. Porsche will get it right in the end I believe. Heavy on the electric power and torque. Hopefully they are still developing the batteries for a bit of weight reduction as well........

DreamCarrera

Double check your insurance policy before starting that job!!!

Sweet...the final acceleration numbers for this car are going to be epic.

boyko23

Hi,
do you have info, what will be the effect from this last update?

Z356

I have checked with my friend who has a 918 on order. His delivery is scheduled in May 2014. Last December he was told that 'delivery will commence from mid-March 2014, after production has been very carefully scaled up'. So far, he has not been alerted to any delays in that schedule. He speculated that perhaps the delay in 'gmblack3' client's 918 might be related to issues with the special 'Liquid Metal' paint (a $63,000 option). But he has specified a no additional cost standard color paint for his 918 and feels those cars will be produced as scheduled. Or so he hopes...

To my knowledge, the latest representation by Porsche with regards the electric motors was for a total output of 210 kW instead of the original 160 kW stated back in March 2011 when pre-sales started on the 918. I am not familiar with what 'wtdoom' has posted, which is: "E engines upgraded again, will provide a function like 'over boost' on the 991 turbo". Now whether this is something 'wtdoom' has heard from his usually reliable sources or just speculation on his part, I think it's best if he tells us!

Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel
.
PS The only 'new' development of note appears to be the availability of a limited edition Porsche 918 Spyder 1:8 Model Car. Hurry up, orders must be in by Feb 28th, 2014! Price...well, if you need to ask, perhaps you can't afford it!

Whoopsy

My car was scheduled for February production, but with 10 days left of February, I still haven't heard a thing about it going into production. So a delay is very possible.

That 1:8 model car was shown at the LA Autoshow, if memory serves me right it cost $8000.

Z356

Call Daniel & find out! Then let us know...


Close...$8500. But $4000 more if you want it to match the exact colors & specs of your own 918 Spyder order.

I am content with the free memento '918 Spyder' model we received by attending the 918 test drive at The Thermal Club near Chino, Ca last November!

Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel
.