2015 Mclaren P1 vs. 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder! - Head 2 head ep. 64

what would you do if someone rang and asked if Randy Pobst could lap their McLaren P1 around mazda Raceway Laguna Sega you probably say yes and how bout a Porsche 918 Spyder and Ferrari Laferrari join as well that's exactly how we arrived at this day with to the fastest most powerful production cars at one of the world's greatest race tracks yeah two what happen to the Laferrari well while Mclaren was happy to send technical support Porsche supply of 918 Ferrari refused to grant permission for hot laps and data acquisition to the owner of the Laferrari we had lined up a truly unfortunate decision the the day is no less special as the P1 and 918 represent the future of the sports car both are completely carbon fiber from tub to bottom panels both have small displacement high-revving v8 pact between their passenger compartment in rear axles they both use use twin-clutch transmissions carbon ceramic brakes to and active aerodynamics and active aerodynamics they both have around 900 horsepower but best of all both are plug in hybrids with real EV modes and now we get to find out what they'll do it the same track on the same day with the same highly skilled driver this the manliest thing I've done in my life An effort to level the playing field we fueled both cars at the same gas pump Tire-Rack supplied factory spec rolling stock the P1 got the most aggressive tires owners can get from the factory Pirelli P zero Trofed R and they came heat cycle the Michelin Pilot Sport cup 2 is the only tire option for the 918 and while these were source from Tire Rack Porsche opted against heat cycling the production car lap record here is 1 minute 30.97 seconds it will fall today but the question is by how much Randy set that time last year during best driver's car with the pre-production 918 and its familiarity with that 918 means he'll lap this 918 first to acclimate to the radical speed these cars generate alright Randy you know the 918 you've had the lap record in the prodution car lap record with the car here and we're gonna see if we can beat it so this compared to the P1 their both carbon fiber tubs bothV8s this one is naturally aspirated but butt flat plain crank like the P1 887 horsepower combined wow that's crazy this is nuts just saying the number I'd like blows is my mind hybrid on the rear axle of course but the big thing about this is the front axle is electrically powered so there's about 600 horsepower coming from the V8 and the rest that's all coming from the electric drivetrain big difference between the P1 is this has rear steering too so actually gonna help you stabilize the car with at the higher speed corners now you probably a member the last car you drove here pretty vividly as how fast it was yeah that makes a striking impression Carlos yeah thing is an animal on the straights actually handled extremely well wing works and has some downforce ya the big difference on this one is this one has the optional magnesium wheels that you get on the vice of package and they should lighten up the car quite a bit were on break into absolutely cuz a lotta breaking is just stopping the moment on the spinning wheels yeah pilots sport cup 2 like on the last one this is a good tire thirty seven hundred pounds and change so little bit heavier than the McLaren lap thats on account of the power front axle battery yes this is a little like the sophistication the hybrid system is what makes this one so interesting well the all-wheel-drive should be a real advantage especially with that kinda power going on nine hundred so so you can a beat that record be ready I'm ready man let's do it I'm heading down pit lane at mazda Raceway Laguna Sega I'm in a brand new Porsche 918 making 887 horsepower that more gas horse power than the carrera gt had and more electric horsepower than the power and the original 930 Turbo in one car gotta love that electric motor driving the front wheels the gas engine driving the rear wheels and we're exiting turn two yeah babe 9000 rpm there's instant torque response from the electric drive listen to the 918 howl the noises or just fabulous in turn five all stability controls are off you know I like it all natural just me and actually the 918 for me is faster that way it's like throwing off the rings and giving me all you got up into turn six this is a faster corner the all wheel drive is a big advantage for coming off a turn the power is incredible its more than any race car i've ever driven and I have been racing for 30 years people way more the wing is working the car has good aero balance just dig out of turn ten turn eleven tight second gear just drive off with the all wheel drive I wonder what the P1 gonna be like its two wheel drive this is four wheel drive could be a real issue trying to get that power to the ground I've never driven it we'll see the P1 also is quite a bit lighter that's going to be the advantage lightweight verses all-wheel-drive interesting in the break zones the 918 is extremely stable with the braking power it varies a little bit in other words you hit the break hard you don't get your full G immediately late in the break zone the ceramic brakes heat up enough regenerative system is working at full max and the breaking is increased quick steering response and it's got a little entry oversteer see that the 918 gives the driver some options carving through six the steering is spot on I mean that Porsche steering we've known and love it's here it's here in the 918 the managing configuration gives it a really quick and easy turning it's lower than normal it's still the surgeon's scalpel the drive shocked is superb it's firm but too much Porsche has found a really fine balance between the ride and the handling even on track bumps don't disturb the 918 excellent accomplishment man I hate this car because I'm spoiled now I want everything to run like this the 918 is a extremely sophisticated extremely powerful hybrid supercar I mean we use to think hybrids were Toyota Prius 50 miles per gallon but guess what how the hybrids are fastest cars on earth using the electric motors augment some fantastic race to rod power plants and now for the 918 Hot Lap presented by Tire Rack that's a new lap record at Laguna Seca a shockingly fast performance it beats the pre-production 918 from last year by 1.07 seconds but combing through the data to find out why I will have to wait there's another car to lap it after the 918 finally McLaren P1 you haven't driven this car right yeah finally I've heard so much so like the 918 all carbon fiber also flat plank crank V8 small displacement tho 3.8 liters but twin turbo the great equalizer yes and it makes more power to so total 900 plus horsepower they say 905 908 who cares your over 900 might as well be a thousand right that number is amazing a but this is rear-drive only yes all that powers is gonna to the two rear tires okay that'll be interesting yes and as you can see just by looking at it here it's quite a bit lower and the wings quite a bit taller so what's really aggressive super-low if the 918 has the really interesting stuff going on the front axle this is a really interesting stuff going on with the suspension it doesn't have any roll bars this doesn't have a locking differential okay it's all controlled hydraulically through computers which do all kinds a math and just ride height to account for all that stuff was actually in Race mode words two inches lower than the normal right height its I'm slam I shocked at how low it is this is the cruiser mode this is a hard park mode you couldn't drive through city streets like this I guess so see that wing chai wing sitting back there it looks like two wings it is I think there are two elements in that thing and its active so it's gonna adjust to slowing down during braking to move around you'll see the rear view mirrors do all kinds of things and their claiming like 1300 pounds of and how the downforce at like 150 mph it looks like a radical piece I'm not surprised this is 300 pounds or so lighter than 918 and a little bit more powerful so I'm curious to see what you can do with it the P1 is going to be interesting because that's a lot of power through two tires in and open differential that they control through breaks yeah very interesting stuff I'll see you can do with it heading out on the track in a McLaren P1 torque I love that sound when I pop off the gas I hear the turbo pop McLaren's gotta couple of turbos pushing it to a V8 flat plain crank it cooks that power feels so good it's going to be hard to go back to a normal car look at that thing ok that run was from 90 to 130 just like that time it amazing car the acceleration rates are just mind blowing it's a whole another category of car and it climbs this hill up into the way of the cork screw like no other car I've ever driven here it doesn't feel like a hill amazing it's like a rocket launch straight up acceleration the P1 feels stronger than the 918 but not coming off a corner see the two-wheel-drive that can knock you sideways at this kind of power 918 digs off with all wheel drive this McLaren is a wilder car than the Porsche 918 it takes everything those pirellis have to give but sometimes it's just too much for two wheels to handle and you know what that makes us be want a real driver car you got to be careful with that gas pedal like spider-man with great power comes great responsibility you got to roll it in there you go keep it hooked up breaking a strong but there's a lot of AVS intervention the Porsche has smoother breaking down at turn two takes a lot of steering the McLaren is stable on the way in is very firm I can feel the front end bouncing a little bit even on a race track like Mazda Raceway it is very slow it is stiff very race car like McLaren feels light at the rear sterling accurate of course but you need a lot of it you need a lot of steering input to get the car into a corner and it's well damped the reflexes are quick cat like like a race car yeah like I said this McLaren is it driver's car ripping the gears I hit the DRS button it drops the wing down top for top speeds on the straights thats a pretty cool feature it's reminiscent of Formula One McLaren feels better on the straights I'll tell you that in race mode it is on the ground low ho ho good aero dynamics for a street car strong rear wing very powerful Porsche has a big advantage coming off the jump because of it's all wheel drive the McLaren is more stable under way in the corner than 918 the 918 is more stable on the way out of a corner than the McLaren the McLaren has a very race feel that is credible satisfying Porsche is a bit little refined it's more a all around car listen to the wheel spin we're digging for traction in the 918 you just drive off the corners in the McLaren your on the edge of traction all the time McLaren fells quicker and faster corners it's got ton of down force the 918 feels quicker in the slower corners where the all wheel drive is a big advantage and I am frankly not sure which one is gonna turn a quicker time at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and now the P1 Hot Lap presented by Tire Rack the P1 is radically fast we hear wheel spin every single time Randy flies over turn one he loves the car but is it faster than the 918 the McLaren people are surprised the Porsche people are surprised everyone surprised the McLaren people change tire pressures an engineer says the pirelli take 4 or 5 adjustments before they settle the P1 goes out for more laps and comes in for more adjustments we install another set of Trofeo R after that more laps more pressure changes the P1 goes no faster then it's 130.71 lap set on the first set of tires the P1 incredible power to weight ratio showed up on all the straights it did a 155.5 miles an hour over turn one which has to be a record for a car on street tires the 918 gain an advantage in major braking zones especially in to turn two the corkscrew and turn 11 the data shows the 918 entering break zones consistently later and harder than the P1 which is something Randy notice from the seat of his pants what aided the 918 most was its ability to power out of the low-speed corners harder while the 918 accelerated out Randy had to work to P1 hard for traction despite the work he love the experience holy macro wow that now that's a really different personality from that 918 love it but man you gonna be on it you're using right here in there in the rears are right on the edge of their grip and pulling gears it's a driver's car yeah this hot lap battle was always going to end with a winner and that car is the Porsche 918 it's clever electric assisted all-wheel-drive system and low speed cornering proficiency gave it the advantage it's an incredible performance from an incredible car while there's undoubtedly some disappointment walking this Maclaren remains just as wonderful it's still the quickest accelerating car we've ever tested and faster than any other production car ever lapd here Randy enjoy driving or two there may be an eighth tenth of a second gap between the 918 the p1 but there's a three second gap to the next fastest car at this track and focusing too much on the small enough time that separates the 918 in the P1 almost as a disservice to their accomplishments here we have two plug in hybrid streetcars with EV modes on street tires posting lap times that would qualify the mid pack at most sports car races here they jumped far ahead of other normal fast cars at this track seemingly leapfrogging a few years ago our development technological improvements McLaren and Porsche have leapt far ahead into the future blazing a trail for everyone else to follow