Porsche 918 Spyder vs McLaren P1

Who needs Top Gear? As we kept waiting for them to bring Porsche, McLaren and Ferrari together in a hypercar shootout, the whole show went and got itself canceled! Thankfully, there are others out there ready to get the job done.

Such is the case with Motor Trend, who set out to see which is faster around a track, the McLaren P1 or thePorsche 918 Spyder - still waiting on the LaFerrari though.

And yes, they did try to get it, just that Ferrari refused yet again. We're not entirely sure what the problem may have been. Was it that they prefer The Stig to Motor Trend's race-car driver, Randy Pobst? That would be a silly reason not to do this.

Regardless, what we have here is a pretty definitive result, proving that the 887 HP Porsche 918 is quicker around Laguna Seca than the 903 HP McLaren P1, even though the P1 isn't just more powerful, but it's lighter by about 150kgs too.

The Porsche lapped the track in 1:29.89 while the McLaren did it in 1:30.71, which is almost a second slower, and that's not something we should easily ignore. All-wheel drive does go a long way indeed.

Granted, Laguna Seca is the type of track that heavily rewards cars that can put all their power down as soon as they exit the corners.

Pobst said that "The McLaren could not exit the four slow corners at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca the way the 918 could, a clear and present contrast."

We'd love to have more data though, and see these two go at each other on several other tracks.

Still, Motor Trend did say that the P1 was the "quickest-accelerating production car we've ever tested", which means this case is definitely not closed. It's conceivable that given better circumstances, it could do a quicker lap than the 918 Spyder if they were on a faster track. But hey, let's not speculate and just go with these results already.

Massive win for Porsche!

Opening screenshot via EVO video (from Nov. 2014) 

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McLaren P1

Although billed as a concept, in reality, the P1 is a pre-production teaser of the road car that will hit McLaren's glitzy showroom floors just before the end of 2013.

Deemed by many as the spiritual successor to the great F1 of the 1990s, McLaren says the P1 was designed with one simple goal: "to be the best driver’s car in the world on road and track".

We will have to wait for the production model to find out whether the McLaren P1 can live up to its promise, but in the meantime, we can ask your opinion about the hypercar's design and if it hits the right notes.

The styling of the P1 is the result of the collaborative efforts of Chief Design Engineer Dan Parry-Williams and Design Director Frank Stephenson (his previous work includes the modern day Mini, Fiat 500 and the Ferrari F430), and their respective teams.

"The collaboration was one of the great things about the project and that allowed us to reach such a complete package," Parry-Williams said.

Stephenson agrees with him: :"We have ended up with a car that looks as futuristic as a concept car – except that it will go into production – and with similar aerodynamic properties to a sports racing car. I believe it is a terrific achievement."

According to Parry-Williams, the McLaren P1's styling prioritizes function over pure style, while Stephenson adds that he wanted a car that was "striking but also functional, a real statement of intent. I wanted a genuinely beautiful and dramatically honest “supersports” car, in keeping with McLaren’s heritage but also at the forefront of automotive design".

While McLaren's people have their own reasons to like and appreciate the design of their latest creation, we would like to ask what you think about the P1. You can cast your vote below and explain your choice in the comments.

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