Performance gains for Porsche 918 Spyder

The Porsche 918 Spyder has beaten its own benchmark performance figures during final testing.

Porsche says that just ahead of the first customer deliveries of the £657,400 car, the results of its final performance tuning has resulted in the car sprinting to 60mph in just 2.5 seconds - 0.2 seconds faster than previously thought - and reaching 0-124mph in 7.2 seconds with the optional Weissach performance package, half a second faster than previously released.

The company says the car can now also reach 186mph over two seconds faster than before, at 19.9 seconds. Porsche also says it has improved the performance of the 918's dual electric motors, meaning the car can accelerate to 62mph in 6.2 seconds without producing any CO2 emissions. The Weissach package reduces that time to 6.1 seconds.

The 918 Spyder entered production at Porsche's Zuffenhausen factory in September, with the firm promising first deliveries before the end of the year. The 918 Spyder is powered by a natually aspirated 4.6-litre V8 petrol engine developing 599bhp, supported by two electric motors producing a combined 282bhp. Its combined power output is 875bhp at 8500rpm.

It's already been well noted that the 918 Spyder faces stiff competition from the likes of the McLaren P1 as well as LaFerrari. The Porsche hypercar has previously set a lap time of 6 minutes and 57 seconds around the Nürburgring.