Photography: Abdullah Al Rodhan
During our visit to Bahrain for the final two rounds of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, we got together with Matthias Hoffsuemmer, head instructor for the Porsche 918 Spyder worldwide. Hoffsuemmer gives us a detailed look into the new Porsche flagship supercar.
Hello, can you please introduce yourself and tell us what you’re doing here in Bahrain with this piece of art (Porsche 918 Spyder)?
(Laughs) My name is Matthias Hoffsuemmer, I’m German actually, living in Munich right now. I’m working for Porsche as a freelance instructor since 2000. So I mainly do the racetrack trainings for Porsche, and special trainings such as the winter trainings in Finland; we have G-force training, also called drift training which I support around Europe. I became the head instructor for the 918 Spyder worldwide last year, so it is my job actually to go around the world, to different markets and present the car, and give the people and customers the opportunity to ride with me in the car, and therefore I am here in Bahrain Formula 1 track, actually it is my first time being here, and I have to say it’s an amazing place. I had the opportunity to ride with all the GT3 Cup Challenge drivers and I got the impression they really liked it, especially some technical aspects regarding stability, braking and things like that.
We know that this project carries a lot of secrecy; Porsche tried not to reveal it very soon and they hid a lot of stuff. Tell us why is there all this secrecy and where is the progress so far?
What do you mean exactly in terms of secrecy?
Porsche wouldn’t let anybody drive the car, and now we see them open about it; two years ago it was a bit hidden.
Even for Porsche, that’s the first time we give prospects and early customers the opportunity to have an in-depth look into the car which is actually a prototype right now and is a couple of months away from production. The reason for this has been, that this super sports car of the next decade from Porsche, is full of new technologies, new functions and we said “okay”, it might be a good thing to prove it with the customers that we’re on the right way and that they can have a look at it and understand what we’re doing with the 918 Spyder; therefore we made this plan worldwide, to be on specific markets, and not only to show it, but to give them a feeling of how to ride it.
What is the real market position of this car? What other cars does it compete with?
When you look at the Carrera GT for example, one of the cars it competed with was the Ferrari Enzo, and today we bring our next supercar on the market and our focus is similar competitors, so it’s definitely Ferrari with the new car they presented in Geneva, LaFerrari, and on the other end, it’s McLaren with the P1 as well. So these 3 cars will build the technology edge of the new super sports cars.
Honestly, is the 918 Spyder the best car you’ve driven in your life?
Yes. Definitely, 100 per cent. I’ve driven all the sports cars and super sports cars, even race cars because I still do endurance racing on the Nordschleife; and for a road car, you cannot imagine the capability of this car, especially – and this was a feedback from all the drivers here as well – the stability. Regarding a couple of technical features, there is nearly no rolling, so it feels like a Formula car. Same thing with braking, with this car it’s really amazing. Normally, when you do hard braking and cornering at the same time, most of the cars get unstable at the back, especially oversteer; but with this car you can brake really hard and it remains stable. We have Michelin road tyres on the car, specifically built for the 918 Spyder. On the Bahrain International Circuit I braked later than most of the Cup cars.
That’s a phenomenal characteristic…
That is a phenomenal characteristic; on the hand, it’s very easy to drive this car, so you don’t need to a professional, a Formula 1 racer or whatever, I mean everyone anyone can drive this car. You have a 7-speed PDK transmission to make it easier for shifting. If you prefer, you can switch to manual mode and use the pedals. For a professional driver or for gentlemen driver who might go on a racetrack, they get an amazingly good feedback from the car, so it’s not aggressive at the front or at the back; once you’re really on the edge and the car starts moving, it moves over all four wheels, and then it is very easy to handle it.
How does the Porsche 918 Spyder stand out from the competition?
There are a couple of unique things on the 918 Spyder, such as the top pipes, it’s the only road car with top pipes. You know it from Formula 1, and we have it here on the 918. This brings us other benefits as well, because of the top pipes, we could lower the V8 engine.
So it has a lower center of gravity.
Exactly! Then we have the Hybrid system in the car, a plug-in hybrid system, so you can drive just in electrical mode or you can drive with the combustion engine plus the electric engine as a boost function; with the electrical components and the lower position of the V8 engine, we have been able – and this is unique as well – to have a center of gravity below the wheel nuts.
That’s unique. You can usually only do this with racing cars or prototypes designed for racing.
And with the combination of a very stiff carbon fiber monocoque, this gives you the stability of the car. Furthermore, we do have a wider front track width than in the back. It’s 5 centimeters; that’s why this car turns in really amazingly, which comes very close to the race cars. On the other hand, we do have rear axle steering, which supports the driver in corners. If you’re driving slow for example, the rear wheels turn to the opposite direction compared to the front wheels, that means more agility on tight corners, and lower turning ratio as well. When you’re driving faster, then the rear wheels turn in the same direction as the front wheels; this gives you an amazing performance out of corners.
We don’t see these features that you mentioned on competing cars, so they are actually the selling keypoints of the car.
Exactly, and the rear axle steering is also found on the new GT3, represented in Geneva; and we have an adaptive aerodynamic system in the car, because if you drive on a track, if you have race mode on for better performance, and you need better traction, then you need more downforce. The adaptive aerodynamic system has a moveable rear wing; depending on the way you drive, the wing bends up to 30 degrees and manages the downforce levels of the car. Futhermore, at the front, underneath the car behind the front wheels, we do have so-called air channels which open in a specific mode, the air flows through and sucks the car down.
So it manages airflow even from the front.
Yeah, underneath the car, so it sucks the car down actually, so when you look at all these things, when they come together, they bring the 918 Spyder’s performance.
Well, that’s crazy, simply amazing. We’d love to see it much more on the road and on the tracks. I bet that you’re enjoying every moment of it.
Every second I enjoyed and it’s really an honor for me and a pleasure driving this car.
Maybe Porsche someday can give you two pieces and peg them in your garage.
(Laughs) I’m not sure about this one because you know we’re producing only 918 pieces; I guess this will not be the case, so this will be the only way I get to drive the car and show it to the customers.
Thank you very much, it was a pleasure meeting you.