Earlier this year, British entrepreneur Paul Bailey completed the holy trinity of supercars all in one day. He set out in his McLaren P1 and stopped to pick up his new Ferrari LaFerrari. From there he went on to bring home a Porsche 918 Spyder. The automotive world has warred over the merits of these three hybrid supercars, but we haven’t found out which is the fastest under race conditions. Thanks to the folks at Supercar Driver, we now know.
Unlike many supercar owners whose vehicles may never come within sight of a track, Bailey was gracious enough to lend his fantasy stable to the professionals. The P1, LaFerrari, and 918 were sent to Silverstone National Circuit in the U.K. Each ran a hot lap round the 1.64-mile circuit with British Touring Car driver Mat Jackson behind the wheel. The cars were equipped with cameras and sensors to accurately capture the data. They were all serviced a week prior to the event and ran with a full tank of fuel.
Jackson took each car out for three familiarization laps, followed by three timed laps. The McLaren went first, followed by the Ferrari, and then the Porsche. Jackson notes that the weather had warmed up by the time the Porsche had its run. But they all got a fair shake that day. “We pulled out all the stops to make sure that we could compare them on the limit around the Silverstone National Circtuit. And I have to say that all three cars have brought a big smile to my face,” Jackson says.
He also noted the distinct characteristics of each car. He praised the P1’s engine, and says that the all-wheel-drive configuration of the 918 makes it feel “sort of lazy.” He was particularly impressed with the sound and braking capabilities of the LaFerrari.
So there you have it. The three cars completed their fastest lap within half a second of each other, but the P1 was victorious this time. Part two of this series will feature quarter-mile tests.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.