It may be a while before Top Gear manages to sort itself out and get the triple crown of supercars together for one big shootout, but in the mean time, we can at least find out which is faster: McLaren P1 and Porsche 918.
The crew at Motor Trend set out to succeed where they didn’t (or haven’t yet, if you want to remain optimistic), trying to procure the trio for their own test. While they did bag a LaFerrari, it was La-not-allowed-to-be-used-for-data-acquisition, as Ferrari did not grant their request for permission.
Still, a shootout between two hypercars is hardly a waste of a day, right?
McLaren’s P1 packs a 3.8-liter twin turbo V8 that, in conjunction with an electric motor, will put out 908 horsepower to the rear wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Similarly, the Porsche 918 is powered by a 4.6-liter V8 coupled to two electric motors, giving it a total output of 887 horsepower to all four wheels by way of Porsche’s own seven-speed PDK dual clutch.
These are two interestingly different approaches to the same concept: Hybrid hyper performance, and while numbers can be talked about all day, its what happens on the track that mattered.
MT had both set to give it their all around Mazda’s Laguna Seca raceway, and through the many runs, it seems that this time, the Porsche came out on top with a 1:29.89 followed closely by the McLaren in 1:30.71.
Both cars had their own nuances, according to driver Randy Pobst who took both out for their times.
It looks like a pretty clear win for the Porsche, who have won this battle, but there are many tracks out there, so they have yet to securely win the war. We’re looking forward to seeing more side-by-side tests like these, but we’re even more eager for Ferrari to let the LaFerrari join in on the fun.
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.