It’s clean, it’s green, but finally the temptation is too great for our experienced chauffeur, five-time Australian
In a heartbeat, our world is transformed into a parallel universe. With a massive roar, the Spyder switches to Race Hybrid mode, in which the electric motors work in conjunction with the 4.6-liter V8 combustion engine to unleash the maximum output of 887hp (652 kW) at 8,500 rpm. For the record: the transition from cruising silently in town at 35 mph to roaring at peak speed took just 40 seconds. We are thrust deep into the shapely carbon-fiber shell seats. In this ultimate performance mode, the Spyder devours the road ahead with a seemingly insatiable greed for speed. Baird’s eyes bore into the “V” where the road meets the horizon—V as in vmax, visualized in an indescribably beautiful way—some 7 miles ahead, while the scenery rapidly becomes mere blurs of ocher and dusty green.
The electronic speedometer of the 918 soon shows 217 mph, and we are traveling about 30 mph faster than Baird has ever driven a
A sense of elation fills the 918 Spyder. Flying has never been so easy, so exciting, yet so safe! This is an extraordinary journey; we have explored both ends of the driving spectrum, recording performance figures that no other production car has ever achieved on Australian roads.
After a number of miles that seem to slip past in just seconds, we approach the remote pub and fuel station outpost of Aileron. Population: 9. Not far up the road to the north there is another town called Wycliffe Well, also known as the UFO capital of Australia. More extraterrestrials have been reported here than anywhere else on the continent.
No doubt the good people of Aileron thought that we and our Spyder had flown in from the wrong direction!
By Michael Browning
