Squint in the sun, enjoy the last warm rays of autumn on the terrace of the Trois Vallées on the Col de Turini. In front of a home-style meal as it already mouthed the heroes of the Rallye Monte Carlo and behind one of the Kurangango over some of the most beautiful and highest Alpine passes. Roswitha and Felix, Andrea and Fred, Sabrina and Franz are not the only ones here who let the momentum of the last days pass by like an inner action movie right now. In the parking lot next to the famous motorsport pub on 1.600 meters, apparently also pleased with the 19 engines Porsche 918 Spyder, who have clawed their owners into thousands of turns and turns and catapulted out to the short straights. Because for enthusiastic car mountaineers, the direct route to happiness leads over the serpentine line of the passes.
Even for the British mountaineers of the 19th century, inspired by the pioneering spirit, the Alps were considered the “Playground of Europe”. This playground, which has long been developed, was the destination of a tour that Porsche had devised for its top customers: a summit storm powered by 887 hp system power, which stretched over 2.000 famous elevated roads over the course of five days and a total length of around 25 kilometers. Flüela, Albula, Splügen, Lukmanier, Grimsel, to name just a few of the grandiose gray ribbons on the main ridge of the Alps. In the French Maritime Alps, the notorious mountain stages of the Tour de France such as Col de L'Iseran or Col du Galibier attracted the Porsche peloton. With the Col de la Bonnette (2.715 meters), the Spyder even mastered one of the highest pass roads on the continent. The organizers had planned a real James Bond film set as a further delicacy for the route: The supply tunnel under the Grimsel reservoir was also opened for passage for the Spyder and, like the close-fitting rock faces, led to an enjoyable soundcheck of the V8 volleys beforehand .
Of the 918 owners of the limited superlative Porsche worldwide, it is striking from Zuffenhausen's experience that they are from German-speaking countries who are eager to go on extended tours with their million dollar baby and exchange ideas with like-minded people. Unlike many Americans and Asians in the exclusive circle, whose numbered specimen remains in the collection as an object of speculation. In the meantime, the relaxed hybrid reference group has taken part in a number of tours - for example to the Dolomites and the rather remote Pyrenees - and has already arranged to meet the next. “To manage logistics like this with overnight stays - we don't really have the leisure for that in our professional life,” said Franz and Thomas. The all-round carefree Porsche package also included vehicles being brought to the starting point of the tour on request, as well as being able to start their way back in a trailer. Luxury equals necessity was also another service: there is enough space in the cockpit of the 918 to experience sheer hybrid power, but together with the pilot suitcase-sized stowage space under the hood, luggage is clearly left behind. A transporter took over the role of Sherpa.
Anyone who may have prejudices about the handlebars of super sports cars should be surprised here. Because this small selection from the more than 100 owners in this country does not want to fit into the cliché. No heirs, no hedge fund managers for whom this Porsche is another nice to have. You are on the road with successful medium-sized companies that even occupy one or the other global niche in the shadow of the DAX companies. There is Franz, who has set up a haulage company for special transports and who says goodbye to the stressful job after a serious illness. Or Thomas, who runs a family business that specializes in greenhouses. For Andrea and her husband Fred, the Spyder is not only the first Porsche, but the first sports car ever that the couple has, which among other things operates a successful lubricant trade and was awarded for the most innovative petrol station in Germany. Not only is the petite Andrea enthusiastically behind the wheel in the Alps: "I have already reserved the 918 driver training course on the Nordschleife together with my daughter!" But there is also a silent agreement in the group. One participant kept twitching his cell phone to show the fleet in his garage. That, the observer realized for himself, is not done. Why? Because most of them own sports cars that others can only dream of. “We don't have to prove anything here,” commented another Spyder driver coolly.
Jens Puttfarcken, Germany boss at Porsche, is blown away by his 918 owners: “I was already there in the Pyrenees. What a team, what people. " As he and his colleagues at the main rivals McLaren and Ferrari know, you can't necessarily choose the big donors among customers based on their liking. Especially since the Spyder was initially hardly in demand. It was only when the Spyder was the first road-legal vehicle to stay on the Nordschleife in under seven minutes in 2013 that the desire for the double-hearted racer really got going. Thomas and Rene said that they were initially not particularly interested in the combination of electric motors and classic naturally aspirated engines in the technology platform. “But this record,” recalled Thomas, “said clearly: Porsche, green, but really fast.”
Like some of these summiteers, Rene also has in his collection with the Carrera GT the no less exclusive predecessor of the 918 and with the LaFerrari also the rival of hearts. The usual comparative tests of the top carats interested him less than checking himself whether the weight or, for example, the stated consumption was correct. The car fanatic is himself: “The Ferrari consumed more and also weighed more. But we all have two hearts in our chests. Despite everything, the Italian speaks directly to the emotions, but what the 918 demonstrates not only on the racetrack but on these mountain passes is unique. "
If you take a seat behind the wheel of the 918, you experience an automotive picture puzzle: the almost baroque towering fenders, like the body molded in high-tech plastic, cite the legendary - Bergspyder - named 908 of the 60s. While the driving mode rotary switch on the valance with the offers electric or hybrid offers a foretaste of the future at Porsche. Of course, the advertised three-liter consumption is illusory given the long mountain stretches, some of which can be cranked up to 2.400 kilometers to a pass height of XNUMX meters. But between the seven and twelve liters that the super sports car indulges in, babbling, booming, and then again battery-electric buzzing during the entire climbing tour, there is always the impressive experience of racy recuperation downhill. While the green pillars in the hybrid cinema shoot upwards on the dashboard, the undercarriage bites tightly in tight bends, as if there were no dynamic limits. Locally emission-free on high-performance crawl through nature - future PR that also gave passport drivers a friendly nod on racing bikes.
Deep, floundering and lurking, the 918 expedition did not even look like a foreign body in the harsh, bare landscape of the high mountains. And if, as with the Tremola on the Gotthard, historical cobblestones are a challenge, the front axle lift raises the Spyder by three centimeters so that you can step over it on tiptoe. “We're all flashed by the capabilities here,” laughs one participant. Now to auction the Über-Porsche at a profit? "No way!" (Alexandra Felts / SP-X)
