Porsche 918 Spyder, one of the world's most well-thought-out sports cars is being recalled because of potential suspension cracking. The same issue with rear-axle control arms had prompted the hybrid supercar to be recalled by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on three previous occasions. The regulator said that these parts which connect shafts in the front and rear suspension may fail due to stress corrosion cracks.
According to the notice issued by Porsche and cited by Bloomberg, the carmaker will go ahead with the recall even though it found only one instance of damage and the issue would affect handling the vehicle in “severe, race track type use only.” The current recall campaign is the sixth for the 2015 model, according to NHTSA records. Apart from suspension cracking or fractures cited as reasons for three previous recalls, two more were due to possible seat-belt failures from incorrect bolts fitted and potential short circuits in the wiring.
Ground-breaking hybrid, perhaps the fastest of road legal supercars
Porsche conceived its mid-engined plug-in hybrid sports car back in the early 2010s, and the luxury racer was first shown as a concept at the 80th Geneva Motor Show in March 2010.
The twin-engined supercar is capable of reaching 350 km/h, and it would require only two litres of fuel to fully charge its lithium-ion battery positioned behind the passenger's seat. By November 2014, the worldwide order for this model totalled over 800 units and the whole planned production was sold out by early April 2015. Limited series production ended in June 2015 as scheduled. The exclusive car had once been available in the UK with an eye-watering £672,000 price tag and is said to be currently priced at twice that amount in the thriving resale market.
4.6-litre V8 engine
The 918 Spyder is built around a middle positioned 4.6-litre V8 engine based on the same architecture as the belt-less model which once powered the RS Spyder Le Mans Prototype racing car.
The 918 made headlines back in September 2013, when a car fitted with the optional 'Weissach Package' set a Nürburgring lap time of 6:57 on the 20.6 km road course, slashing the previous record by 14 seconds. That feat made the Spyder the first series production street-legal car to break the 7-minute barrier. Yet already on July 28, 2014, a recall was issued by NHTSA for all Porsche 918 units manufactured between May 7, 2014, and June 18, 2014, due to problems discovered in vehicle's rear-axle control arms.