Porsche 911 Hybrid vs. Chevy Corvette E-Ray: Electrified Sports Cars Compared | Hacker News Reader

Porsche 911 Hybrid vs. Chevy Corvette E-Ray: Electrified Sports Cars Compared

thedrive.com

10 pointsPaulHoule13 comments

This is just a paper comparison.

> But as for which is the quickest around a track? That's yet to be decided.

If a corvette, of all things, is anything more than a distant spec in the rear view mirror of a 911 then Porsche should be very embarrassed.

Edit: the replies to my comment are more informed than I am. I should have prefaced my comment as from someone who’s been in love with the 911 since puberty so somewhat biased ;)

Ironically, I don't think speed is where the Porsche shines. I've got an older C4 911 and the neighbor's Corvette is faster in a straight line. Not really slowing down on corners is where you see things change in favor of the Porsche.

The new vett is a lovely car and was nice to see an American company get something closer to perfect in the sports car market. It has over double the HP of my non-turbo Porsche and it is an absolute joy/monster to take around the track.

(World according to me, Porsche is too stingy with their engines, in the mid tier. I'm not the market for these new cars - but wonder if hybrid fixes the lack of HP)

Depends very much on the track. Rather simplified a corvettes tend to be slightly faster on the straights and 911 faster in the corners. Of course it also depends a lot on exactly which 911 and Corvette we are talking about. The performance difference between the 'budget' 911 and top of the line 911 is pretty huge.

Traditionally you bought a Corvette for speed and a Porsche for handling. The original Porsche's were air-cooled, which placed limits on their size and horsepower. OTOH, Porsche were masters at translating that weight savings into superior handling.

As a balding middle-aged technology professional with disposable income and no experience driving performance vehicles I offer myself as a test subject for both vehicles. Clearly I am in the target demographic.

The comments are great (“unsprung” refers to wheels, tires, hub):

"On the top end though, the Chevy's extra unsprung mass may hamper it;"

Do you have the specs for unsprung mass for each car? I also am a bit at a loss as to how unsprung mass has a single thing to do with top speed, which is almost entirely a function of power and aerodynamics (barring odd gearing choices of course).

Honestly this whole article stinks a bit of AI generation.

The article pretty much ended just as I expected the comparison to begin.

I think car comparison is an interesting niche where video reviews are by far superior to articles like this. You can get a handle on interior, exterior, driving, handling and any "quirks and features(tm)" much better in video format.

Either way, I'm not sure who the target audience is supposed to be? I guess it's just filler content for the site to not appear barren.

I'm not excited for hybrids. The Dodge Charger Daytona EV excites me, but a hybrid sports car? For the tiny number of these that will end up on the road, is the total fuel savings really meaningful? Does anyone buying a Corvette even think about mileage?

I think these are more like EV boosted hybrids that’ll gas savers… though the Chevy will do much better in traffic with a few miles of energy stored up.

I don't know about Corvette, but I've known a few people who daily drive their 911s as their main or even only car. I guess these people might care a bit.

Hybrids have some real advantages in motorsports, see

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLaren_P1

where the hybrid propulsion system makes up for turbo lag and I believe was the first boosted car McLaren made because McLaren's brand promise is responsiveness. Even people who aren't bothered by the fuel consumption of their hobby might be influenced by the tax the EU puts on high-displacement engines. I think nobody is going to disrespect the P1 as a sports car though.

The Porsche cannot travel in pure electric mode. The electric engines were added mostly for performance reasons rather than for mileage. Electric motors & gasoline engines have different performance curves so a combination of the two can be "best of both worlds".

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