Porsche 918 Spyder, Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake Coming to Goodwood

Hotly anticipated by media and alike, the Porsche 918 Spyder is going to make an in-person appearance at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, as will the Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake.

Slotted between Formula 1 events strategically to give fans and teams alike the chance to attend, the event is a perfect opportunity for automakers to flash upcoming models to a big audience. Both Mercedes and Porsche are taking advantage of that chance this year.

Perhaps the less exciting of the two, Mercedes’ CLS Shooting Brake is still anything but a slouch. To date, we’ve only seen spy photos of the wagon, though the car hasn’t been wearing very much camouflage recently. At Goodwood last year we saw the shooting brake concept, but now between June 29 and July 1 we can look forward to seeing the production model.

Several drivetrain options will fill out this oblong CLS, including a 3.5-liter V6 making 305 hp and about 200 lb-ft of torque in the CLS 350, a 4.6-liter V8 in the CLS550 with 402 hp and about 327 lb-ft of torque and finally the red-hot CLS 63 AMG with a 5.5-liter V8 capable of a whopping 518 hp and 380 lb-ft.

Fun as an AMG-powered superwagon probably would be, it’s nothing compared to the car Porsche plans to bring. The Porsche 918 Spyder supercar has been confirmed for attendance, though it is yet unclear if the showing will be public or private.

Expected to be a near-production version of the test mule, the version of the 918 Spyder headed to Goodwood will be the first offered for consumer viewing. Expected to go into production in September 2013, the first units are slated to be in garages before the end of next year.

One of the most exciting hybrids anticipated for the near future, Porsche says its new supercar will achieve 770 hp between its gasoline and electric motors, while boasting a maximum 74 mpg. There’s no question that those two figures won’t happen simultaneously, but rather during one of it various modes. The first of those is the “E-Power” setting, which will be all-electric, though range information is unavailable. Presumably, the highest mpg ratigns will come from that (probably as miles-per-gallon equivellants). There’s also a “hybrid” mode and “sport hybrid” mode with increasing emphasis on performance.

[Source: GTSpirit]