The Porsche Mission X Concept Aims to Be a Record-Smashing 918 Spyder Successor
Porsche hasn’t promised it’ll reach production, but if it does, expect it to set a new Nurburgring benchmark for road cars.
Porsche has established a practice of unveiling a totally radical concept and then honing it in to create a road-going version. Just look at the Mission E, which later became the Taycan. Then there's the Mission R, a track-oriented electric racer that's supposedly informing the next-gen 718. Now, at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans, Porsche has unveiled the Mission X. It's a hypercar concept that foreshadows a potential production model with roughly 2.2 pounds per horsepower, way more downforce than a 911 GT3 RS, and half the charging time of a Taycan Turbo S.
Oh, and if it reaches production, Porsche fully intends for it to break the Nurburgring lap record.
Porsche's Chairman of the Executive Board Oliver Blume compares the Mission X to the 959, Carrera GT, and 918 Spyder. It's that special. “Daring to dream and dream cars are two sides of the same coin for us: Porsche has only remained Porsche by constantly changing," Blume said in a statement.
This particular dream car has a carbon fiber reinforced plastic exoskeleton with a lightweight glass dome over top. The Mission X's doors are attached to the roof and A-pillar, swinging up and out like a Le Mans hypercar. Then there's the light signature up front, which Porsche says is a modernized nod to the 906 and 908 racing prototypes.
Porsche also kept these iconic designs in mind when styling the rest of the Mission X, whose roofline is 47.2 inches above the ground. The entire car measures approximately 177 inches from nose to tail and 78.7 inches from mirror to mirror. It's hardcore in every sense of the word, meant for the racetrack and made barely livable for the sake of setting road car records should it ever be produced.
Inside is an open-top steering wheel with drive mode switches and, curiously, shift paddles. Porsche didn't release many specifics about the electric drivetrain but it apparently features a multi-speed gearbox; the Taycan road car makes use of a two-speed, for what it's worth. There are six-point belts integrated into the monocoque, a stopwatch crafted by Porsche Design, and seats that are different colors—the driver's seat is mostly white while the passenger chair is brown. Porsche says it did that to reinforce the driver-focused layout, which is kind of dorky and kind of neat at the same time.
It'd be a pointless exercise to guess how much the Mission X weighs, or estimate how much power it makes, but if it truly does have a horsepower for every 2.2 pounds then that's better than a Koenigsegg Regera. Porsche claims it produces downforces levels "well in excess" of the 911 GT3 RS, which makes 1,895 pounds of it at 177 mph. And finally, thanks to its 900-volt electrical system, the Mission X is supposedly capable of charging twice as fast as the Taycan Turbo S, which can go from 5% to 80% charge in 22 and a half minutes. That shouldn't put too much of a hold on your track day, then.
Porsche seems intent on bringing the Mission X to a few wealthy buyers, honoring the 918 Spyder and other special performance cars that came before it. There's no real timeline on when that might happen, and it's anyone's guess how much it'll cost, but it's sure to be a barnburner if and when it gets built. The clock is ticking.
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