The Baby Audi Supercar We Wish Became A Reality

Roger Biermann is an automotive journalist of 13 years and has been the Managing Editor at CarBuzz since 2021. With no formal post-high school education, Roger launched his career as an automotive journalist by test driving cars at dealerships and putting his thoughts online before launching his own website in 2012 and running Torquing Cars until he made the move to CarBuzz full-time in 2019. He has been fortunate enough to interview some of the car world’s most impressive personalities, including Tobias Moers, Christian von Koenigsegg, and Frank van Meel of BMW M fame, with his interviews cited by a plethora of global publications, including Car and Driver, MotorTrend, The Drive, and many more. Porsche's new era was officially unveiled last week in the form of the Mission S concept, a functional concept previewing what will be a series-production addition to the Porsche lineup as a supercar above the 911. That still leaves room for a 918 Spyder successor in a hypercar role above that, mind you.

Supercars are weird. I wouldn’t dream of speaking for all car people out in the zeitgeist, but I do know that I’m surrounded by a good group of coworkers here and a lot of “normie” car folk who seem to have all gotten to the point where they look at the stupid, expensive sports cars of the world and just say, “Who cares?” I’ll pretty much always give the manufacturers a head nod purely at an engineering level, because it’s impressive what folks can accomplish with a car when they set their mind to it. Hell, David is a shitbox maestro with a backyard that looks like a chemical plant explosion thanks to our Jeep build, and even he absolutely adores the Bugatti Veyron no matter how superfluous and excessive it is. But the prospect of ever having enough pocket change to spend on something like a several-hundred-thousand-dollar (if not million-plus-dollar) car is so outside of the realm of possibility that I get bored of all the articles and press releases that cover one.

The Porsche Mission S is not the successor to the 918 Spyder or Carrera GT. First of all, it’s technically a concept car, although even Porsche isn’t pretending it’s anything but a preview of a showroom-bound model. But more to the point, the 918 Spyder and Carrera GT were hypercars of their day, even if the term wasn’t in widespread use when the latter was new. The Mission S—or rather, whatever it turns into—is a supercar, in the current sense of the word. It is not here to fulfill prophecies of a new Holy Trinity alongside the Ferrari F80 and McLaren W1 as a limited-run special; it’s here to battle the likes of the Ferrari 296 and 849 Testarossa and whatever follows the McLaren 750S. Just ask the big boss himself. “The Mission S represents a mid-engined super sports car platform positioned above the 911—not as a one-off hypercar, but as a permanent and versatile addition to our customer offering,” Porsche CEO and chairman of the executive board Dr. Michael Leiters said in a statement.

Porsche is developing a mid-engine supercar that will be positioned above the 911. Previewed by the new Mission S concept car, the new supercar marks the first time Porsche has developed a permanent model that will sit above the iconic 911 in the lineup. Details are still in short supply, but we know that Porsche wants the interior to have minimal screens and that the exterior design takes inspiration from historic models. What’s that? The world turned upside down? And are those pigs flying? Oh, it’s an announcement from Porsche that the 911 will no longer be the top of the lineup? That’s basically the same thing. Porsche is incredibly protective of the 911’s image and its place at the top of the brand’s lineup. Usurpers in the form of the 959, Carrera GT, and the 918 have all been allowed to pop in for a quick stay but not long enough to supplant the 911 in any way, and the same has been true for the 718, which has traditionally not been allowed to surpass the 911 in terms of performance. Now, though, for the first time, Porsche is officially developing a permanent line above the 911. And it’ll house its engine in the middle, like a proper supercar.

Gilbert Smith is an automotive journalist with over five years of specialized research and writing experience. Before joining CarBuzz in 2024, he produced in-depth buyer’s guides and feature articles for Vehicle History, focusing on practical insights and detailed automotive analysis. For years, we've heard that hybrid cars will never match the longevity of combustion vehicles, because the electric propulsion system will burn out. As it turns out, a well-built, well-kept hybrid can easily rack up the miles. The newest member of the high-mileage club is a 986,000-mile Toyota Avalon Hybrid, on its second owner, and just an oil change or two away from cracking seven digits. We were tipped off to this one by the owner's son, who gave us the lowdown on how to keep your hybrid humming.

James Kelly didn't grow up knowing he wanted to be a writer, but once he fell into the whacky world of automotive journalism, he hasn't wanted to leave. In college, he found ways to make every paper he wrote related to automobiles and even hosted a show on the campus radio station called "The Engine Block. " James's experience involves road-testing brand new cars, breaking old cars, and everything in between. Good things come in threes. And in 2011, BMW offered not just one, but three of the best sports cars ever constructed by its Motorsports division. They were the 1 Series M Coupe (also known as the 1M) painted in Valencia Orange Metallic, Alpine White, and Black Sapphire Metallic. What? We never said that those good things had to be separate. The BMW 1M’s slim option sheet, highlighted by its limited paint options, further suggested this sports car was something we could liken to BMW’s past performance cars. Simple, powerful, and priced just right. However, 15 years later, many examples have sold for pricey sums, sometimes more than double the original price. But 15 years ago, nobody would have thought it was worth it. That is, if they hadn’t got behind the wheel.