Porsche considers Ferrari 458 competitor

Porsche recently confirmed that their top of the line 918 Spyder will go into production and it would be the most expensive model they have ever sold coming in with a price tag of $845,000. Now it seems as if they are going back through their lineup to fill in some gaps they feel it has. Rumors suggest that the company has plans for another mid-engined supercar that will take on models like the Ferrari 458 Italia and the McLaren MP4-12C. Of course, there decision to go through with it will depend greatly on whether or not Volkswagen approves.

"We’re looking to extend the range," Porsche boss Mathias Muller revealed in a recent interview. "We’ve got an idea to do another mid-engined model. We’re thinking above the 911 but below the 918 Spyder.

We have ideas on styling and design, which we will continue to develop in the coming months. We’ll also evaluate the economic side and then decide [whether to push ahead]."

If built, the new model will be offered in both coupe and roadster versions and will be priced at about $275,000. It may also be constructed heavily of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic in order to get its weight down and performance up.

Power for the future Porsche supercar will have to be somewhere in the area of 550-600 HP in order to compete with Ferrari and McLaren’s resident supercars. The 458 Italia gets 570 HP and 398 lb-ft of torque out of its 4,499 cc V8 engine and the MP4-12C’s 3,800 cc twin turbo V8 engine delivers 592hp and 443 lb-ft. of torque. This power could be attained from Porsche’s 3,600 cc 620 hp water-cooled twin turbo flat-six found in the Porsche 911 GT2 RS.