The folks over at Autocar have been in the automotive-review business long enough to know what makes a good car and what makes a bad one. So yeah, their opinion counts.

Having said that, it's been a while since we last saw Steve Sutcliffe gush over a car the way he did the Porsche 918 Spyder. And really, you can't blame the man for doing so because the 918 Spyder really is a treat to the senses.

The 918 Spyder's combination of throaty power and quiet elegance, a paradox if there ever was one, lends itself to the growing belief that this supercar->ke177 really is a Porsche->ke1 masterpiece. Sutcliffe knows what masterpieces look and feel like in his years as one of the finest auto journos in the world.

So seeing him light up after pushing the pedal of the 918 Spyder made us think how cool it would be to drive the hell out of Porsche's latest creation. If it could make a Sutcliffe turn into a kid once again, who knows how any of us would react if we're driving this incredible piece of German engineering around.

From the power, to the handling, to the grip, to everything else in-between, the 918 Spyder really has that 'it' factor that few cars in the world can proudly claim it has.

Click past the jump to read more about the 2014 Porsche 918 Spyder

2014 Porsche 918 Spyder

With all the negative press the Porsche Carrera GT->ke2124 has garnered in the past week, putting the spotlight on its successor can be a tricky road to travel. But the thing is, the 918 Spyder is shaping up to be even better than the Carrera GT - for all the right reasons.

So after more than three years of testing and development, Porsche finally unveiled the 918 Spyder at the Frankfurt Motor Show and it really was a sight to behold.

The 918 Spyder is built on a carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) monocoque that is interlocked with a CFRP unit carrier. This provides great stability with lightweight construction, and also provides plenty of protection for the folks in its cabin. On the outside, you see plenty of Porsche’s trademark characteristics.

But it's the engine under the hood of that CFRP hood that has people wondering the levels of awesomeness the 918 Spyder can achieve. Sitting inside that sexy and bodacious body is a technologically advanced 4.6-liter, V-8 engine that pumps out 608 horsepower at 8,500 rpm and 391 foot-pounds of torque. Add that to an electric motor that produces 154 horsepower on the rear axle and another 127 ponies on the front axle and you have a car that a total output of 887 horsepower to go with 940 pound-feet of torque.

Any which way you want to slice it, the Porsche 918 Spyder is a beast. In every sense of the word.