LTO chief recommends DL revocation for erring Porsche 918 Spyder driver

MANILA: The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has recommended the permanent revocation of the driver's license of the driver of the now well-known Porsche 918 Spyder that has been making the rounds on social media recently. 

LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Markus Lacanilao himself made the recommendation after an investigation into the plates used by the aforementioned supercar. It bore the driver’s initials and was presented as vanity plates. These plates, however, did not come from the LTO and so are unauthorized plates. 

Previously, the government agency issued a Show Cause Order (SCO) after the Porsche 918 Spyder was apprehended with the unauthorized plates. In accordance with the SCO, the driver and owner of the car were summoned to explain the incident and show the car’s documents. 

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“Malinaw ang paglabag ng drayber ng supercar na ito. Mahigpit po tayo laban sa paggamit ng peke o hindi awtorisadong plaka. Ginagawa lang naman natin ito upang matiyak na tama at legal ang pagkakakilanlan ng bawat sasakyan sa kalsada,” Lacanilao said. 

[The violation committed by the driver of this supercar is clear. We are strictly against the use of face or unauthorized plates. We are doing this to make sure that the identity of each and every single car on the road is right and legal.>

Further, the agency has urged motorists to comply with existing plate regulations and avoid using unauthorized or fake plates. This will help ensure proper and legal identification of vehicles in the country. 

Why all the buzz over this Porsche?

Why the big brouhaha over this Porsche? Well, for starters, this is one of the rarest supercars ever made, with only 918 examples produced in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Germany, from September 2013 to June 2015. 

It is likewise part of the “Holy Trinity” of supercars, alongside other greats such as the Ferrari LaFerrari and the McLaren P1. 

Per Lacanilao, only three examples of the 918 Spyder are registered in the Philippines. And yes, it is also a wildly expensive model, which goes for as much as P150 million in global auction events.

Spec-wise, the Porsche 918 Spyder is impressive as well. Its 4.6-liter V8 mill can dish out up to 887 horsepower and 1,280 Newton-meters of torque sent to all four wheels with a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission. It can accelerate from zero to 100 kilometers per hour (kph) in 2.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 344 kph. 

With those capabilities, the Porsche 918 Spyder was the first production vehicle to break the seven-minute barrier on the Nürburgring Nordschleife with a time of six minutes and 57 seconds. 

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