7 Seriously Fast Cars The New Porsche Panamera Turbo Just Beat Around The Nurburgring

The new Panamera Turbo clocked a stunning 7min 38sec lap at the Nordschleife, making it faster than an impressive roster of performance cars
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Seven minutes, and 38 seconds. That’s how fast the new Porsche Panamera Turbo - a luxury-festooned car which probably weighs the best part of two tonnes - lapped the Nurburgring Nordschleife. As with any new willy waving ‘Ring time, as soon as we heard it, we were thinking of other laps to put the porky Porsche’s lap in context. And it turns out the Panamera Turbo has claimed some impressive scalps.

7 Seriously Fast Cars The New Porsche Panamera Turbo Just Beat Around The Nurburgring

Now, there are a couple of caveats to bear in mind before we go any further. Firstly, not all of these lap times are full-on manufacturer efforts, as is the case with the Porsche. Many are from magazines like Sport Auto, and while experienced drivers are used, they simply don’t have the budget and resources of manufacturers who will happily spend some time at the ‘Ring with a massive team of people sending a car round again and again.

The second caveat is tyres: some of these laps aren’t quite as recent as others, so if a few of the cars were to run again on modern, more advanced rubber, they might well clock faster times. Even bearing that in mind though, the Panamera’s time is an impressive one. Let’s take a look at a few of the cars it’s ‘beaten’…

Lamborghini Murcielago SV - 7min 42sec

Test conducted by Sport Auto in 2009, driver Horst von Saurma
Test conducted by Sport Auto in 2009, driver Horst von Saurma

Yep, a four-wheel drive, V12 Italian supercar from not that long ago is slower than a big four-door saloon. Exciting times…

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 - 7min 41.27sec

Test conducted by GM in 2011, driver Aaron Link
Test conducted by GM in 2011, driver Aaron Link

Mercedes SLS AMG - 7min 40sec

Test conducted by Sport Auto in 2010, driver Horst von Saurma
Test conducted by Sport Auto in 2010, driver Horst von Saurma

Porsche 911 GT3 (997) - 7min 40sec

Test conducted by Sport Auto in 2009, driver Horst von Saurma
Test conducted by Sport Auto in 2009, driver Horst von Saurma

One of the most important ‘scalps’ on the list is another Porsche: the previous-generation GT3, a car intended for the track, not wafting around in comfort.

Porsche 911 Turbo (997) - 7min 39sec

Test conducted by Porsche, driver unknown
Test conducted by Porsche, driver unknown

The Panamera pipping the 997 Turbo is arguably even more impressive than the GT3, since this was a proper manufacturer-backed effort. And don’t forget, we’re talking about a 473bhp supercar that’s significantly lighter than the Panamera. And speaking of lighter supercars…

Ferrari F430 Scuderia - 7min 39sec

Test conducted by Sport Auto in 2008, driver Horst von Saurma
Test conducted by Sport Auto in 2008, driver Horst von Saurma

Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio - 7min 39sec

Test conducted by Alfa Romeo with pre-production car, driver unknown
Test conducted by Alfa Romeo with pre-production car, driver unknown

This is arguably the most important time here that the Panamera beat, as by besting the lighter, not far off as powerful Alfa Giulia Quadrifoglio, the Porsche can be given the unofficial title of ‘fastest luxury saloon at the Nurburgring’.

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Comments

Anonymous

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it the Corvette ZR1, not the Corvette ZL1?

06/29/2016 - 11:22 |
272 | 4
Matt Robinson
Matt Robinson

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Good spot sir! Have some Internet points.

06/29/2016 - 11:23 |
134 | 2
Anand Zaman

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

No, it’s the Camaro ZL1, The Corvette ZR1 was quicker at 7 minutes 19 seconds. The Camaro Z28 was also faster by just 1 second

06/29/2016 - 15:36 |
14 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

No, that is the Camaro ZL1.

06/29/2016 - 21:33 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

You are wrong. CAMARO ZL1 not corvette lol

06/29/2016 - 23:06 |
0 | 0
Jared Steinbach

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Thank you im a Mustang guy but i by no means think its oj to call a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 a ZR1

06/29/2016 - 23:41 |
0 | 0
Sam Holland

correct me if im wrong Alfa are re posting there time as we speak

06/29/2016 - 11:27 |
4 | 4
Nissan 420sx

Noooo not the new Alfa :/

06/29/2016 - 11:31 |
8 | 6

Lap times be damned, I still rather have the Alfa…

06/29/2016 - 11:34 |
38 | 2

The automatic version did 7:33

06/29/2016 - 12:20 |
2 | 0
Anonymous
06/29/2016 - 11:34 |
8 | 2
Matt Robinson
Matt Robinson

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Yep, the ZR1 did actually go faster in a few GM tests - I’ve replaced with the Mercedes SLS AMG!

06/29/2016 - 11:41 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

Compared Panamera and R35, which is fast?

06/29/2016 - 11:41 |
2 | 16
TurboToddler (Straight-five)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Now compare the luxury, which is better for businesspeople?

06/29/2016 - 11:51 |
8 | 0
Anonymous

It looks like a morbidly obese 911.

06/29/2016 - 11:47 |
12 | 4
JAMESW4497RS

I’m more shocked how a camaro is faster than a murcielago sv

06/29/2016 - 11:58 |
138 | 0

Tires !! the camaro has a big tire advantage

06/29/2016 - 12:59 |
4 | 2

it’s supposed to be a corvette zr1, not a camaro zl1. so don’t be shocked anymore lol

06/29/2016 - 14:39 |
2 | 20

The Z/28 actually did a 7:37 around the ring faster than all of these cars

06/29/2016 - 15:24 |
30 | 0

Maybe the SV driver was a noob LOL

But for real, even from a Camaro fan, I don’t know.

06/29/2016 - 16:14 |
2 | 2
Anonymous

Now remove the rear doors, shorten the wheelbase slightly and you have a new 928

06/29/2016 - 12:07 |
8 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

keep the wheel base! Lengthen the hood

06/29/2016 - 13:08 |
2 | 0
DemyR

An Alfa is an Alfa, the Porsche is an elephant sto I’d rather have Alfa xD

06/29/2016 - 12:10 |
4 | 10
Anonymous

Let’s be honest though we’d rather have any car in this list more than a Panamera.

06/29/2016 - 12:16 |
68 | 6
Varjo Designs

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

I’d rather have Panamera than Camaro, but you’ve got a point :) Though I guess Panamera may be cool in it’s own class - Though Rapide, Mercedes S and BMW 7 ain’t too shabby either.

06/29/2016 - 12:35 |
36 | 6
Mr.Roberts

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

I’d take the Merc or the other two Porsches over it for sure, but that’s as far as it goes with a list like this. The Porsche probably more reliable and possesses less sketchy build quality than all those Italians (and the Camaro) anyway. Viva la 4 doors!

06/29/2016 - 18:34 |
2 | 2
Lamborghini SV

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Yep, I’d much rather have a Murcielago SV or a Giulia.

06/29/2016 - 18:58 |
12 | 0