Top 10 Most Jaw-Dropping Nürburgring Lap Times
McLaren has put its P1 around the Nürburgring Nordschleife, with reports of a 7m04s time on the industry’s benchmark lap board. But there’s no excitable press release to accompany it – McLaren ain’t happy, and they won’t shout about the P1’s exploits until it has dipped under the seven-minute barrier. Here’s a look at the cars it will join there, along with a few other impressive lap times…
Porsche 956 – 6m11s
The fastest recorded lap ever on the North Loop, Stefan Bellof whisked his Group C 956 around the Green Hell in an eye-watering (and possibly pant-wetting) 6m11s during a race qualifying session in 1983. A modern Le Mans or F1 car could possibly beat this, but the circuit’s aggressive dips and climbs would likely kill either within a dozen corners… The video below is on board a slightly slower 956 lap, but there's some brilliant commentary.
Pagani Zonda R – 6m47.5s
This is the territory McLaren appears to be aiming for, the monster Zonda R – a bewinged semi-racecar – edging ahead of the fastest road car but sadly denying itself a record with its track-only status. Still, getting air in something so ground hugging is super cool. And only for those with the biggest balls.
Radical SR8 – 6m48s
The Nürburgring production car lap record belongs to...a track special made in a small factory in Peterborough, England. Plucky Radical headed for the Eifel Mountains in summer 2009 and returned with one of the car world’s greatest honours. Though while the SR8 sports a tax disc and number plates, lap record rivals claimed it’s not a proper road car…
Dodge Viper ACR – 7m12s
…therefore in many eyes this is the fastest production car around the Nürburgring. With a 600bhp 8.4-litre V10 engine and a humongous body kit, the ACR is certainly imposing, but with its racing car styling, does it really look that much more like a production car than the Radical?
Nissan GT-R – 7m18.6s
GT-R vs 911 is the battle that’s gone into Nordschleife folklore, the two super coupes battling it out and swapping Ring record times what feels like weekly since the big Nissan’s arrival in 2008. Honours currently lie with the 2014 model year GT-R. There's no video of that run, but there is incredible on-board footage of some night time race qualification in a GT-R GT3 we think you'll enjoy...
Porsche 911 Turbo S – 7m24s
The 911’s end of the bargain is met via the new 542bhp Turbo S, a technology-fest with four-wheel drive, rear-wheel steering, torque vectoring and a seven-speed paddle-shift gearbox. It lags behind the GT-R by over 5 seconds, but then its powertrain is likely to end up in the next GT2 RS. Who’s betting against that (temporarily) duffing up the Datsun?
Renault Megane Trophy – 8m08s
The fastest front-wheel-drive car around the Nordschleife, the Trophy took the honours from its forebear – the stripped-out Megane R26.R – and grabbed its place in the hall of fame above the Ferrari 355 and V10 BMW M5. The next Honda Civic Type-R appears to be hunting it down, though…
Audi R8 E-tron – 8m09s
“The fastest lap by a production electric car”, Audi trumpeted when the R8 e-tron silently whirred its way to within a whisker of the hottest hatch on sale. Then it decided the car would never be sold. Whoops. And given its 375bhp and 604lb ft of torque – the latter available instantly and lag-free thanks to the R8’s electric drivetrain – shouldn’t it have performed better? And the Mercedes SLS Electric Drive went faster anyway, clocking a 7m56s...
VW Lupo GTI – 9m09s
An impressive time given the Lupo’s rollerskate dimensions and weeny 123bhp 1.6-litre engine (no good for climbing the Ring’s scarily steep hills), and even better as it means you can grab a car from the Nordschleife hall of fame – and in great condition - from just £3k. It’ll be cheap to run, too. A true miniature hero.
Ford Transit – 10m08s
You’re probably familiar with this one, Ring expert Sabine Schmitz (stop sniggering) getting a Transit van around the Nordschleife on Top Gear in 2005, with a little help from a Dodge Viper draft vehicle.
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