Nürburgring. The fastest cars by category

After a few test sessions that had been talked about in 2019, Tesla once again ran its Model S Plaid at the Nürburgring on September 9, 2021. No more question of development tests; the car is now on the market, and it was for the American manufacturer to do better than Porsche, whose pre-production Taycan Turbo had run in 7’42 ”on the“ short ”(20.6 km) track of the circuit it’s been two years now. Tesla succeeded, his muscular electric sedan having completed this lap in 7’30”909.

Records by category

Shortly after the Taycan’s stopwatch, the administrators of the Nürburgring set up a framework for record attempts and decreed that the times would henceforth be recorded on the entire 20.832 km route. Over this distance, the Tesla Model S Plaid turned in 7’35”579.

At the same time, the American established the benchmark time in the category of production electric cars. In addition to production electricity, several official categories have been established by the managers of “Green Hell”. Here are the fastest production cars by class, as of September 13, 2021.

• Compact cars : Audi RS3 Saloon (7’40”748)
• Mid-size cars : Jaguar XE SV Project 8 (7’23”164)
• Large sedans : Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S Coupé 4 Doors (7’27”800)
• SUV, all-terrain, pick-up and vans : Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT (7’38”925)
• Sports cars : Porsche 911 GT2 RS type 991 Manthey Racing pack (6’43”300)
• Standard electric cars : Tesla Model S Plaid (7’35”579)

Porsche at the top of the ranking

As the Nürburgring is open to all types of vehicles, a category of records is dedicated to cars modified but approved for the road, and another to prototypes. Here are the reference times.

• Modified vehicles : Porsche 911 GT2 RS MR (6’44”749)
• Prototypes : Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo (5’19”546)

TO READ. Nürburgring. “Slow” cars at full speed on the German circuit