Top ten fastest Nurburgring lap times by production cars

Auto Express charts the top ten fastest production car lap times around Germany’s formidable Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit

The Nurburgring Nordschleife in the Eifel mountains region of Western Germany is widely regarded as the most challenging race circuit in the world.

The fiercely undulating 12.9-mile lap through dense, light-starved pine forests has grown into a favourite proving ground for the world’s car manufacturers. And the Nurburgring lap time has become a key measure by which the fastest performance cars on the planet are judged.

It never takes too long after the covers are drawn back on a new hypercar or extreme lightweight track weapon for the question of its Nurburgring lap time to be raised. How quickly can the newcomer complete a lap of the tortuous Nordschleife circuit and where does that place it in the list of the fastest production car laps of all time?

The Nurburgring circuit itself has recently changed hands for £84million and with a gaggle of insanely powerful new hypercars emerging onto the scene, reputations to build, the list of the top ten fastest Nurburgring lap times could be in for a shake-up.

Below are the fastest Nurburgring Nordschleife laps as they stand now…

10. Porsche 911 GT2 RS – 7:24s

The legendary Porsche 911 manages to squeak onto the fastest Nurburgring lap times list in GT2 RS form. The 997 generation model has a twin-turbo flat six generating 612bhp and weighs 70kg less than a standard 911 GT2. It clocked 7:24s in 2010.

9. Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06 – 7:22.68

The Corvette C6 Z06 is one rung down the Corvette C6 performance ladder from the ZR1 with ‘only’ 505bhp from its all-American V8 powerplant - but it was only 3 seconds slower around the lap when the cars were tested together in June 2011.   

8. Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 – 7:19.63

The Corvette C6 ZR1 is a car with a 638bhp V8 and Nurburgring pedigree that you can pick up for a fraction of the price of most European supercars, but that didn’t stop it showing them the way around the Nordschleife with a 7:19.63s lap in 2012.

7. Donkervoort D8 RS – 7:14.89

The Donkervoort D8 RS (D8 GT pictured) looks like a Caterham Seven on steroids but a 267bhp turbocharged 1.8-litre Audi engine brings supercar performance levels out of the lightweight machine. The second and fastest of the car’s two lightning Nurburgring lap times was set in 2006.

6. Lexus LFA Nurburgring Package – 7:14.64s

The Lexus LFA is an engineering masterclass by Toyota with a carbonfibre body and a purpose-built V10 engine that revs to 9,000rpm. The Nurburgring Package models feature a 10bhp power boost to 563bhp, a recalibrated transmission and various other tweaks. It lapped the ‘ring in 7:14.64s back in 2011.

5. Dodge Viper ACR – 7:12.13

The Dodge Viper SRT10 has the kind of bonnet that can only hide a 600bhp V10 and that’s exactly what the ACR version used to attack the Nurburgring in 2011. With weight-saving modifications, enhanced aerodynamics and retuned suspension, the ACR model set a formidable 7:12.13s lap.  

4. Gumpert Apollo Sport – 7:11.57s

Awkwardly named and awkward to look at, the Gumpert Apollo makes up for any perceived lack of finesse with brutish pace. The Sport version set a 7:11.57 lap in 2009 powered by a 710bhp a twin-turbo V8 engine.

3. Nissan GT-R Nismo – 7:08.69s

Nissan claims that the 7:08.69s lap time recorded by its monstrous 2015 GT-R Nismo is a Nurburgring lap record for a ‘volume production car’.

It’s certainly a more affordable and usable prospect than the majority of cars on this list but the record breaking GT-R Nismo was furnished with various “track options” to save weight and improve aerodynamics. The Nurburgring lap time is all about bragging rights, so who can blame Nissan for trying?

2. Porsche 918 Spyder (Weissach Package) – 6:57s

While McLaren was being unusually coy about the Nurburgring lapping prowess of its P1 hybrid hypercar (it will only say that the P1 has done a sub 7-minute lap), Porsche rocked up and clocked a 6:57s lap in its 918 Spyder. 

With a combined 875bhp and 944lb ft of torque, the all-wheel-drive machine blitzed the ‘ring in September 2013.   

1. Radical SR8 LM – 6:48s

The 450bhp V8-engined Radical SR8 stretches the definition of a road-legal production car to the limit with a 690bhp per tonne power to weight ratio.

It looks like a race car and you certainly wouldn’t attempt to use one on the school run but it ticks the necessary boxes to qualify and completed an incredible 6:48s lap in 2009 to install itself at the top of the Nurburgring lap record tree.

Radical has actually held the Nurburgring production car lap record since 2005 when a standard SR8 recorded a 6:55s time. That remains the second fastest lap ever but for how long? Over to you, Ferrari LaFerrari and Konigsegg One:1. And come on McLaren, spill the beans on the P1's lap time - we know you want to.  

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