The video from the Cadillac CTS-V’s record setting 7:59.32 lap of the Nurburgring is now online. GM reminds us that this car is 100% stock down to the tires, and the only thing different from a production car is the added safety equipment.
From GM:
To clarify, the car had no performance or operational modifications outside of what we intend to offer in production. We did have a couple of customary safety precautions, as the first goal of our testing is always to keep drivers like John safe. The car had a harness bar upon which a 6-way racing safety belt system was mounted. We also had a fire supression unit on board. These things add a little bit of weight to the car, certainly not helping performance any. Stock tires, too.
The Nissan GT-R, that recently posted a 7:29 lap of the ‘Ring, might have a bit of a problem on it’s hands in it’s pursuit of the production car lap record of the Nurburgring…
But wait, didn’t we quote Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter as saying that the ZR1 “will be able to take the production-car track record at any racetrack”? Yes, we did. What we didn’t mention was that in the same interview, Juechter said that, while the company didn’t yet have a full-production ZR1 to test at Nürburgring’s old track, he confidently predicted the super-Vette would do the deed in “Seven minutes, twenty-something seconds.”
When Tadge Juechter makes a prediction like “seven minutes, twenty-something seconds”, its not really a prediction. No one of his importance in a company as big as GM can make “predictions.” What he is almost certainly saying is that while they’ve yet to have a true production Corvette ZR1 hit the ‘Ring, they have however had ZR1 test mules lapping in the 7:20 range.
Toyota’s new monstrous Lexus LF-A is starting to come back out of hiding now that the Nissan GT-R V Spec and Corvette ZR-1 aren’t stealing all the headlines. The latest is a close up video of the new Lexus LF-A flying down part of the Nurburgring at 150mph making all sorts of glorious noises. Enjoy!
There is currently a very large battle raging for the title of fastest production car around the Nurburgring. For a manufacturer of a supercar, there is nothing more coveted. Porsche, the reigning king of the ‘Ring, practically designs their cars on the track. It wasn’t until fairly recently that other manufacturers outside of Europe started to take the Nurburgring more seriously; something you might could attribute to all of press coverage garnered by the Corvette Z06 when it put down a 7:42 lap a few years ago.
The participants include: Porsche (who will probably never give up the battle), Lexus (Toyota really), Nissan and Chevrolet. So where do these companies currently stand in their pursuit for the crown?
Chevrolet’s entry, the 2009 Corvette ZR1 hasn’t really put done any reliable numbers yet. The only numbers out there are of “low 7:40s” reported for a pair of engineers driving the ZR1.
Hopefully we don’t have to wait much longer for the LF-A, ZR1 and GT-R V Spec to make their times official.
Edmunds has some awesome new video footage of the ZR1 lapping the ‘Ring. Their reporters are claiming lap times in the low 7:40s; a number that is sure to drop in the mid to low 7:30s. However, those times are still a ways off of Chevy’s goal of setting the Nurburgring production car lap record.
According to our shooters on the ground, the Corvette ZR1 was turning in lap times in the low 7:40s, a pace that puts it right up there with the world’s fastest supercars. And given the damp conditions and rough, hand-timed numbers, you can expect to see even quicker official lap times when Chevrolet goes public with its Nürburgring data.
…That said, the folks at Chevrolet aren’t worried about the performance potential of their $100,000 halo car. According to ZR1 Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter, the ZR1 will beat the track record for production cars at any road course in the world.
