You've likely seen your fair share of onboard laps of the Nürburgring but none of them have been as unconventional as this. Growing up playing video games, we can all relate to this video with Sport Auto's Christian Gebhardt doing in real life what we used to do in Need for Speed, Forza, or Gran Turismo games. We're obviously talking about cutting corners in an attempt to improve our lap times and beat opponents to the finish line.
Driving the Porsche 911 Safari, the German magazine's test driver tackled more than just the circuit's tarmac as he deliberately ignored the track limits by going over the adjacent grass several times with the all-terrain sports car from Zuffenhausen. It should be mentioned Christian Gebhardt received full approval from the management team in charge of the Nordschleife to do what is normally forbidden on the famous race track.
2023 Porsche 911 Dakar
It goes without saying that the circuit was temporarily closed while the adventurous 911 was alternating from tarmac to grass. The car was clocked in at 7 minutes and 39.4 seconds, thus making the 911 Safari a lot slower than the 911 GT3 RS tested by the same driver a few months ago when he crossed the finish line in 6 minutes and 54.9 seconds. Looking back at other 911 runs, the GT3 equipped with the Manthey Performance Kit needed 6 minutes and 59.4 seconds to get the job done.
Predicably, the Safari was the slowest of the bunch since it's not a track-focused version but it can go where no other 911 has gone before. At the end of the bumpy run, Sport Auto decided to camp at the 'Ring by setting up a roof tent and grilling some burgers.
It would be interesting to see how the Volkswagen Group's other off-road-oriented performance car, the Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato, would perform in a hot lap while disobeying track limits and cutting corners.
