With nearly 13 miles of asphalt, 73 bends—33 to the right, 40 to the left—and gradients of up to 17 percent, the Nürburgring Nordschleife lives up to its nickname. The "Green Hell" is one of the most challenging, most technical tracks anywhere in the world.
With that, the 'Ring has become a veritable test bed for manufacturers aiming to put their sportiest models through the paces. From Bugatti to Volkswagen, BMW, Renault, Mercedes-Benz, and many others, countless manufacturers have set foot on the Nürburgring in hopes of setting new lap records.
Since the 1990s, the Nürburgring has acted as a laboratory for manufacturers. Automakers bring their newest, fastest models to the ‘Ring to fine-tune the performance of their cars—and maybe break some records in the process.
With so many manufacturers gunning for lap records recently, we figured we'd take a look at the current rankings and see where some of the world's fastest performance cars currently rank.
Production Cars
By definition, a 'production vehicle' is any car manufactured in large enough numbers that it can be offered for sale to the general public. According to Guinness World Records, at least 30 examples of a given model must have been produced to be considered a production vehicle.
Lap times for production cars can be made official by media outlets in the field or by the carmakers themselves, so long as these record runs are accompanied by videos documenting the feat.
With that in mind, here are the top 20 (not including multiple timed runs completed by the same model):
- Mercedes-AMG One — 6:29.090
- Porsche 911 GT2 RS Manthey (991.2) — 6:43.300
- Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series — 6:48.047
- Porsche 911 GT3 RS (992.1) — 6:49.328
- Lamborghini Aventador LP770-4 SVJ — 6:49.420
- Porsche 911 GT2 RS — 6:51.45
- Ford Mustang GTD — 6:52.072
- Radical SR8 — 6:52.700
- Porsche 911 GT3 Manthey Performance Kit — 6:55.737
- Lamborghini Huracán Performante LP640-4 — 6:56.45
- Porsche 918 Spyder — 6:57:00*
- Porsche 911 GT3 — 6:56.924
- Ferrari 296 GTB — 6:58.70
- Lamborghini Aventador SuperVeloce LP750-4 — 6:59.73*
- Ferrari 488 Pista — 7:00.03*
- Dodge Viper ACR — 7:01.30*
- Porsche 718 GT4 RS Manthey Kit — 7:03.121
- Mercedes-AMG GT R Pro — 7:04.632*
- Xiaomi SU7 Ultra — 7:04.957
- Rimac Nevera — 7:05.298
Prototypes
As opposed to production cars, prototypes are not intended for road use. These vehicles are made specifically for competition or as a way for automakers to demonstrate their technical know-how. In fact, some manufacturers build some prototypes specifically to set a lap record on the Nürburgring's Nordschleife.
Here, then, are the top 20 fastest prototypes around the Nürburgring, as validated by Nürburgring officials (again, not including multiple timed runs completed by the same model):
- Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo — 5:19.546
- Volkswagen ID.R — 6:05.336
- Xiaomi SU7 Ultra — 6:22.091
- Lotus Evija X — 6:24.047
- Porsche 911 GT2 RS MR (991.2) Manthey Racing — 6:40.33*
- McLaren P1 XP1 LM — 6:43.22*
- Nio EP9 — 6:45.90*
- Pagani Zonda R — 6:46.50*
- Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X — 6:49.275
- Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 — 6:50.763
- Subaru WRX STI Type RA NBR Special — 6:57.578*
- Ferrari 599XX — 6:58.16*
- Dodge Viper ACR-X — 7:03.06*
- Nissan GT-R Nismo — 7:08.679*
- Porsche 911 GT2 (996) by Edo Competition — 7:15.63*
- Lynk & Co 03 Cyan — 7:20.143
- Mygale M12-SJ-Ford Ecoboost — 7:22.00*
- Toyota TMG EV P002 — 7:22.329*
- BMW M3 CSL (E46) by Loaded — 7:22.880*
- Tesla Model S Plaid Track Package — 7:25.231*
*In 2020, the Nürburgring updated its lap timing, now requiring vehicles to complete the full 12.9-mile course as opposed to the shorter 12.8-mile layout of the course (which did not include the pit lane). Cars listed with an asterisk do not have official times recognized for the 12.9-mile course, as determined by Nürburgring scoring officials.
