It's become the Internet-age yardstick for automotive performance: The Nürburgring lap video. In some cases, it's the most eagerly-awaited part of a new-car launch. Naturally, some such videos are spectacular, others just run-of-the-mill. What's the most awesome Nürburgring lap video?
My video pick is awesome, not for an extreme display of vehicular fireworks or batshit, 11/10ths hand-and-foot work, but for highlighting one of the most sphincter-tightening Nürburgring moments ever caught on video. Rally legend Tommi Mäkinen runs into trouble while giving a Car and Driver writer a hot lap in the 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX Nürburgring prototype. That trouble comes in the form of a large, errant construction vehicle that emerges over a crest. The only problem with this video is that it can't convey the intense Gs that driver and passenger pulled as Mäkinen pounds the brakes full on. Oof.
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