The Porsche Cayman GT4 debuted last night to universal excitement over its raucous performance, manual-only transmission, and super speedy 'Ring time. Except... did Porsche fake its debut video running the Nürburgring?
That is the assertion of the Nordschleife superfans at Bridge to Gantry. Take a look at the original ad by Porsche:
and this extra 'Ring footage spot:
Now look at these stills pulled from the video, with descriptions from BTG on what you're seeing.
Notice how most of the shots showing true Nordschleife scenery are very "long" (far away) or onboard (car not seen). Then look at the shots where you can clearly see the car:
Go on, try and name that corner. Not quite sure where it is? I'm gonna say it's more than likely a cleverly rendered interpretation of Weissach or even Bilster Berg. Let's look at another still:
Oh yes, can you remember such a perfect Tarmac run-off area anywhere on the Nordschleife? I can't.
Yeah that one's fake too. Sorry.
If there's anyone who is an expert on the 'Ring, it's the people at Bridge to Gantry, and I believe their claims about this video being faked. Now, BTG points out that Porsche likely didn't fake it's claimed 7:40 'Ring time. Moreover, Porsche likely did actually run the Cayman GT4 on the Nordschleife. It's only that what you're seeing here is not any footage of that run. No way could Porsche have run an undisguised prototype on the Ring without anyone seeing it.
So it appears Porsche just Hollywood-edited some other track to look more like the 'Ring. It could even have been the nearby Bilster Berg or Porsche's private Weissach test track.
I'm not sure what's more amazing about this story — that Porsche faked their video or that there are Nürburgring Truthers out there.