If you had a 450 horsepower 2018 Ford Raptor and a rain-soaked Nürburgring all to yourself, would you try to set a competitive lap time nobody’d remember or hang the tail out and have the time of your life? I think Vaughn Gittin Jr. made the right call here.
Nürburgring lap times, for carmakers, are like football games in college. Almost everyone participates, despite onlookers’ attention ranging from “don’t care at all” to “this is the most important thing ever” until someone wins—then, it’s a big deal. But Hyundai isn’t into ‘Ring records, for a strangely good reason.
Nürburgring records are like Motor Trend Car of the Year awards, but with actual value: Everybody participates, and getting the honor is like a giant promotional banner. There’s a Nürburgring record for almost everything, but some—like a record for towing a dang trailer the fastest—still manage to be surprising.
The Nürburgring is heaven on earth for car nuts, attracting the world’s most interesting cars, including manufacturers’ latest models. You can even drive it yourself! Sometimes a dream trip to the ‘Ring doesn’t end up being quite so enviable, though, and here are this year’s fail compilations that prove it.
Most of the time, the Nürburgring gets brought to my attention because some manufacturer was there and set a really fast, lightning-quick lap time and wants us all to know about it because car sales. It’s not always Very Serious Car Drivers there all the time, though! It actually does get fun!
The drama of this video, shot on a helmet cam at the Nürburgring, begins about 30 seconds in, when, having spotted a crash up ahead, the driver stops, waits for two screeching cars to pass, and then opens his door and runs to jump behind a guard wall. He tries to flag other drivers down, but to no avail, helpless to…
A surprise snow storm shut down the Nürburgring for a bit this Sunday after it slicked down the pavement for pure chaos. Some drivers enjoyed those cold, wet conditions more than others. To the highlight reel, away!
Despite the fact that Americans cannot buy many of the world’s fastest wagons, Mercedes is a ray of light in this dark world of longroof deprivation and continues to sell the E63 AMG wagon on our shores. As it turns out the E63 S is now the quickest wagon around the ‘Ring.
The Porsche Mission E, in a heated battle with the wind over which can make a quieter “whoosh” sound, tested on the Nürburgring recently. It’s what cars do. If you have negative opinions about it or electric cars overall, do not share them out loud. Your whispers won’t be quiet enough to keep a secret from this thing.
Just a couple of days ago, Alfa Romeo released a video showing their new Stelvio Quadrifoglio breaking the Nürburgring SUV lap record with an impressive time of 7:51.7. That’s great, right? Well, it’d be a bit more great if the video of the lap didn’t seem to have two major cuts, added and removed time, and in the…
An Alfa Romeo broke something recently, and that broken thing wasn’t itself. It was a real, live Nürburgring track record. Three cheers for Alfa Romeo, for also breaking its own stereotypes in the process. Alfa is very good at breaking things.
If watching a Porsche 911 GT2 RS reclaim the Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record for street-legal sports cars isn’t your speed, rejoice! We have found the complete opposite. Boosted Boris took a Lada 2101 on the ‘Ring back in July, which goes at relaxing Sunday drive speeds whether you want it to or not.
Oh, that’s precious. Y’all thought you could steal the “fastest road car on the Nürburgring” title from Porsche? Porsche, who lives just a short drive away? That’s cute!!! Porsche took back the record for the fastest street-legal sports car on the ‘Ring with a 6:47.3 lap time around the Nordschleife course.
Porsche, an automaker whose head of GT cars once said that Nürburgring lap times aren’t a priority, is apparently out to punch the Nürburgring lap time sheet in the face. The new 2018 GT2 RS was just spotted at the ‘Ring making a sub-seven minute run of the Nordschleife course where the battle over lap records goes…
It’s still kind of hard to believe the 600-horsepower Subaru WRX STI tinkered on by Prodrive is built on the bones of a regular-ass WRX STI that I could theoretically buy right now. Earlier this month, it set a sub-seven minute lap time at the Nürburgring, making it the fastest sedan there ever. And now we have the…
People will really take anything out on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It’s one of the the most infamous and dangerous race tracks on earth, but it operates like a one-way unrestricted toll road. I’ve found my favorite ‘Ring car yet: a glass-sided Audi hearse. Excuse me, I have a new final request to put into a will.
The privately sponsored effort to set a Nürburgring lap record with the Dodge Viper ACR has come to an unfortunate end after the second car crashed out, leaving a final lap time of 7:01.3—which is still incredibly impressive.
Race Taxis—mega drivers who offer rides in fast cars around the Nürburgring’s intimidating Nordschleife course—are some of the most fun you can have in the right seat of a car. One lucky rider got to see the Jaguar F-Type SVR Race Taxi make 43 incredible passes in one lap. That’s right. Forty-three.
The wind hushed through the trees. It was quiet—peaceful, even. But not for long.
