cars news 10: Go Behind the Scenes of the Porsche Panamera Turbo’s 7:38 ‘Ring Lap

A 2006 Porsche 911 Turbo, Lexus LFA, 2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera, 2009 Nissan GT-R, and a 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia. Porsche just delivered a blow to the egos of every single one of these supercars with a new blistering Nürburgring lap time set by the 2017 Porsche Panamera Turbo.

Seven minutes and 38 seconds is all it took to get the heavy luxury sports sedan around the infamous Green Hell, just as fast as those supercars mentioned above. For a normal sports car, less than eight minutes is fast, but clocking in at only 7:38 is momentously fast for a sedan. For comparison, the last Porsche Panamera Turbo was only able to get around the nightmarish track in 7:56, and that was in the hands of famed racing driver Walter Röhrl. Being able to shave 18 seconds is downright mind-blowing.

If this still fails to impress, consider that Alfa Romeo touted its Giulia Quadrifoglio sedan as the fastest four-door to hustle around the Green Hell. That car completed a lap in a scalding 7:39, but there were rumors of the Giulia running on racing slicks, along with reduced weight compared to the production model. Even without the purported weight savings on the Giulia, the Panamera Turbo is a substantially heavier full-size car, with an advanced all-wheel drive system, where the Giulia is a raw, rear-wheel-drive midsize sedan.

The new Panamera Turbo uses a brand new 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine pumping out 542 horsepower and 568 lb-ft of torque, giving it the ability to launch to 60 mph in just 3.6 seconds and hit a top speed of 190 mph. Given these are likely conservative estimates by Porsche, the new Panamera is truly worthy of being labeled a super sedan. In fact, Porsche claims it’s the fastest sedan in the world.

The Panamera’s lap time becomes even more impressive if you look at the cars in the bracket just above it, which includes the Pagani Zonda F with a 7:27 and a Ferrari Enzo with 7:25. It’s also worth mentioning that this new Panamera Turbo wasn’t running race-spec tires, like the Alfa Romeo Giulia was during the record-setting run, but instead retained the stock road tires available to both you and me from a Porsche dealership.

Initially, the Panamera launches in the U.S. in both Turbo and 4S trim. Prices begin at $101,040 for the 4S, and $147,950 for the Turbo.

Check out the video below to watch the 2017 Porsche Panamera Turbo set the Nürburgring lap record for a four-door car.

Source: Porsche via YouTube