Does This Video Mean the New Porsche Panamera Set a Nurburgring Record?
A tantalizing hint the new sports sedan may be as fast as we hoped.
Considering the new Porsche Panamera scheduled to debut next week is reportedly every bit as fast around the Nürburgring Nordschleife as the fabled Carrera GT supercar, we can't say we're surprised to hear the car has apparently set a record at the world-renowned German racetrack. This is Porsche we're talking about here, after all. These guys know the 'Ring the way The Drive knows the back streets of Brooklyn.
The video doesn't explicitly say the 2017 Panamera has set a record around the 'Ring, but it lays down an implication about as obvious as a girl in Daisy Dukes and a crop-top making eyes at you from across the bar. The trailer, entitled "Breaking a record. The new Panamera is coming," opens on a shot of the Nürburgring pits, with a man in a racing suit staring out at the track. He wanders inside, pops on a helmet, then approaches a Porsche sheathed in a white cover. He removes the covering; a trio of other race suit-clad gentlemen join him, and together, the quartet climbs into a new Panamera dramatically obscured by strategic shadows.
So what record, exactly, is the Panamera likely breaking at the Nürburgring? Well, miraculous as Porsche's engineers are, we kind of doubt they've created a sedan that can beat the 887-hp 918 Spyder's 6:57 production car record. No, we're betting Porsche will announce its new car, in Panamera Turbo form, has claimed the title of fastest sedan around the 'Ring. As we pointed out before, if the new Panamera really is as brisk as the Carrera GT around the track, it would whip the current four-door record holder, the Honda Civic Type R, by more than 20 seconds.
And yes, we're as shocked as you that a Honda Civic currently holds the sedan record for a Nürburgring lap.
