Much of the attention and praise has been heaped down on the Porsche 911 GT2 RS for destroying the production car lap record at the Nurburgring. For those who still don’t know, the 911 GT2 RS clocked in a scintillating lap time of 6:47.3, destroying the previous lap time record of 6:52.01 set by the Lamborghini Huracan Performante. The Porsche certainly deserves a lot of credit for being almost five seconds faster than the Huracan Performante, but it wasn’t the only car that set a Nurburgring lap time record. In the SUV segment, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio also shot itself to the top of the record books with a lap time of 7:51.7, becoming the fastest ever production SUV to navigate the 12-mile Nordschleife section of the ‘Ring.

While it may not be as impressive as the 911 GT2 RS’ lap time, the Stelvio Quadrifoglio was just as dominant in its run, posting a time that’s eight seconds faster than the previous record-holder, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, which posted a fastest lap of 7:59.74 back in January 2013. To put the Stelvio Quadrifoglio’s lap time in perspective, the SUV posted a faster lap time than a 2014 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S and a 2014 BMW M4, both of which clocked in similar lap times of 7:52. As impressive as the Stelvio Quadrifoglio’s lap time is, the real big winner here is Alfa Romeo, which now has two Nurburgring world records under its belt. Alfa boss Reid Bigland said as much when he said: “We’re proud to now hold two Nürburgring lap time records with the Giulia Quadrifoglio as the fastest four-door production sedan and the Stelvio Quadrifoglio as the fastest production SUV.”

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How long will the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio hold on to this record?

It’s a good question, and if the ever-evolving SUV landscape is anything to go by, the Stelvio Quadrifoglio will likely cede the throne to a new SUV sooner than later. Why do I think that? Well, Alfa Romeo timed the Stelvio Quadrifoglio’s record attempt at the perfect time. Remember, the previous record holder was the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, but it was actually the previous generation model that held the title. Guess what? The new-generation Cayenne has arrived, and while the Turbo and Turbo S models have not yet arrived, it’ll only be a matter of time before they do.

Then there’s the case for the arrival of luxury performance SUVs like the Bentley Bentayga, Lamborghini Urus, and the Rolls-Royce Cullinan. To be fair though, the Bentayga, despite carrying more power than the Stelvio Quadrifoglio (600 ponies to 505 ponies) is unlikely to beat the high-performance Alfa SUV in large part because it wasn’t built to set fast laps.

The Bentayga, and the Cullinan for that matter, is a luxury SUV above all else. Bentley made sure of that by investing heavily in luxury and tech for the SUV, and the result of that is an SUV that rests on the bulky side of the weighing scale. The proof is in the numbers as the Bentayga has a curb weight of 2,440 kilos (5,380 pounds) compared to the Stelvio Quadrifoglio’s weight of just 1,660 kilos (3,660 pounds). Do the math, and that’s a weight difference of 780 kilos or about 1,720 pounds! Expect the Rolls-Royce Cullinan to be somewhere around the Bentley’s weight too since both models will be offered to the same clientele.

That leaves the Lamborghini Urus. There’s no official word yet on how much it’s going to weigh, but all signs do point to it tipping the scales at below 1,800 kilos (4,000 pounds), which means that it’s going to weigh just as much as the Stelvio Quadrifoglio, give or take a few pounds here and there. Coming that with the Urus’ expected output of 600 horsepower and there’s a good chance that when it does hit the Nurburgring, it’s going to lay waste to the Stelvio Quadrifoglio’s lap record and more importantly, hold it for quite some time.

But all of that is still in the future, and the upcoming Cayenne Turbo S and Urus will still have to set their lap times before being anointed as the record-holders. For now, it’s the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio’s turn on top of the record books. It’s a well-deserved achievement all the way around.

References

Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio

Read our full review on the 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio.

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