Porsche just introduced the second-generation Panamera in June 2016, and even though the sedan made its debut outside a major auto show, it arrived with a bang thanks to its outstanding Nurburgring lap.
Setting benchmarks at the "Green Hell" has become quite the trend in the last decade, with nearly every mainstream automaker flexing their muscles on the German track with their latest high-performance vehicles. And while Radical's 6:48-minute record continues to stand strong since 2009, the Top 20 list sees many changes throughout the calendar year as new models hit the market.
In recent years, Porsche has filed about 10 Nurburgring laps, mostly with various versions of the 911 and supercars such as the Carrera GT and 918 Spyder, all with impressive results. In 2016, the Germans submitted their second 'Ring lap for a vehicle that's not a coupe and set the quickest time for a production sedan. Specifically, the new Panamera Turbo needed only 7:38 minutes to run the Nurburgring Nordschleife, smashing the nameplate's previous record by no fewer than 18 seconds.
More impressively, the second-gen Panamera also lapped the "Green Hell" a second quicker than the Alfa Romeo Giulia QV, the previous record holder, and a number of respectable sports cars.
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The Quickest Production Sedan As of 2016
While the fact that the Panamera defeated the Giulia QV, which is smaller and lighter, is impressive enough as it is, the luxury sedan can also brag about being quicker than a number of high-profile sports cars and even older supercars. For instance, the 7:38-minute lap puts the new Panamera Turbo on par with the previous-generation 911 Turbo, Lexus LF-A, and Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera. Also, it makes it two seconds quicker than the Lambo Murcielago LP640, McLaren Mercedes SLR, and previous-generation Porsche 911 GT3.
The list of vehicles the Panamera Turbo can now look down upon also includes the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Lambo Murcielago SV, C6-generation Corvette Z06, and the Pagani Zonda S. Even the BMW M4 is no match for the beefed-up sedan, being 14 seconds slower. Sure, these figures have no actual value on how these cars behave on public roads, but the fact that the Panamera Turbo is quicker than all of the above speaks volumes of the massive effort Porsche put into the second-generation sedan from a performance standpoint.
Why It Matters?
It doesn't really. These numbers don't matter unless you're a stickler for records, but it goes to show that road cars are becoming increasingly faster with each generation. It's pretty impressive that you no longer need a sports car to lap the ring in under eight minutes, even though I'm sure that this benchmark can't be achieved without support from the factory and certain tweaks to the car's chassis and engine. And, although all this Nurburgring record trend is pointless as far I'm concerned, the fact that automakers spend a lot of time testing their new products on the German track is good news for performance enthusiasts.
2018 Porsche Panamera
Read our full review on the Porsche Panamera here.