Porsche is shooting for the stars with its latest plan to conquer the Nurburgring. The German automaker is laying down the gauntlet on the vehicle that ends up succeeding the 918 Spyder supercar. The goal isn’t just to beat the 918 Spyder’s 6:57 lap time at the ‘Ring, but to demolish it by nearly 30 seconds. Porsche’s fascination — it might even be an obsession at this point — with the Nurburgring lap record for production cars won’t be dictated by a specific kind of powertrain, but by whichever powertrain allows it to shave almost 30 seconds off of the 918 Spyder’s lap time at the ‘Ring.

While other automakers dismiss the significance of posting record lap times at the Nurburgring, Porsche is unabashed about the importance of being the top dog in the world’s most famous racetrack. That’s the mindset Porsche Motorsport boss Frank-Steffen Walliser is taking when it comes to the development of the 918 Spyder’s successor. “It must achieve a 6m 30s at the Nürburgring,” Walliser told Top Gear. “I don’t care about the drivetrain, 6m 30s is the target.”

If that sounds like a man who’s willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish a goal, it’s because Walliser is someone who doesn’t settle for anything less.

It’s hard not to blame him, too, because, for a time, the 918 Spyder was the fastest production car to lap the Nurburgring. The Lamborghini Aventador LP770-4 SVJ now holds that title with a 6:44.97 lap time, but Walliser is undaunted in his goal to put Porsche back on top of that list. Doing so would mean posting a lap time that’s not only 27 seconds faster than the 918 Spyder, but is also 15 seconds faster than the current record held by the Aventador LP770-4 SVJ. Don’t tell Walliser it can’t be done, though, because he thinks it’s only a matter of time before the Aventador LP770-4 SVJ’s record falls to another car.

“For 5,000 years mankind compares performance in games and competition in soccer, in rallying, throwing spears and whatever,” Walliser said. “I don’t see it will stop. for sure we have to be careful, and properly prepare.” We still don’t know the details behind the 918 Spyder’s successor, but we do know that Porsche isn’t lolly-gagging its development. It’s not just about building a fast and powerful car, either. It’s also about preparing the same car to be as safe as can be when it takes its turn around ‘Ring.

“The main part is preparation for safety. Nothing just happens, we need a very experienced driver, a very good team taking care of every detail and we have to be careful,” Walliser added.

Whether or not Porsche accomplishes its goal of posting a 6:30 lap time around the Nurburgring will depend entirely on the kind of car it ends up developing. But for what it’s worth, Porsche isn’t backing down from the challenge, nor should it. The automaker knows what it feels like to own the lap record for a production car at the Nurburgring. Now, it’s preparing to reclaim that throne with a car that could make the 918 Spyder look pedestrian by comparison.

Fastest Nurburging Laptime 2018

Lamborghini Aventador SVJ

6:44.97

Porsche 911 GT2 RS

6:47.30

Lamborghini Huracan Performante

6:52.01

Porsche 918 Spyder Weissach Package)

6:57.00

Dodge Viper ACR

7:01.03

Nissan GT-R Nismo

7:08.59

Mercedes-AMG GT R

7:10.92

Gumpert Apollo Sport

7:11.57

Chevrolet Corvette C7

7:13.90

Lexus LFA Nurburgring Package

7:14.64


Further reading

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Porsche 918 Spyder Laps Nurburgring in 6:57

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Read our full review on the 2014 Porsche 918 Spyder.