Porsche Panamera nails Nürburgring lap record

The upcoming halo model of the new generation Porsche Panamera luxury sports car has set a lap record for luxury cars at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Driving a preproduction unit, Porsche test driver Lars Kern set a new best time of 7:24.17 for luxury class cars with combustion engines and hybrids. It was more than three seconds quicker than the previous record-holder, the four-door Mercedes-AMG GT63 S.

The future top model of the Panamera series hasn’t been named but it is likely to carry a Turbo S E-Hybrid badge.

Porsche also didn’t reveal output figures of the car’s petrol-electric hybrid power train. Until now the most powerful version of the recently launched Panamera has been the Turbo plug-in hybrid, which pairs a 4l turbocharged V8 petrol engine with an electric motor to produce a supercar-like 500kW and 930Nm.

Kern’s time was more than five seconds quicker than the 7:29.81 set by the previous generation Panamera flagship.

He said the new Porsche Active Ride chassis made a particularly big contribution.

“The car stays parallel to the road at all times. Its cornering and body stability are on a whole new level. As a driver, this gives me a good feeling and further underlines that our development doesn’t just offer maximum day-to-day driving comfort, but also makes a real difference on the Nürburgring Nordschleife,” he said.

The record-setting car was standard except for being equipped with a racing seat and mandatory safety cage. The Panamera was fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres sized 275/35 ZR 21 at the front and 325/30 ZR 21 at the rear. 

For optimised performance, the optional Carbon Aerokit eliminates lift on the front axle. It generates downforce in combination with the Gurney flap on the adaptive four-way rear spoiler.

A YouTube video of the complete Nordschleife lap with on-board footage will soon be available to watch.

The Porsche Taycan Turbo GT remains the quickest Porsche around the Nordschleife with a time of 7:07.55.