
Porsche shatters the Nürburgring record we thought was unbreakable - ax00x
https://arstechnica.com/?p=1339009
======
kirse
Comically fast, like video-game-I-can-just-hit-restart fast. A couple
highlights of that YouTube video from sections of the track that are
notoriously difficult:

[YouTube Time]

00:49 -> 00:53 - Flugplatz at nearly 170mph is insane. Total trust in
downforce and makes up many seconds if done right.

01:13 -> 01:25 - Fuchsrohre bottoming out at 200+ mph is nuts.

03:15 -> 03:20 - Interesting that Timo avoids the carousel.

04:21 -> 04:31 - Pflanzgarten into SBS topping at nearly 200mph. Suspension
setup is huge here.

List of the sections:

[http://www.nuerburgring.de/en/fans-info/race-
tracks/nordschl...](http://www.nuerburgring.de/en/fans-info/race-
tracks/nordschleife/sections-of-the-track.html)

Nobody in motorsports really thought Bellof's record was unbreakable, just
that it was left intact out of respect and the obvious conclusion that any mfr
could crush it if they so desired. The 919 Evo holds the Spa Record because
the F1 record was done under all sorts of homologation restrictions. A sub-5
Ring time would easily be possible with a non-homologated F1 car similar to
this unrestricted 919.

Still eagerly awaiting VW's Pike's Peak video. This has been the year of
toppling track records!

~~~
forapurpose
Knowing nothing about this subject, I'm a bit confused by the parent: The
first section talks about how incredible the performance is - "comically
fast", "nuts", etc. The second to last paragraph seems to say that it is
easily done.

Would you explain to easily confused, non-car-racing-enthusiasts? EDIT: In
fact, I should ask: What is the significance of Nurburgring?

~~~
maxxxxx
"What is the significance of Nurburgring?"

It's a very long and very tricky track. It has everything: superfast sections,
slow sections, steep uphill and downhill, bumps, banking, often wet. If a car
does well on this track it will do well almost everywhere. It's called the
"green hell". I don't think there is another track worldwide left that can
compare.

~~~
vesrah
The Mountain Circuit on Isle of Man.

~~~
KozmoNau7
Equally legendary, often deadly, and also absolutely wouldn't even be
considered if someone proposed it today.

And the Nürburgring has various safety features. The Mountain Circuit has
basically nothing, just a road.

~~~
maxxxxx
And accessible only for a few days a year.

------
NVRM
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBFjHjm0O5M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBFjHjm0O5M)

~~~
sbierwagen
He spent a fair amount of time bouncing off the rev limiter on the
straightaway. Car could have used an eighth gear.

~~~
arghwhat
Eighth? Slow down there. The car comes with 4, 5 being an add-on package. It
could also use more than 52HP. I suspect you might be commenting on the video
in the article, rather than this comment with a video of a 1993 Citroën AX
14D.

Regarding the Porsche, I doubt it would have been useful. The car maxed out at
369km/h, and was unable to maintain the speed for long. I doubt it has the
torque to pull further ahead in an eighth gear. Furthermore, the heavier
gearbox would weigh the car down for the entire race, and the shift to eighth
would by itself cost the car a little bit of time.

It seemed like everything was actually quite well balanced. It was only maxed
out for a tiny moment, so it seemed to be the perfect balance between
lightweight and brute force.

~~~
sbierwagen
Whoops. I had assumed the comment with a youtube link and no other commentary
was just hosting the youtube video from tfa, rather than posting an entirely
unrelated video. How annoying. Far too late to edit or delete my reply, of
course.

~~~
kbenson
That other video is well worth watching though. Flat-out balls-to-the-wall for
the entire length, with no braking, in an old beater. It's impressive.

------
exar0815
I have been able to look under the bonnet of this car, this has nothing to do
at all with how you imagine a car - pure high tech. And during the race, the
complications caused due to the massive Battery force the people around the
Race Track for emergency purposes to look like in a weird fetish movie: Rubber
Boots, Rubber GLoves, Face masks, huge mats made out of rubber to stand on
during rescue... And then seeing this car on the track... mental. I have seen
many a great race on the Nordschleife, but that... Holy shit you get a spinal
injury just trying to follow that thing flying past.

~~~
maxerickson
It would be terrifying to be in the car.

------
bertjk
I would love to see how fast this can be done by a customized self driving
car. (think: full knowledge of track geometries, of its own physical
specifications, etc..)

~~~
IshKebab
Well there's the driverless race series that they've been promising for a
while so hopefully will know fairly soon.

------
djhworld
People are downplaying this saying well the track has changed, the asphalt has
been relaid, the conditions are different, of course someone could beat that
time.

I see it as, Porsche have just laid down a new benchmark to beat

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rurounijones
The amount of bouncing around at 300+ kph is terrifying to watch

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AngryData
Nobody thought it was unbreakable, just people stopped using the increasingly
faster cars on the track because it is dangerous as fuck. I mean just watch
the video of it, I wouldn't be going that fast in a video game on that track
because it would be so damn easy to fuck up and crash.

------
gthtjtkt
It wasn't unbreakable, nobody was trying to break it. Nobody wants to risk
multi-million dollar, one-of-a-kind race cars on that track just for bragging
rights.

An unrestricted F1 car could've smashed the record at any point in the last 20
years.

~~~
danburbridge
Porsche actually approached Stefan Bellof's family for permission for the
attempt out of respect for both him and the record.

I wouldn't underestimate the kudos given to 'ring lap times, especially in the
past few years. Admittedly mostly focused on lower categories rather than the
outright record.

------
baybal2
That V4 they have. Quite a remarkable engine. No comparison to the piece of
"space age" crap that was Zaporozetz's magnesium alloy V4.

------
grecy
I have been daydreaming lately about how the Tesla Roadster 2 should be easily
able to take the record around the ring for a production car. I'm hoping it
will smash the record.

~~~
maxxxxx
I don't see in what area it should have an advantage over a car with a gas
engine.

~~~
grecy
I would think an 8.9 sec 1/4 mile is everything you need to know, especially
when Elon has said that's the base model and there will be "performance
upgrades" that make it faster.

If you're not familiar, just google the 1/4 mile time of any fast car you can
think of, and then look into how hard it is to go from say 10.5 to 10.0, then
9.9

Obviously I know a lap time needs a lot more than straight line acceleration,
but if the 1/4 mile time is anything to go by, this car is going to be the
kind of fast we have never seen before. Anyway, time will tell and it's fun to
think about.

~~~
maxxxxx
Straight line acceleration is pretty useless on a real track if you don't have
the handling in corners. I assume the roadster will be pretty heavy. The Model
S is also a beast going straight but cornering is much less fun with it
because it's so heavy.

~~~
grecy
At 10.86 1/4 mile, the P100D is a _snail_ compared to the Roadster 2 at 8.9.

We're talking about the difference between a Cesna and a fighter plane, and
then some.

------
zoom6628
HUGE!

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tzahola
Not bad, but this is still my all time fav Nürburgring lap:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSMCfPASImQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSMCfPASImQ)

~~~
sxates
Oh wow. At first with the way he was thrashing around I thought he was some
kind of idiot. But the fact that he didn't die makes me think maybe he's
actually some kind of driving god.

~~~
justin66
He was a brilliant driver in a car he had a lot of experience with. (IIRC he
was a Ruf test driver) That was an amazing car with just far too much power in
relation to how much traction it had, hence the sliding around and constant
recovery from sliding around. A 500hp twin-turbo motor in a modified narrow-
body 911 chassis without the super wide tires in the rear like you'd see on an
older, wide-body factory Porsche 911 turbo. (they opted for low weight and
better aero over traction)

That video makes other Nurburgring videos look a little tame by comparison.
The car held the (street car) record on that track for a while.

------
Theodores
As the years go by the Nürburgring gets ever more legendary. It is better
known now than when they hosted F1 races on the smaller circuit they have
there.

You could imagine it was designed by sick Nazis to kill racing drivers however
it predates max-Nazi-ism and was designed for testing cars, not drivers. Hence
tomorrow everyone will have forgotten who got the fastest lap but they will
remember what car they were in.

~~~
Animats
_You could imagine it was designed by sick Nazis to kill racing drivers_

There's a James Bond book about that.[1]

[1]
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U1ZV63Y](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U1ZV63Y)

------
pwaai
5:19 almost seems impossible. I think we will see sub 5 minutes within the
next 5 years at this rate.

It seems like Lamborghini just gave up in a dick measuring contest.

Nurburgring is Porsche's home turf. German's aren't outwardly nationalistic
but they take a lot of pride and result orientated bunch.

Also ironic that Lambo is practically an Audi.

I will buy a porsche instead of a Lambo, this type of effort just shows to me
Porsche deserves my money (Sorry Audi).

I am so crazy about cars that I am emigrating to Germany to be closer to the
Nurburgring....

Will my 18 years of Gran Turismo on the Playstation finally pay off irl? I'm
gonna start with a cheap JDM and then after I get really good (at least 100+
laps), I'm gonna buy a porsche RS and finally live the Deutsche Dream.

~~~
jacquesm
If you think Gran Turismo on a Playstation is preparation for driving a
Porsche RS in anger then you probably should up your life insurance.

Better go to a real driving school first (not one of those 'experience'
things, an actual school), you'll be very happy that you did.

~~~
pwaai
I do not.

