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New Porsche Panamera achieves lap record at the Nürburgring

An all-new Porsche Panamera has covered the 20.832 kilometres of the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife in exactly 7:29.81 minutes, making it the record holder in the ‘executive cars’ category.

Aug 24, 2020

The lap record, achieved on the world’s most demanding racetrack, was performed in a slightly modified Panamera, which housed a race seat and roll cage. Test driver Lars Kern says he was able to achieve cornering speeds he never thought possible in a Panamera.

Porsche says the new lap record proves the performance potential of the new Panamera even before the car’s world premiere. 

Porsche has proven the performance potential of the new Panamera with a slightly camouflaged series production car completing a full lap of the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife in exactly 7:29.81 minutes. In the official ranking of Nürburgring GmbH, the time stands as a new record in the executive cars category.  

At an outside temperature of 22 degrees Celsius and with a track temperature of 34 degrees Celsius, test driver Lars Kern started the lap at 1.49 pm on 24 July 2020 and crossed the finish line 7:29.81 minutes later.  

The record-breaking Panamera was equipped with a racing seat and a safety cage as protection for the driver. The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 sports tyre developed especially for the new Panamera (and used for the record lapwill be optionally available after the car’s international market launch at the end of August. 

The enhancements made to the chassis and the powertrain of the new Panamera were always noticeable during this lap on what is recognised as the most demanding racetrack in the world,” says Kern.  

“In the Hatzenbach or also Bergwerk and Kesselchen sections in particular, the new setup of the electromechanical roll stabilisation system remains consistently effective and provides the Panamera with incredible stability in spite of the bumpy track surface. 

“At the Schwedenkreuz, the car benefited from the improved lateral dynamics and the increased grip of the new Michelin sports tyres. I achieved cornering speeds there that I would not have believed possible with the Panamera.”  

Porsche says the lap record underlines the comprehensive enhancement of the second Panamera generation.  

Back in 2016, Lars Kern completed the circuit in a time of 7:38.46 minutes driving a Panamera Turbo with an output of 404kW. That lap time was achieved over the then-usual distance for lap record attempts of 20.6 kilometres (without the around 200-metre-long circuit section at grandstand number 13 included).  

In accordance with the new statutes of Nürburgring GmbH, lap times are now measured over the complete Nordschleife distance of 20.832 km. For comparison: Lars Kern and the new Panamera already passed the 20.6km mark after 7:25.04 minutes. The record-breaking car and driver combination were therefore around 13 seconds faster than they were four years ago in the previous generation Panamera.