New Porsche 911 GT3 RS sets sub 7-min lap time at Nürburgring

The new Porsche 911 GT3 RS made a sub seven-minute lap time at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, beating its predecessor’s record by an astounding 24 seconds.

The GT3 RS was put through its paces by Porsche Works driver Kévin Estre, who also happens to drive for the German outfit at the World Endurance Championship (WEC). He was able to set a blistering lap time of 6:56.4 around the legendary race track.

Now why is this a big deal? Well, only five street legal production cars have set a sub seven minute lap time at the track dubbed as the “Green Hell” and three of those are Porsche vehicles including the 911 GT3 RS.

1. Porsche 911 GT2 RS – 6:47.25
2. Lamborghini Huracan LP 640-4 Performante – 6:52.01
3. Porsche 911 GT3 RS – 6:56.4
4. Porsche 918 Spyder – 6:57.0
5. Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce – 6:59.73

The Porsche 911 GT3 RS was equipped with the latest Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R (265/35 ZR 20 front and 325/30 ZR 21 rear), and optimized for track use. It also had a motorsport-bred chassis that offered superb driving dynamics, paired with a naturally-aspirated 520 hp 4L engine.

The Nürburgring Nordschleife is a 20.6 km circuit with 170 turns that go around Germany’s Eifel forest offering endless challenge even to veteran race car drivers. In comparison, the longest track in the 2018 Formula 1 calendar – Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps – is just 7 km long and has a total of 19 turns.