Skip to main content

Watch the Porsche 919 Lap the Nurburgring in 5 Minutes and 19 Seconds

Porsche has broken the all-time lap record at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, with driver Timo Bernhard lapping the 12.9-mile circuit in a ridiculous 5:19.55 in the Porsche 919 Evo.

The 919 Evo, for those who don’t know, is Porsche’s heavily modified LMP1 car. The German automaker was forced to pull out of the FIA WEC, the series in which it once raced the car, but figured that it still may as well take the hybrid Le Mans prototype, modify it, and try to break some all-time lap records. First, it smashed Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 record at Spa and now it’s broken the all-time record at the Nurburgring – a time of 6:11.13 set by Stefan Bellof in a Porsche 956 in 1983.

“This is a great moment for me and for the entire team – the 919 programme’s icing on the cake,” Bernhard said after climbing from the 1,200 hp 919 Evo. “The Evo was perfectly prepared and I have done my best on this lap. Thanks to the aerodynamic downforce, at sections I never imagined you can stay on full throttle. I’m pretty familiar with the Nordschleife. But today I got to learn it in a new way.”

No longer under the thumb of the FIA rule makers, Porsche was allowed to fully uncork its hybrid LMP1 car in an attempt to break records. The hybrid V4 powertrain was boosted to 1,160 hp, the vehicle was lightened and the aerodynamics were modified to make over 50 percent more downforce than before. Crucially, an active rear wing was also fitted, which allows Bernhard to open up the wing for more speed on the straights and close it back up for the twisty sections of track. Another important modification was the tires, which are a specially developed set of extra-sticky slicks provided by Porsche’s tire partner Michelin.

In the onboard video of the lap, the 919 Evo teleports from apex to apex, leaping out corners with unbelievable speed and barely slowing down for the Nordschleife’s high-speed bends. It’s just about the craziest onboard video you’ll ever watch, so be sure not to miss it embedded above.

a version of this article first appeared on AutoGuide

The post Watch the Porsche 919 Lap the Nurburgring in 5 Minutes and 19 Seconds appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex https://ift.tt/2IGa0J0
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Watch: The Stig Drives (nearly) Seven Generations of Golf GTI

With Volkswagen announcing “major” updates to the Golf, it seems an appropriate time to look back on what we’ve had so far. And who better to guide us through the rich history of the most popular European car ever made than Ben Collins, the former Stig? Some say he’s never met a GTI he doesn’t love, and that he can’t grow any of his own facial hair. All we know is … Ben Collins is actually a pretty solid presenter. Working his way through seven generations of the GTI (skipping over the Mk6) Collins tells us a little bit about each one and matches each mark to its corresponding facial hair craze. The Mk1 GTI for instance, is light and quick, but can lose traction under hard acceleration (in heavy rain). Despite that, Collins calls the Mk1 a “pure gem.” The Mk4, meanwhile, is a powerful return to form after the perhaps too sensible Mk3. Collins ends in the only way he could, with the Mk7, which accelerates faster than a Lamborghini Countach and is all kinds of wonderful. Watch, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watch: The Story of the Ads that Made VW Big in America

The ads for the original Beetle are almost as famous and well-loved as the Beetle itself. Looking back now it’s easy to forget, though, just how easily things could have wrong. A new short from Dial M Films tracks the history of those early Volkswagen ads that sold America on the people’s car. The story, of course, begins with the visionary agency that made the ads: Doyle Dane Bernach (DDB). As a popular agency for Jewish products, no agency was more aware of the implications of Volkswagen, and no one, it seems, was more skeptical of the brand than DDB. “Remember Those Great Volkswagen Ads?” from Dial M Films on Vimeo . William Bernbach, though, was adament that the firm take the client, probably as a way of attracting other lucrative automotive clients. Saddled with a client that he didn’t want, art director Helmut Krone says in the film that he originally came up with ads that were all wrong. Krone tried to do what other manufacturers did and was intent on selling the Beetle ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watch: The Zerouno Cruis’n USA

ItalDesign is drumming up excitement for its new supercar based around the same 5.2-liter Audi V10 that powers the R8. Naturally, it hit the road for a cruise around California last week to celebrate Monterey Car Week. There isn’t much in the way of V10 noise—which is a real shame given the sound it makes—but you do at least get a good look at the car inside and out in this video. With a body made entirely of carbon fiber and designed to be as aerodynamic and light as possible, ItalDesign figures that it will be good for a 0-60 time of just 3.2 seconds. “We put it our best skills into the production of the first car,” said Massimo Bovi, head of pre-series production, when the Zerouno was first unveiled in Geneva earlier this year. “Using some of the finest productions methods and engaging our high-skilled workers.” The car features clever aero tricks gleaned from single-seat racing, like a y-duct up front to improve downforce and turn-in. Available in a number of trim levels, the...
Post a Comment
Read more