Porsche has done it. The German sports car marque’s latest baby, the 2018 911 GT2 RS, has lapped the punishing Nürburgring-Nordschleife in time of only 6:47.3.
That’s the new record for production cars, and it was achieved with drive only going to the rear wheels. More amazing still is that Porsche didn’t just shave a few milliseconds off the previous record. It absolutely smashed it.
The previous record was the 6:52.01 set by the all-wheel-drive Lamborghini Huracán Performante in 2016. The fastest time for a rear-wheel-drive car was the 7:01.3 set by a Dodge Viper ACR at the start of September.
The GT2 RS's record run took place on September 20 and was by no means a fluke. With Porsche test driver Lars Kern and factory racing driver Nick Tandy taking turns on the track, the car was setting times below 6:50 almost immediately. In the end it was Kern who set the fastest time. His average speed on the 12.8-mile lap was 114.4 mph.
Porsche unveiled its latest GT2 RS in June at the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed. With 700 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque generated by its 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged flat-6 engine, the car is the most powerful 911 ever sold, and now it’s the fastest too. It means the two-seater weighing 3,241 pounds can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 2.7 seconds and top out at 211 mph.