RSS_Auto_Poster
Well-known member
Written by Vijay Pattni
Six minutes and 48 seconds. A time possibly etched into your memory, because six minutes and 48 seconds is the time it took a Radical SR8 LM to scorch a path around a small racetrack in the Eifel mountains. Namely, the N rburgring.Who"d have thought a small car on a scary circuit could leave such a big impression. And yet. Though the Radical"s time is hugely impressive and the fastest for a production car", it is of course, entirely unofficial.Yet manufacturers throw bucket loads of money developing and engineering their cars so they can perform well at the Ring, and go about setting their cars just right for an outright lap time. Bragging rights? An indication of the car"s ability? None of the above?Speaking to Tobias Moers, Mercedes-AMG"s big boss, it"s a largely pointless exercise. "I don"t see value in doing lap records," he tells TopGear.com. "Yes, we did one with the SLS Electric Drive, but that was a standard car. I always have some doubts if a manufacturer announces a new record."You know," he adds, "is it the same car you can buy? I don"t see the sense. If somebody else does a nice lap time, then fine, I"m happy with that."A point brought into sharper focus when you consider the range of machinery specifically calibrated and set up for Ring records, which might differ slightly from what you can actually purchase straight off the showroom floor. Honda lapping a Civic Type-R without back seats, for instance.However, Bob Laishley, Nismo"s performance director, thinks of it in a different way. Talk naturally turns to the Nissan GT-R, that final, 4WD-shaped point in the holy trinity of Ring/GT-R/Internet. "The N rburgring is synonymous with endurance and toughness, and the GT-R is all of those things," he tells TG.com.
Date written: 25 Nov 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 5901
Six minutes and 48 seconds. A time possibly etched into your memory, because six minutes and 48 seconds is the time it took a Radical SR8 LM to scorch a path around a small racetrack in the Eifel mountains. Namely, the N rburgring.Who"d have thought a small car on a scary circuit could leave such a big impression. And yet. Though the Radical"s time is hugely impressive and the fastest for a production car", it is of course, entirely unofficial.Yet manufacturers throw bucket loads of money developing and engineering their cars so they can perform well at the Ring, and go about setting their cars just right for an outright lap time. Bragging rights? An indication of the car"s ability? None of the above?Speaking to Tobias Moers, Mercedes-AMG"s big boss, it"s a largely pointless exercise. "I don"t see value in doing lap records," he tells TopGear.com. "Yes, we did one with the SLS Electric Drive, but that was a standard car. I always have some doubts if a manufacturer announces a new record."You know," he adds, "is it the same car you can buy? I don"t see the sense. If somebody else does a nice lap time, then fine, I"m happy with that."A point brought into sharper focus when you consider the range of machinery specifically calibrated and set up for Ring records, which might differ slightly from what you can actually purchase straight off the showroom floor. Honda lapping a Civic Type-R without back seats, for instance.However, Bob Laishley, Nismo"s performance director, thinks of it in a different way. Talk naturally turns to the Nissan GT-R, that final, 4WD-shaped point in the holy trinity of Ring/GT-R/Internet. "The N rburgring is synonymous with endurance and toughness, and the GT-R is all of those things," he tells TG.com.
Date written: 25 Nov 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 5901
