Latest news with #Nordschleife
Motor Trend
a day ago
- Automotive
- Motor Trend
Learning to Drive Fast Around the Nürburgring, CliffsNotes Edition
They say it takes a long time to learn your way around the Nürburgring Nordschleife. I just spent two days and 36 laps following in the wheeltracks of Porsche test driver Timo Kluck as he guided me around the Green Hell. I learned an awful lot from a driver who knows every inch of this legendary track, but it was a bit hard to take notes while behind the wheel of a snarling Porsche 911 GT3. Here's what I remember of the expert's guide to turning a solid 11.9-mile bridge-to-gantry lap. Angus MacKenzie drove a Porsche 911 GT3 for 36 laps on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Guided by Porsche test driver Timo Kluck, he learned the intricacies of the track, focusing on gear shifts, braking points, and cornering techniques to master the challenging circuit. This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article. Read Next Bridge to Hocheichen Roll away from the start, fourth gear through the compression at Tiergarten, then fifth. Brake late into the left on the entry of the right-left chicane at the Hyundai N-Kurve and back to second gear. Quick upshift to third, then back to second and brake for the 90-degree right that leads onto the short straight with the pit area used for Nordschleife record attempts off to the right. Get on the power early, grab third. Brake on the hump before Sabine-Schmitz-Kurve and shift back to second; otherwise it's hard to get the car into this left-hander as the road falls away steeply. The fourth-gear braking zone into the Veedol-Schikane is very rough. It's quick into the first part, a left-hander, but that can suck you into the right-hander that tightens slightly on exit and has a hungry wall looming on the left. Dab the brakes on the entry to the tight right-left chicane that follows, and quickly again mid-chicane before the left. Accelerate, then make a late entry into the right at Hocheichen, which falls away steeply over a blind crest into a left-hander. An important corner, this: Get it wrong, and speed will be compromised all the way up to the Flugplatz. Hocheichen to Adenauer-Forst Big bumps on the bridge between Hocheichen and Quiddelbacher-Höhe. Brush the brakes at the top of the hump at the Flugplatz to load the front axle and help get the car turned into the fast multiapex right-hand sweeper. Flat, fifth then sixth gear, through the gentle sweeps to the fast left-hand sweeper at Schwedenkreuz. Brake on the big hump before the corner, back to fifth gear, and accelerate smoothly, making sure not to unsettle the car over the almost invisible lump where the curb on the left starts. Corner exit is also slightly off camber, so hug the curbing most of the way through and keep midtrack on the exit for the run to the looping downhill right at Aremberg. Back to third, stay midtrack. Plunge down through the forest to the Fuchsröhre. Fifth gear at the compression, keep midtrack on the exit of the second of the uphill left-hand sweeps, ready for the sharp third-gear right into the Adenauer-Forst complex. The steep climb helps braking. Immediately through the right, brake hard in a straight line, back to second for the tight left-hander, and pick third on the exit of the right immediately after. Adenauer-Forst to Ex-Mühle Very bumpy on entry to the quick left-hander at Metzgesfeld. Stay left, brake in a straight line, grab fourth, and turn in. Then brake, back to third and through the uphill left-right chicane. Stay on the power over the crest to the looping downhill right at Kallenhard. Fourth gear on the exit, and ease the car around the downhill sweeps, then third for the right-hand kink that leads into the second-gear, tight double-apex left at Wehrseifen, the slowest corner on the track. Brake hard in a straight line at the first apex, then turn midtrack to clip the second. Short shift into third immediately past the second apex, and power through the right-hander immediately after and down to Ex-Mühle, the lowest point on the Nordschleife. Third gear. Watch the wall on the outside of the down-up double-apex left that leads into a 90-degree sharp uphill right-hander that can be slippery on the exit. Ex-Mühle to Klostertal Fifth gear through the fast left-hand kink where Niki Lauda had his fiery Ferrari crash in the 1975 German Grand Prix, then hard on the brakes and back to third for the Bergwerk right-hander. Wait for the late apex, and go to power early. Another key corner: Good exit speed means good momentum up the climb to Klostertal, 430 feet higher up the valley. Kesselchen, the fast left halfway between, is flat in fifth gear, though the corner entry looks narrow. The track kinks right on the entry to the uphill left-hander at Klostertal. Thread it in sixth, then on the brakes and back to fifth, then fourth. Hard on the power up the hill until just before the crest, then brush the brakes to get weight on the front axle for the fast right after it. It's a late-entry turn-in, but there's a bump right on the entry that moves the car sideways, so leave some margin to the left. Klostertal to Brünnchen Second gear through the tight right at Steilstrecke, then third and fourth on the short straight to the Karussell. Back to second on the drop into the steep banking, and ride the bumps. Short shift to third on the exit to stabilize the rear end as the car jumps out of the banking at corner exit. At Hohe Acht, the highest point of the Nordschleife, is a top-of-the-hill, late-entry right-hander. Third and fourth gear through the sweeps through Hedwigshöhe and Wippermann and into Eschbach, the entry to which is a right over a blind crest, where the track pinches inward on the left into the downhill left-hander. Then comes the right-straight-right at Brünnchen, a.k.a. YouTube corner, as there's a large spectator area right next to the track. Brünnchen to Gantry Turn in early for the left-hander at the top of the short climb out of Brünnchen to ensure enough real estate to smoothly clip the apex of the fast right-hander on the top of the blind crest. Flat through the gentle left-hand sweep, and brake in a straight line before the fifth-gear crest at the Pflanzgarten to steady the car, then brake again in a straight line in the compression, grab fourth, and turn in. The double right-hander goes uphill into a gentle left over a blind crest. Be ready for the car to go light and squirm over the crest, and make sure the suspension is loaded in the compression before the fast right. Straightline the Stefan-Bellof-S in fifth, with maybe a quick upshift to sixth. Brake and back to fourth for the right-hander that leads up to Schwalbenschwanz. Third and an early apex that will help maintain speed for run up to the mini Karussell on the exit of the Schwalbenschwanz complex. Second gear, turn in early, and take advantage of the easy transition from the flat section of the track. Short shift to third on the exit to calm the wheelspin. Then fourth and into the rising, double-apex Galgenkopf corner, another of the key corners on the Nordschleife. Getting it right means more speed onto the straight. There's the gantry. Lap done.
Auto Express
22-07-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Express
Think a Renault 5 Nurburgring record attempt is madness? It's on!
The wild Renault 5 Turbo 3E flagship is heading to the Nürburgring for an electric lap record attempt, Auto Express can reveal. With 533bhp and 4,800Nm of torque from two electric motors and 0-62mph in less than 3.5-seconds, the Turbo 3E has the firepower to set a competitive lap time. The fastest production electric car on the 20,832m-long Nordschleife circuit (12.944 miles) is the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra saloon, which posted a time of 7:04.957 in April 2025 and has gone even faster in uprated, prototype form. Advertisement - Article continues below The Rimac Nevera and Porsche Taycan Turbo GT aren't much slower but it'll be the Tesla Model S Plaid (7:35.579) and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N's 7:45.59 time that Renault has its eye on. One record is odds-on – the fastest rear-wheel drive EV around the 'Ring – because strictly all-wheel drive cars posted the existing benchmarks. The 5 Turbo 3E packs two advanced in-wheel motors spinning its rear end and an aluminium and carbonfibre construction that should keep weight below 1,450kg. Much of this technology will be shared with the upcoming Alpine A110 Electric. 'The 5 Turbo 3E has the potential to do two Nordschleife laps at full throttle,' Fabrice Cambolive, the Renault brand CEO, told Auto Express. Can it post a respectable lap in the 7-minute zone? 'We will communicate it at the right time,' winks the boss. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below 'With its in-wheel motors and really low centre of gravity, it's like piloting a video game,' claims the CEO, slumping down in his chair and making darty hand movements with an imaginary steering wheel. Renault Group test driver Laurent Hurgon, who also races a Lamborghini Super Trofeo, is tipped for the record run. He posted the Megane RS Trophy-R's front-wheel drive lap record in 2019, a 7:40.100 time (on a slightly shorter loop) subsequently bettered only by the FL5 Honda Civic Type R. Advertisement - Article continues below The Nordschleife is a huge challenge for any electric car, with repeated maximum accelerations and decelerations taking a massive toll on the battery, motors and brakes, and thermal management of the power cells critical to prevent a drop-off in performance. Hyundai's European R&D boss Tyrone Johnson told Auto Express that computer simulation was critical to prime the Ioniq 5 N for its arduous 'Ring run. 'With the Ioniq 5 N, we were the first [EV] to be tested on the Nurburgring with an official lap time by Sport Auto, a German magazine. Before Porsche,' he said. 'We did two laps and simulated that for a couple of months beforehand, to get the battery temperature and the [brake] rating just right, just to be able to make the two laps.' Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below Turbo 3E prototypes should be out testing in public soon, with the record run expected before the weather becomes too unsettled. The pumped-up little hatch takes its inspiration from the original mid-engined versions of the Renault 5, which first appeared in 1980. That number is the production ceiling for the Turbo 3E, with Renault claiming to have more than 1,000 prospects lined up for the £135,000 superhatch. 'We want to demonstrate that a pure BEV car can also be a sporty car,' says Cambolive. 'The sportiness of the Renault 5 is already quite good, now we can replicate what we did in the past when the Turbo arrived.' The 5 has given Renault real electric car momentum, says UK managing director Adam Wood. The charismatic supermini was Britain's top-selling EV in April and May, with 70 per cent of buyers retail rather than the fleet customers lured by low company car tax. And its formula – mixing a retro form and nameplate with modern details and zero emissions tech – is being expanded into the small electric SUV segment with the Renault 4. Order books have just opened, after a UK introduction at this month's Goodwood Festival of Speed. In early 2024, with Renault reliant on just the Megane E-Tech, EVs contributed about 5 per cent of the French brand's sales. The introduction of the Scenic E-Tech grew this to 15 per cent by the year's end, and with Renault 5 deliveries now on song, one-in-four new Renaults are currently electric-powered. This is critical to meet the UK's Zero Emission Vehicle sales target which is pegged at 28 per cent of passenger car sales in 2025. The boss is confident this share can be maintained with another EV – the Twingo city car – confirmed for right-hand drive and arriving in 2026. Configure your perfect Renault 5 through our Find A Car service now. Alternatively, check out the best deals out there on a new Renault 5 from stock or top prices on used Renault 5 models... Find a car with the experts Range Rover's secret mid-size EV: Inside its £500m factory Range Rover's secret mid-size EV: Inside its £500m factory We take an exclusive look inside JLR's revamped Liverpool site as the brand gears up for EV production Chinese cars will take over as Britain's best sellers Chinese cars will take over as Britain's best sellers With a dramatic rise in sales, Mike Rutherford thinks it's only a matter of time before Chinese cars outsell all other countries in the UK Car Deal of the Day: The Audi A3 Saloon may be posh but not at this price Car Deal of the Day: The Audi A3 Saloon may be posh but not at this price It's posh, well appointed, and refined to drive – the Audi A3 Saloon is our Deal of the Day for July 18
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Chinese EV prototype smashes records while beating out vehicles from Mercedes and Porsche: 'Mind-blowing'
A Chinese EV prototype has redefined high-performance electric vehicles at one of the most difficult and dangerous tracks in the world. The Xiaomi SU7 Ultra prototype smashed its previous lap time at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, clocking in at 6:22.091, beating its own record by over 24 seconds. This makes it the fastest prototype and EV and the third-fastest vehicle to complete a lap on the 12.9-mile track, often used as a benchmark for automotive engineering. It outran several supercars, like the Mercedes-AMG One and Porsche 911 GT2, which have price tags triple its estimated cost, all running on just battery power. "Mercedes spent billions and many years to develop the AMG One only to get humbled by a phone company," one Reddit commenter said. With the SU7, Xiaomi aims to address consumer skepticism regarding EV performance and accessibility. The production version of the car clocked in at 7:04.957 on the same track, beating the Porsche Taycan by three seconds, signaling record-setting performance without sacrificing usability or comfort. Development of the SU7 began just a few years ago, and already, Xiaomi, known for producing consumer electronics, is setting industry benchmarks. The prototype's 1,526-horsepower engine pushes it from zero to 60 in under two seconds, leveraging advanced software and battery technology to optimize power delivery and efficiency. Such a breakthrough pressures legacy carmakers to accelerate EV strategies and provide consumers with more options. EVs offer countless benefits, not just in lap times, but also for your wallet and the environment. Contrary to arguments against EVs due to harmful mining practices for minerals like lithium, the extraction of dirty energy needed for ICE vehicles is much worse for the environment. One MIT study found that cars with internal combustion engines create an average of 350 grams of carbon air pollution per mile driven over their lifetimes, while EVs that operate on an average U.S. power grid produce only 200 grams. Low-carbon energy reduces mineral requirements. Currently, the Xiaomi SU7 is only available in China, but global markets could see future models as soon as 2026. In the meantime, Xiaomi is releasing a Nürburgring Limited Edition SU7, priced around $114,000, with only 10 units released in 2025 and 100 total. For everyday drivers interested in going electric, there are even more opportunities to save. Charging an EV with home solar panels can significantly reduce fueling costs compared to public stations or grid electricity. EnergySage makes it easy to compare local solar installers and save up to $10,000 on installation, a smart pairing for any new EV purchase. Car enthusiasts were impressed. "Ok Xiaomi, you've made your point," one commenter wrote. "No need to keep embarrassing the Western automakers who have been doing this for 100 years." "For a company that only started 3.5 years ago, they are mind-blowing in their innovation speed," they added. They then referenced comments from Ford CEO Jim Farley, who reportedly said of an SU7 he's been test-driving for market competition reasons that he "doesn't want to give it up," and said he was right to be impressed. "No wonder he freaked out after driving an SU7 for three months." Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
The Drive
15-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
Chevy's Intends To Dominate Ford (and the Nürburgring) With the Corvette
The latest car news, reviews, and features. The team at Chevrolet wants to have the fastest American car, and it has a specific place in mind: the Nürburgring. The Chief Engineer for the Corvette, Tony Roma, told Top Gear , 'we've done some testing, and all I can say is … stay tuned. We want to be the fastest American car – that's an accolade we'd love to have again.' Roma was referring to setting a lap time, notably a record, at the Nürburgring. Roma was being coy. A record might have already been set. The Corvette team was in Europe for three weeks in June and rented the Nürburgring. Multiple variants of the Corvette, including the ZR1 and ZR1X, were spotted lapping the 'Ring. On June 28, the Corvette Instagram account posted a brief clip of a yellow C8 Corvette blasting down a section of the Nürburgring. It's unclear if the model in the clip is a ZR1 or ZR1X, but it was moving. The caption? 'Fast as green hell. #Corvette #Nurburgring.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Corvette (@corvette) It would be weird for a global automaker to spend any amount of money or time to tease its top-shelf supercar lapping the 'Ring if it wasn't already sitting on an impressive lap time number. A number that might set a record. And that record would be a lap of less than seven minutes. Roma even acknowledged the mark to hit noting, 'None of our customers will go and run a sub-seven-minute lap time, but they want to know if they could.' At least the man in charge is aware none of this actually matters aside from bragging rights at Cars & Coffee. Currently, Ford holds the record for fastest American production car around the Nürburgring. The Blue Oval announced the Ford Mustang GTD stole the record from the Dodge Viper ACR (which died eight years ago, RIP) with a lap time of 6:57.685. That's quicker than the Porsche 911 GT3. Unsatisfied, Ford went back to the 'Ring and beat itself by 5.5 seconds with a new lap time of 6:52.072 announced in May. The C7 ZR1 never set an official lap time, and the C8 Chevy Corvette Stingray ran the 'Ring in 7:28.30 with a Z51 Performance Package in 2019. If nothing else, it's clear the measuring contest for who goes the hardest and quickest in the shortest period of time is alive an well. Sounds like we might have a new American world-beating champ here real soon. Got a tip? Send it our way at tips@
News.com.au
09-07-2025
- Automotive
- News.com.au
Horror as cars explode in fiery wreck at iconic F1 circuit
The drivers of two supercars have inexplicably walked away from one of the scariest amateur motorsport smashes seen in recent times. Footage of a high speed, fireball crash has been spreading across cyberspace in recent days after an incident at the iconic Nurbrgring track in Germany. As reported by Road And Track, the crash occurred during a fan day at northern end of the famous circuit known as the Nordschleife. According to reports, the drivers of the destroyed Porsche 911 GT3 RS and a BMW M2 were taken to hospital, but are alive and well. Safety camera footage of the incident at the high speed Nordschleife track showed the Porsche speeding up alongside the BMW at 180km/h. You can watch the harrowing footage in the video player above. The vision then shows there was contact between the vehicles as the slower BMW went slightly wide on the track at the end of a long straight. Both cars then went into the safety barrier after spinning out at high speed before they were launched into the air. The footage shows flames exploding from the cars as they rebounded to the other side of the track. Footage shared on TikTok and Instagram also shows the aftermath of the incident with the metal barrier ripped apart and still on fire minutes after the incident occurred. The burned out Porsche was seen with parts scattered across the track, with its brake assemble scattered 50m away and its front body work torn off. The BMW was also ripped apart. BMW and Porsche have received plenty of praise from motorsport fans on social media with many boggled by how the passenger cells remained assembled in the carnage, allowing the drivers to exit the cars by themselves. The incident occurred during a tourist track day session where amateur drivers are allowed to drive on the track under strict conditions, which include no racing. The official Nurburgring association has released a statement to The Drive. 'Last Saturday evening, during the tourist drives, an accident occurred involving two vehicles. The people were able to exit the vehicles on their own,' officials said. 'The safety systems of the Nürburgring Nordschleife – including guardrails, digital monitoring, and operation coordination – functioned well. 'Regardless of this, such incidents are always internally reviewed as part of our safety management. Further information falls within the responsibility of the police.' The publication reports the driver of the Porsche has since taken to social media to address the viral incident. 'Hi, I just want to inform you that I am fine and will be leaving the hospital soon,' the driver posted. 'I only have a few bruises and scratches, No fractures, no internal injuries, and the muscle pain is almost gone. I feel like Wolverine, just more overweight, uglier, and Marvel didn't hire me for Hollywood. 'The accident looked tragic. There were three impacts: first, hitting the barrier at 190 km/h, which generated nearly 50g of force; then falling to the ground, and finally, a BMW hit me again after I had fallen. 'I remember everything. I got out of the car myself, felt dizzy, and lay down on the ground. 'I have video footage of the incident. On social media, there are some edited clips that often don't show the full context. 'Many social media platforms share my private videos without my permission, which is unfortunate, but I'll see if I do anything about it. 'I don't know what happened with the BMW driver, I have no contact with him. I also don't know who was at fault. German traffic law isn't always clear, and it's up to the court to decide. 'One thing in my favour is that I was braking and waiting for him to give way, and he did. I started to overtake, and that's when he took the turn. It's similar to someone suddenly turning left on the right lane of the highway, crossing three lanes to go right. 'During recreational driving, you need to drive defensively. So, will the court decide that I did everything to avoid the incident? I don't know. I don't want to speculate. We're alive, and that's what matters.' The driver says he will not be taking part in further drive events after making the decision with his family. 'Planes also crash, yet people still fly,' he posted. 'If you do something in life, there's always a non-zero chance something could happen to you. That's just how it is. I love Nürburgring. I've done over 100 laps there. (It was my first time in a GT3RS, where I was driving slowly to warm up the tires and.... I ended up overheating them XD). 'I have to stop racing on the track because of my family. I have a wife who was without contact for three hours, and I also have a 2.5-year-old son. I have someone to live for. 'So, I won't be on the track anymore - no racing at all. Too risky. The insurance will cover the damages. Polish insurance covers during recreational driving. Thanks to everyone who helped me at that time. I'll describe the whole process someday.'
