Fun while it lasted: Porsche Panamera Turbo reportedly tops Cadillac CTS-V's 'Ring record
2010 Porsche Panamera – Click above for high-res image gallery
It's been just over a year since Cadillac captured the title of fastest production four-door car when John Heinricy circulated the Nürburgring's north loop with a CTS-V in under eight minutes. Considering the pace of leap-frogging between the Nissan GT-R, Corvette ZR1 and Viper ACR it's a bit surprising that it took this long for someone to top the super-Caddy. What's not surprising is that it was a Porsche that finally outran the CTS-V.
Now that the four-door Porsche Panamera has been thrust upon the world, it was only a matter of time before one the test drivers from Weissach brought the crown back to the fatherland. The 500-horsepower Panamera Turbo lapped the Nordschleife in 7 minutes, 56 seconds, 3 seconds faster than the Cadillac.
When Heinricy set his 7:59 time last year, it was done in an automatic CTS-V in a single hot lap at the end of a test session. With any luck, we'll see Heinricy or perhaps one of the Corvette C6.R drivers like Johnny O'Connell head back to the Eiffel mountains for another go.
Gallery: First Drive: 2010 Porsche Panamera
All Photos Copyright ©2009 Michael Harley / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: TopSpeed]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Silly Pickle 10:12AM (7/12/2009)
It may have been 3 seconds faster...but it's a whole month uglier and if I had the money, I'd take the loser in less than a second flat over this ugly duck.
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Paul P. 10:18AM (7/12/2009)
I agree 100%. The Panamera is simply not an attractive vehicle, especially next to the CTS-V. Considering the Panamera is also double the cost of a CTS-V I don't think Caddy has anything to worry about.
TigerMil 10:47AM (7/12/2009)
Not so. The Panamera is still mo' pretty than the Caddy.
And I like Leno more than that red headed stepchild Conan.
adrian 10:56AM (7/12/2009)
The black version looks like a low slung herst.
zamafir 11:09AM (7/12/2009)
Yup, I think increasingly as we hit these performance ceilings we'll finally see our enthusiast culture starting to take a more rounded approach to these cars. I'd wager the likelihood of a panamera being driven by it's owner balls out is a lot less great than that of the CTS-V (on average).
Cmicasa the GREAT 12:17PM (7/12/2009)
The Ring is anything but an actual "RING." It has serious curves and unbelievable turns. The CTS-V while certainly one of the best handling cars in the world... like the Z51/Z06/ZR1 Corvettes vs the GT-R.. simply cannot out handle on curves like what's at the Ring over an AWD car.. even with superior power. If GM figures out a way to incorporate their new XWD system into the CTS-V or Corvette... I will have to take back everything I just said.
On that note:
I've owned my CTS-V now for about 5 months and about 2K miles of absolute BLISS. The car is hands down the best performance sedan I have yet to drive. That includes the STS-V, the M5, the E63 AMG, C63AMG, M3, and Audi RS4. I paid lil over $60K for this car to sit next to my '08 Z51 and cause me to constantly ponder "which one today... the 2 door Rocket or the 4 door Missile?"
I see this Porsche and I simply ask WHY? I'm sure Porsche enthusiasts are not happy that the company has now been whored out to the masses. First the Cayenne CUV and now a four door that is as ugly as dog ***.
Kitko 12:25PM (7/12/2009)
Sorry guys, but the Cadillac is one of the ugliest cars ever. Has someone told designers that there are other things than straight rulers? There's no sophisitication to the design, no attraction, no sexiness, just bunch of lines. Panamera is not the prettiest car out there, but it's more attractive than the Cadillac.
t_bracelin 12:49PM (7/12/2009)
Could not have put it better myself old bean...
Shiftright 2:07PM (7/12/2009)
I hope the Panamera gets even faster so no one will ever be able to get a good look at it. My eyes!....
AUTOMANIAC 3:49PM (7/12/2009)
very good, the faster it goes, the less i have chance to see the thing. And what an awesome achievement!!! same time as the nsxr!!!!!..... too bad the nsxr has a 20 years old frame and 250 less bhp..
Ligor 4:47PM (7/12/2009)
not only that,
but once the CTS-V comes and beats the Porsche, Porsche will complain that they cheated adn then they'll have one of their drivers ride hte CTS-V and claim it does he ring in 8:20
Porsche is getting beat at it's own game
LMAO at Porsche and how they've become the whiner of the performance cars
anonymous j 7:34PM (7/12/2009)
Well in that case I think the M5 looks better than both and would probably be my choice, not including the price factor.
Venom 1:04AM (7/13/2009)
The Panamera is possibly one of the singe most ugliest cars on the planet.
I cannot for the life of me understand why they made this car.
They Cayenne always looked ok, but this car will never grow on me.
Jakesnake1294 6:17AM (7/13/2009)
The Porsche sets a record, but Cadillac still seems to be the winner in everyone's mind.
Here's an idea, A Cadillac that competes with the 911? (A re bodied Vette with a really nice interior. I know, the XLR. But the XLR was never intended to compete with the 911. I don't think it was intended to compete with anything, but yet it sadly lost that competition. A Corvette for the elderly maybe.
But I think Cadi has learned a lot since then and could come up with a great sports car for far less than a 911.
Bobmarley 9:22AM (7/13/2009)
WTF!!!?
its 3 seconds on an 8 minute lap!
And the porsche cost 2x more than a loaded CTS-V... so they arent even in the same category.
Lap times smap times
Chris 11:48AM (7/13/2009)
You can shave 3 seconds off that time easily if they go get a six speed manual CTS-V and run a few laps.
For God's sake...that's what they should have done in the first place.
Jono 8:11PM (7/14/2009)
@Cmicasa
The " 'ring" isn't called the ring because it's a ring.
It's a shortened version of it's name. "Nurburgring"
Pokey 10:12AM (7/12/2009)
THEY CHEATED!!!
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TigerMil 10:54AM (7/12/2009)
Kind of makes you wonder...if they tightened up the shift times for the SMG, perhaps the Porsche shifts .2 seconds per shift, that could add up to a couple seconds on a lap!!
KC 12:14PM (7/12/2009)
Better weight distribution, AWD, and hard core tires will make big differences in the 'ring. If you look at the track closely, you will notice that the track itself is full irregularities and blind corners. The key for a fast lap in the 'ring is how well the car can absorb bumps and still keep tires on the all four corners all the time. With that many blind corners, only a perfect balanced car can give driver the confidence to dive for the best corner speed; otherwise, any oversteer and understeer expectedly can shatter time trials and cage the car & the driver's ability from perform fully.