REPORT: Gumpert Apollo Sport sets new production car lap "record" at Nürburgring
Gumpert Apollo Sport at the Nurburgring - Click above for high-res image gallery
Porsche GT2? Get lost. Godzilla? Scram. Corvette ZR1? Take a hike. Dodge Viper ACR? Nothing but a big sissy. There's a new sheriff in Nordschleifeland and its name is Apollo, Gumpert Apollo. Actually, the proper name is Gumpert Apollo Sport, and on August 13, one piloted by a 26-year-old named Florian Gruber ran around the Nurburgring in 7:11:57, shattering all the other production car "records" by eleven seconds or more. Dang, right? What makes the Apollo sport so fraggin' fast you ask? How does a 700-hp, twin-turbo'd Audi 4.2-liter FSI V8 strike you? Makes a bit more sense suddenly that little David here was able to chop down all those Goliaths, right? Anyhow, hats off to Mr. Gruber, Mr. Gumpert and the rest of the crew. Here's hoping that one day some sort of governing body sanctions 'Ring times. And we won't say a word to Radical and their "record."
Gallery: Gumpert Apollo Sport Nurburgring
[Source: World Car Fans]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
RX-8 3:25PM (8/18/2009)
Doesnt really suprise me. It has the Top Gear Record by quite a bit.
Now please dont post anymore about the Nissan GTR shaving a few hundreths off their 7:26. Wake me up when they beat this one.
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Proud Japanese 3:34PM (8/18/2009)
Still not as fast as a radical SR8 which is technically road legal as well.
catchmyshadow 3:44PM (8/18/2009)
correction, the Radical RS8 normally is a pure racecar and the RS8 that drove under 7 minutes only had a british single vehicle approval, but no official (german) street legal licence, which is far more stringent. the gumpert is street legal everywhere, the radical not.
catchmyshadow 3:45PM (8/18/2009)
SR8 RS8
Proud Japanese 4:33PM (8/18/2009)
Due to EU regulations anything that is road legal is road legal in the whole of EU. That's enough for me.
sparrk 5:42PM (8/18/2009)
"Due to EU regulations anything that is road legal is road legal in the whole of EU. That's enough for me."
it may be enough for you , but it's not true, the Brits drive crazy things, you can even buy a tank and drive it legally there. laws in Europe are not the same everywhere. in Germany many laws differ from state to state like in the US.
anyway , i think the fastest road legal car today is the Caparo T1.
Imag 9:12PM (8/18/2009)
Sparrk - you're right on the Caparo. It's a two-seat F1 car. No one else need even apply.
tankd0g 12:05AM (8/19/2009)
So you're saying if a car is not sold in the USA the lap doesn't count? Yeah...
rolly5019 3:25PM (8/18/2009)
I still cant get over how hideous that car looks
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sparrk 3:31PM (8/18/2009)
but it has so much inner beauty and personality ! i love this Quasimodo !
Redline 4:36PM (8/18/2009)
This car would smack you if you called it ugly. Or pretty.
Eric Bandholz 4:13PM (8/19/2009)
It can outrun every car, but it can't outrun ugly.
knapps 3:26PM (8/18/2009)
Why am I not surprised that you linked to Jack Baruth's article yet again? Please stop writing for Autoblog and go work for SpeedSportLife.
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adam1drift 4:02PM (8/18/2009)
wow!
BigMcLargeHuge 4:06PM (8/18/2009)
Lieberman, you're being a frigging troll with that junk.
Porsche was full of crap. End of story.
SSL uses racing heritage and power/weight as the only arguments as to why Porsche had to be right.
The Gumpert has no racing heritage. Complaints? Absent.
FYI, Porsche just got a 7:56 with a 4,300lb car. Weaker and heavier than the CTS-V. Porsche shouldn't be saying a go**ammed thing about power/weight.
http://www.gtrcenter.net/?p=2735
Aki 6:33PM (8/18/2009)
Wish they'd get rid of him or discipline the guy, he keeps linking to some completely no-name blog that spews baseless fanboy garbage.
So can you explain, in detail, how exactly these times are incorrectly timed? Maybe show how the stop/starting points are off, what type of device(s) they used to measure the time and the flaws in the methodology?
Of course not, you just link to stuff, 80% of which comes from your buddy Jack.
katshot 3:26PM (8/18/2009)
Every time I see the words "production car lap record" in print with regards to yet another 'Ring time, it makes me laugh. When is this joke going to stop? When are people going to say enough BS already?
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Geep 3:32PM (8/18/2009)
Massive amount of power and all but a race car, I'm not that impressed. We know its its a well designed and tuned car since top gear had an Apollo but "production" is about as close as you can get to comparing it with those other cars.
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sparrk 4:06PM (8/18/2009)
what about the Viper ACR, Maserati MC12, Zonda F, Ferrari Enzo then ? what do those cars have that the Apollo doesn't ?
xmdfmk7x 3:31PM (8/18/2009)
I wasn't aware that this "production car" was anywhere near mass market production. How many have they made and sold?
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