Porsche Admits That New 911 Turbo S’ 7:18 ‘Ring Lap Time Was Partly Simulated

Porsche says that the new 911 Turbo can lap the Nurburgring in 7:18, even though apparently it never did or at least not in full.

Now, before you go all rogue on Porsche for announcing what it may seem like misinformation, bear in mind that it did test and time the car, though there are some digital simulations in the number it announced.

To explain, due to the Nurburgring’s two speed restrictions – following a fatal crash last year, Porsche couldn’t run an entire lap at full speed, so the German car manufacturer added calculated data which resulted into the 7:18 time, as Erhard Mössle, the 911 Turbo’s engineering boss, said in an interview with Car&Driver at the Detroit Auto Show:

“Some parts are driven and compared to the previous 911 Turbo and the [speed-] limited sections where you’re not allowed to do top speed are calculated. We will then go and check it later this year in spring when the speed limits are removed. But the 7:18 we are sure to meet; we are normally very conservative with times and that time was set on the standard tires, not sports tires.”

So, the 911 Turbo’s lap-time on the Green Hell could very well go below the estimated value, considering this is not the first time Porsche releases “conservative performance figures”. Nevertheless, the “registered” run is impressive, beating the Nissan GT-R, Corvette ZR1, Viper ACR, Maserati MC12, Enzo, and the list goes on and on…