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Ladies and gentlemen of the Internet, please stand up for the fastest production car to ever ride the Nürburgring. At 5 p.m. on November 4, German driver Maro Engel set a lap time of 6m 43.616 in the new Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series, beating the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ by just over a second and the Porsche 911 GT2. RS for about four seconds.
Mercedes tells us that for the record attempt, which took place on a cold day on a track that was “not yet totally dry,” it made full use of the adjustable suspension and aerodynamics of the Black Series. He extended the front splitter on the Black to the ‘Race’ position and adjusted the upper and lower blades of the rear wing to their mid position.
Meanwhile, he set the adjustable stabilizer bars to their stiffer position, marked -3.8 and -3 degrees of sag on the front and rear axles respectively, and lowered the adjustable coilover suspension by 5mm and 3mm front / rear to “improve. the venturi effect of the front diffuser. ”He states that“ customers can also take advantage of all these configurations and variations. ”If those customers are handy with a set of keys, of course.
Engel set the nine-stage traction control system to position six or seven “depending on the section of road.” And for the lap, the Black used standard-fit Michelin “Pilot Sport Cup 2 R MO” tires.
Today, attempts to set a record lap time on the ‘Ring are governed by a strict set of rules to keep everyone on an equal footing. Vehicles and tires are inspected “with respect to their series production condition”, sophisticated timekeeping equipment must be used and an independent notary must be present to verify that the manufacturers are behaving.
Vehicles are classified into the categories defined by the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (black is a “sports car”) and are registered twice. The one quoted on the ‘Ring website is for the full 20,832km circuit. However, manufacturers tend to quote times for the 20.6km circuit, which Mercedes says “has been the measure of all things” for years. The shortest lap has different start and finish lines, so if you think about it, it’s not really a lap.
The time has come for the 20.6 km route that we mentioned at the beginning of this article. The Black’s lap time for the 20.832km circuit is 6m 48.047s. It remains a record for the fastest “production car” to ever lap the Nürburgring.
But the Black isn’t the fastest “road legal sports car” the Ring has ever run. That honor goes to a modified Porsche 911 GT2 RS by Manthey Racing, which in early 2018 set a time of 6m 40.3s (6m 44.749s for the 20,832km track).
