Setting the record at the Nurburgring ruins cars…”
– James May
Yes, Captain Slow argued his point in the first season of their new show, The Grand Tour. He said that cars developed in the Nurburgring – like the BMW M4 GTS – turns out to be crap cars in real world use. And Clarkson agrees.
photo courtesy: carbuzz.com
At some point, we sort of agree. The Porsche 911 GT3 RS is a splendid car driven at the limit. However, with the rear seats replaced with scaffolding, it is as stiff as Rocco Siffredi. Therefore, if you take it on a B-road, it shall rock your fillings out. The Mercedes AMG C63 S is a terrible car compared to the last C63 (W204) when it comes to comfort. Because AMG decided that it now wanted to produce BMWs.
But since I am always at an argument with myself, I also disagree. Because the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio works. It currently holds the lap record for the fastest saloon at 7:32. And yet, it rides beautifully; approaching Jaguar XE S levels of fluidity with an alacrity only found on Ferraris. Oh, and the Stelvio Quadroformaggio lapped with a blistering – for an SUV – 7:51. And that works fairly well on the road, too.
And we all know that the Porsche 918 and McLaren P1 work very well on the road. Because anything above £850,000 should.
Hmm… So what are we really getting to here? Oh yeah. The much awaited Lamborghini Aventador SVJ will pack north of 800 bhp from the aging 6.5-liter V12. And it reportedly lapped the ‘Ring at 6:54 which is almost seven seconds slower than the Porsche 911 GT2 RS. Albeit not in an optimum condition.
Recently, the Volkswagen AG kids have been battling it out. The Porsche 918 Spyder held the record for four years – it has already been that long? – before the Lamborghini Huracan Performante broke it. And that Huracan does not work well on the road, either.
So, lets hope and pray that after breaking the record, that the Aventador SVJ will not break our spine.
