Porsche Accuses Nissan GT-R of Cheating at Nrburgring

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

TTAC has previously reported deep concerns about the GT-R’s ‘Ring recond. Australian Herald Sun automotive journalist Paul Gover reports that Porsche was sehr unglücklich with Nissan’s claims that its GT-R is faster around The Green Hell than Stuttgart’s mean machines. To test its suspicions, Porsche bought a GT-R in the U.S., flew it to the ‘Ring and ran its own back-to-back tests with the Japanese supercar. Porsche’s expert ‘Ring runner couldn’t get within 25 seconds of Nissan’s claimed record. Porsche also “discovered” that its 911 Turbo and GT2 were both faster around the legendary German circuit than the bonkers Nissan. “This [GT-R] wonder car with 7:29 could not have been a regular series production car,” proclaims August Achleitner, the 911 product chief for Porsche. “For us, it’s not clear how this time is possible. What we can imagine with this Nissan is they used other tyres.” Achleitner’s mob clocked the GT-R at 7 minutes 54 seconds; the 911 Turbo managed 7:38 and the GT2 lapped the track in 7:34. “The Nissan is a good car. I don’t want to make anything bad with my words,” he says. “It’s a very consistent car. But this car is about 20 kilos heavier than the Turbo… This technical puzzle now fits together. With the other numbers we had problems to understand it.”


Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Vento97 Vento97 on Sep 30, 2008

    I can see it now: Nissan GT-R, Patriot Act Special Edition...

  • Landcrusher Landcrusher on Sep 30, 2008

    How about we do something really interesting like set up a real production car race series, set some rules to keep it from becoming a huge spending contest, and let them go at it every sunday. Who knows, maybe they will sell some cars on mondays. Most modern racing is lame anyway. This would be much more interesting.

  • AllStingNoBling AllStingNoBling on Oct 01, 2008

    "I’m sure the GT-R is a fine car but give me a 911 at that price. Better history, looks and drivability." Thank you for proving the point I made earlier. Also, for all the, "Gee-Whiz & Bling," the ZR-1 is a freaking over-wrought toy. Not a car. And for the record, that see through plastic panel on the hood is as retarded as the day is long.

  • SteveDR SteveDR on Nov 20, 2008

    Last Tuesday we took a 911 GT2 (supplied by Porsche) and a Nissan GT-R (a customer car imported from Japan) and joined the RMA track day at the 'ring. Chris Harris was the driver and he drove each car for three laps (one out lap, and two flying laps). Naturally we recorded the laps on video and recorded the lap and section times on Racelogic telemetry. We are busy finishing the video and will shortly publish the feature story and full results. This is as close as you'll probably get to an independent and unbiased validation of their respective 'claimed' lap times so it will be interesting to see how this conversation goes after the results are published.

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