‘Ring record-breakers for sale | Six of the Best

In the Nurburgring’s list of official lap times, under the ‘sports car’ section, are seven cars – six of them are Porsches. The manufacturer takes the matter of going around the Nordschleife as quickly as possible very seriously indeed, and it shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. Makes sense, of course, as Porsche GT machines are typically regarded as the ultimate track day cars – and how better to prove that supremacy than a lap on the toughest circuit of all? Even after it had gone out of production, the GT2 RS (with a little bit of help from Manthey) was outrageously fast: 6:43.300 ended up being only eight seconds off the AMG One. This one gets the Manthey adjustable suspension, as well as uprated brakes (including Surface Transforms discs) and an Inconel exhaust. It’s going to be quick with a capital ‘f’.

The only other car that isn’t a Porsche in the Nurburgring’s official sports cars category (they’re pretty generous in classification, as we’ll see) is the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series. Just the plain old standard one, too – no modification or performance package was required to get to a staggering 6:48.047 in the hands of Maro Engel, which handed it boasting rights at the end of 2020. Just as the four-door GT 63 was for saloons, in fact. The speed should have surprised nobody, of course: the BS was monstrously potent (730hp from the flat-plane cranked twin-turbo V8), possessed almighty aero grip courtesy of the bad-boy bodykit, and was underpinned by motorsport grade suspension. A car that looked like it had driven off a GT2 grid couldn’t have been slow, and it certainly wasn’t. This evil-looking black-on-black example has only 1,000 miles recorded, is still under warranty until next year, and costs £390k. 

Not strictly speaking an official record breaker by the criteria laid out since 2019, but a Nurburgring legend nonetheless, the SVJ is the fastest Lamborghini road car to have ever lapped the Nordschleife. In 2018 Marco Mapelli recorded a 6:44.97 in Lamborghini’s own test run (with a full cage and Pirelli Trofeo R tyres), putting the cat among the pigeons just as he had with the Huracan Performante (6:52.01 in 2017) and Aventador SV (6:59.73 in 2015). Rumours abounded that Lamborghinis simply couldn’t be this fast, but they were up there alright, even if it took every ounce of Mapelli’s ability to achieve (the onboards really are spectacular). Faster Revueltos will come in time to usurp the SVJ, but nothing from Lamborghini will have Nurburgring shock value like the Aventador. Or like quite so good in Blu Nereid. One of 900 coupes, this 2019 example is more than the Porsche or AMG – legend status and a V12 will do that. 

Of course, it isn’t just in the sports and supercar arena where the big manufacturers duke it out for bragging rights. In the compact class – which was originally only contested by hot hatches like the Renault Sport Megane and Honda Civic Type R – Audi came swaggering in with an RS3. By the Nurburgring’s rules, it qualified as a compact, all 400hp and four-wheel drive of it. With the help of Pirelli’s P Zero Trofeo R (yes, the same tyre as the Lamborghini) and Nordschleife legend Frank Stippler, the RS3 lapped in 7:40.748 in June 2021. Which is certainly motoring, though only five seconds ahead of the 300hp-ish hot hatches – they really were as extreme as they seemed. UK buyers couldn’t get the Pirellis, though this one does benefit from the RS Dynamic Pack with ceramic discs and 180mph potential. The tyres could surely be sourced from somewhere, too – and what a weapon you’ll have on your hands then. 

Lap times are just lap times at the end of the day, but Nordschleife bragging rights were deemed important enough by BMW last year to attempt four records in one day; that wasn’t quite possible, but notably the M4 CSL did secure a 7:18.137. And they managed to get one over the old rivals at Audi, as the increasingly chunky compact class crowned a new top dog: an M2 notched up 7:38.706. An automatic car with Michelin Cup 2s and Jörg Weidinger driving, the lap actually put the BMW just a couple of tenths ahead of the fastest SUV, Porsche’s Cayenne Turbo GT (7:38.925). Imagine suggesting those times for BMW’s least powerful M car and a Porsche Cayenne just 10 years ago. This M2 certainly looks the part with the M Performance add-ons – now it just needs the right driver to do them justice…

Heard of the VW Golf that’s like a Lamborghini? That’s the Clubsport S. Also too old to be on the new, officially sanctioned records page (and its 7:47, once class-leading, would put it last in the compacts), the Clubsport S nevertheless remains a legend because it was always assumed that VW wasn’t too fussed about the Nurburgring. Then it produced one of its best cars ever when it suddenly was. That the Clubsport S must have been close to not happening at all given Dieselgate, that it was only ever sold as a three-door manual, and that it cost just £33,995 in the UK only increased the affection for it. That and the fact it was absolutely glorious to drive, adept on track and never less than absorbing on road. Which is why, like all the supercars and sports cars, a premium must be paid for the super Golf: this 2016 example is £41,995.