If the report on German magazine Sportauto is true and rally legend and Porsche test driver, Walter Röhrl, did indeed lap the Nordschleife track in 7 minutes and 56 seconds with the new Panamera Turbo, then there goes Cadillac's claim for having the fastest sedan on the block. We remind you that the 556HP CTS-V's 7:59.32 run of the Nurburgring Nordschleife in May 2008, was thought to be the fastest-ever lap time for a production sedan.

To refresh your memory, the Turbo is the fastest and most powerful version in the Panamera range. Fitted with Porsche's all-wheel drive system as standard, it is powered by a 4.8-liter turbocharged V8 that makes 500HP at 6,000 rpm and 700Nm or 516 lb-ft of torque from 2,500 to 4,500 rpm (770Nm or 567 lb-ft with overboost in conjunction with the Sports Chrono pack).

The Panamera Turbo reaches 100km/h (62mph) from rest in 4.2 sec or 4.0 sec with the Sports Chrono package, and can go on to a top speed of 303km/h or 188mph. Aside from stirring fiery conversations on forum boards and websites as well as offering Porsche some bragging rights, we can't see any other use for these lap time records. Our opinion is that, as in the case of the Nissan GT-R and the Corvette ZR1, the Nordschleife lap times shouldn't be taken seriously by the majority of people that are actually interested in buying of one of these cars.

 

Cool. if...

 

I'd still vastly prefer the CTS-V in terms of looks.

 

Impressive numbers for rather big and heavy car.

 

Very cool but I already like the car...

 

A fraction of a percent quicker than the Cadillac? OK, it's marginally down on power, but this is hardly a whuppin'.

Porsche have never been kings of aero, or horsepower freaks. Where Porsche has excelled in the past is chassis and suspension. That's how you get such quick laps from such little horsepower (they used to be about lightness as well, but that torch has passed to Lotus).

I mean, anything under 8 minutes is seriously quick, and it's clearly faster than the M5, but are are we genuinely getting excited about a time that's statistically insignificantly faster than a GM product?

 

Were there 4 people in it?

 

no,as far as I know they did the ring in 8 min 03 or less with passengers aboard and the 7 :56 was Röhrl alone

 

no surprise here, I expect the Panamera Turbo to perform better than all current sedans out there.

 

hmmm, turbo and AWD always helps