what car set the fastest time around the nurburgring....

I'd guess F40 or F50. I think they would be better at the turns given the higher down force than a McLaren F1.

 

Google is your friend: Dodge Viper or maybe Diablo perhaps ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nürburgring_Nordschleife_lap_times

 

one can't just pick a point in time to find a car without nannies. Automobile technology is in constant development, just about everything in a car has advanced through better materials and design. Power output of engines has increased from what once was considered as maximum at the time may now be half of what a similar motor is producing. The list goes on. A 20 year old car without nannies cannot be compared to a current car without nannies and expect some sort of parity in performance. Current cars (without nannies, if there is such a car ) blow all previous designs away whether at the Nurburgring or not.

 

I'm not sure there have been any timed runs on the F40, F50, or F1 around the ring. FWIW, the F40 LM/GTE (3 of them) out-qualified the McLaren F1 GTRs at the 1995 LeMans which is another big track. That track size may also make comparisons between cars more fair unlike ovals or small road courses where there can be too much favoritism to a certain type of car.

 

Fastest car around Nurburgring is the Porsche 959 by Stephan Bello.
I think it was 6:11

 

I think you mean 956 by Bellof, but yes.

BMW Sauber ran an F1 car there for promotional purposes and stopped several times for photos. Their estimated time by their calculations would've been 5:15.

 

that seems absurdly fast for a road car, especially of that era. perhaps 8:11?

 

Based on that Wikipedia list, the Ferrari 355 at 8:13? (Has ABS though)
I don't know if the Caterham or KTM X-Bow have traction control or not...

Just informally perusing everything above it, I believe all the cars have traction control. Would love be to be proven wrong though..it's a great question.

 

An F40 doesn't have ABS?

 

I do not think so...

 

KTM X-Bow / 7:25.72 / Christopher Haase

No ABS/No Traction Control/No ESP

Would take the F40 any day, The KTM X-Bow is just for clock chasers.

hope this helps, again - great question.

 

Interestingly enough - I always pondered this statement from Porsche's head of GT (they happen to hold the Nurburgring lap record for a production car too, so it's not sour grapes)

...to be honest with you, if you have a car with the perfect setup for the Nurburgring, it will be a dog on the street and everywhere else.”
Porsche GT boss Andreas Preuninger

that's why I've always taken 'Ring times as an interesting data point, but may not be a good 'benchmark' for driving enjoyment.

 

My choice would be the Caterham R500 Superlight for a sub 8 minutes.Nearest thing to the FF1600 i raced there back in the day..'79

 

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