10 Performance Cars The New Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Hybrid Unexpectedly Beat Around The Nurburgring

For the first time ever, a production Porsche 911 is now available with a hybrid powertrain. Porsche has replaced the beloved 911 Carrera GTS, which was easily the best all-rounder in the 911 range, with a new hybrid model that will continue to use the GTS name. As you can imagine, the air-cooled and water-cooled fanboys were ecstatic that they finally had something they could agree on and complain about, but Porsche preempted their strike by sending the new hybrid to the Green Hell and setting an impressive lap time.

According to Porsche, the new GTS beat its ICE-only predecessor by 8.7 seconds. While it was there, it also beat the 992.1 Turbo S’ time. It was less than a second faster, but a win is a win.

With that in mind, we set out to see what other famous sports cars and supercars it embarrassed around the Green Hell. The times you see below all completed the same 12.94-mile lap of the track as the 911 GTS, in the hands of a professional driver. The driver behind the wheel of the GTS was Porsche brand ambassador and regular Nürburgring driver, Jorg Bergmeister.

10

C8 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray – 7:29.90

It’s surprising that the C8 Corvette Stingray is more than 10 seconds slower around the ‘Ring than the 911 GTS. The latest ‘Vette is a mid-engine car, and it’s certainly not down on power, but alas. This particular test was conducted by General Motors, and the car was equipped with the Z51 Performance Package. Five-time Le Mans class winner and Corvette factory driver Oliver Gavin was behind the tiller.

While the standard C8’s time is still ridiculously fast, it failed to surpass the fastest Corvette to ever go around the Green Hell. That distinction belongs to the C7 Z06, which set a time of 7:13.90 in 2017.

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It’s odd that Chevy hasn’t been back to the Nürburgring to see what the latest versions of the C8 can do. The range now consists of a hybrid with all-wheel drive, and a reverse-engineered Ferrari 458 Speciale. Perhaps the American automaker is waiting for the introduction of the next-generation ZR1, which is officially making its debut this summer.

9

Ferrari 812 Superfast – 7:27.48

The 12Cilindri is Ferrari’s latest flagship, but it hasn’t been to the Nürburgring yet. It’s actually rare for a Ferrari to complete laps at the ‘Ring, as most of its testing is done at its own track where Formula 1 cars are also developed.

The 12Cilindri’s predecessor, the 812 Superfast, wasn’t a slouch, however. Powered by a naturally aspirated V12, it recorded a 7:27.48 lap time in 2018, with Christian Gebhardt of Sport Auto at the helm. It was a mighty lap, yet the new 911 GTS beat it by more than 10 seconds.

8

KTM X-Bow RR – 7:25.72

The KTM X-Bow is the perfect tool for the job. It’s a track-focused, open-top track toy built around a lightweight carbon tub, tipping the scales at only 1,896 pounds, which is much lighter than the Mazda Miata MX-5.

Thanks to an impressive power-to-weight ratio, it lapped the Nürburgring in 7:25.72 in 2012, with professional Christopher Haase behind the steering wheel on behalf of KTM.

You’d expect this time to be much faster, but these open-top track day specials all have a chink in their armor. They’re not aerodynamically efficient, which lowers the top speed considerably compared to something with a fixed roof. The ‘Ring has loads of long sections where you can keep a car pinned, and that’s likely where the KTM lost time.

7

Tesla Model S Plaid – 7:25.231

With four-digit horsepower and torque, the Tesla Model S Plaid has become a favorite among speed hunters. It frequents drag strips and racetracks as a performance EV that’s not to be messed with.

In 2023, the top-spec Tesla equipped with a $20,000 track pack (forged aluminum wheels, carbon-ceramic brakes, and Goodyear high-performance tires) recorded a 7:25.231 lap time with Andreas Simonsen (a Swedish racing driver) behind the wheel. It clinched the fastest, road-legal electric sedan title at the time, taking it away from Porsche. Porsche hit back with the Taycan Turbo GT, which beat the Plaid by 18 seconds.

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6

Ferrari Enzo – 7:25.21

The Ferrari Enzo may be over two decades old, but that doesn’t mean it already lags behind more modern supercars in terms of performance. Introduced in 2002, its naturally aspirated V12 makes 651 hp and 485 lb-ft, allowing the former flagship Ferrari to sprint to 60 mph in just 3.1 seconds and reach a top speed of 221 mph. These numbers are still impressive by today’s standards. The Enzo even beat the more modern 812 Superfast we looked at earlier. Time has definitely been kind to the Enzo.

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Still, the evolution of sports cars can’t be ignored. The Enzo used to be the peak of automotive performance, but now it’s easily thrashed by a mid-spec Porsche 911. The one thing we do wonder about is tires. Tires play a massive role in a car’s performance, and Pirelli recently unveiled a new range of tires aimed at icons like the Enzo, F50, and F40. We’d love to see these cars set a lap using these tires, or we’ll just have to wait for the new halo Ferrari to arrive.

5

Pagani Zonda F Clubsport – 7:24.44

Named after motorsports legend Juan Manual Fangio, the Pagani Zonda F is one of the priciest cars on this list, with each of the 25 examples built valued at $15 million. The Clubsport is the lightweight version of the Zonda, and it boasts several aerodynamic enhancements, including a slippery front end, an updated rear spoiler, and even smaller side mirrors that cut through the air like a hot knife through butter.

Pagani also offered customers carbon-ceramic brakes as an option, and we’re willing to bet that 100% of the 25 customers took up this offer. It allows the car to brake harder without any kind of fade.

4

Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S 4MATIC+ – 7:23.009

Despite being porky at 4,513 lbs, the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S is still the quickest four-door Mercedes-AMG at the Nürburgring, recording a time of 7:23.009 in 2020. Demian Schaffert was the Mercedes-Benz driver for the test, pulling all the power from a twin-turbo 4.0L V8 that made 630 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque. It was a remarkable performance, but it was a bit short compared to the 911 Hybrid.

Then again, two-door Mercedes-AMG GT models are still quicker than the electrified Porsche 911, particularly the AMG GT Black Series, which recorded a lap time of under seven minutes, making it one of the 10 fastest cars to ever go around the Green Hell.

3

Nissan GT-R – 7:19.1

The Nissan GT-R is one of the most coveted sports cars of all time, and rightfully so. The Godzilla has stepped up from being a JDM legend into a supercar in its own right, with the aging R35 generation still proving its mettle compared to its contemporaries. The two-door Japanese sports coupe has visited the Nürburgring multiple times, but its quickest lap time was recorded at 7:19.1 in 2013. Nissan test driver Toshio Suzuki was behind the wheel of that record-setting run.

We include it in this list because the GT-R was designed to beat the 911 Turbo, which it did. Now that it’s nearly two decades old, it has been beaten by a 911 hybrid.

2

Jaguar XE SV Project 8 – 7:18.361

Limited to 300 examples worldwide, the XE SV Project 8 is the most powerful road-legal Jaguar ever. Its supercharged 5.0L V8 produces 592 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. Each example was hand-assembled in Jaguar’s SVO Technical Center in the UK.

But the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 is extra special because it’s the reigning quickest sedan at the Nürburgring. In 2019, a version equipped with the production-spec Track Pack recorded a 7:18.361 lap time, taking the record from itself. With Vincent Radermecker driving for Jaguar for the test, that feat was mighty impressive but still a hair short of the 911 Hybrid’s sub-7:17 performance.

1

BMW M4 CS (7:17.215)

The new BMW M4 CS is the latest special M4 to come out of Munich, standing as a middle ground between the M4 Competition and the hardcore (and extremely rare) M4 CSL. Despite not being the top-spec model, the M4 CS was extremely quick at the Nürburgring, beating everyone on this list with its recorded 7:17.08 lap time, or just a few seconds slower than the M4 CSL. Joerg Weidinger was the driver during the recently concluded BMW-sanctioned test. Despite this, the M4 CS is still slower than the Porsche 911 Hybrid, but only just. That means the $123k BMW is quite a bargain compared to the 2025 GTS, which starts at roughly $165k.