Land Rover LR3 Handles Seven People and One Full Nürburgring Lap Like a Champ

I have a long-lasting relationship with a 256 hp turbodiesel LR4 and I can tell you that if you answered with anything other than "pretty damn high," bless you, but you're wrong. So, so very wrong. It doesn't take a genius to realize this machine, though not necessarily abysmally slow, was never intended for track use. It can handle a corner just fine, but it can't deal with 170 of them coming one after another like it would have to on the Nordschleife.

If you're a YouTuber, though, it's precisely this kind of stupid - and potentially even dangerous - thing you're going to look for and film yourself while doing. On this particular occasion, we're talking about a very high concentration of YouTubers per square foot, helped in no small part by the extra two seats found at the back of the LR3.

Luckily for the six guys in search of the adventure of a lifetime, the man behind the wheel - though a YouTuber himself - is none other than Misha Charoudin, race car driver and overall Nürburgring expert, one of the most qualified people on this planet to drive any car on the renowned German track.

After setting out on the track, it's time for the first corner. The best way to describe it is "chaos personified." The six grown men inside the SUV set the tone for everything that's about to follow. "Only another twelve minutes," says Alex, the guy riding shotgun, showing a healthy dose of optimism since the LR3 surely won't be capable to complete the lap that quickly.

The first car to overtake them (and there will be many) is, somewhat fittingly, a BMW 3 Series Touring - another family car that shouldn't necessarily be on the 'Ring, though much less so than the Land Rover - hence why it overtook them.

"Can we go across the grass anywhere?" asks Mark, the one sitting in the middle seat and, by his own admission, the first to fly out of the car in case of a crash. A stupid question in most other cars, but perfectly sensible in this one. I mean, the LR3 would probably enjoy it if anything, and it's not as if cutting a corner on the green stuff is going to hurt their lap time.

It doesn't take long for Mark to realize the high potential for disaster, so he tries to do a skit where he calls his mum, presumably to tell her that he loves her just in case he never gets to see her again. The noise the rest of the bunch makes, however, is just too overwhelming so doesn't get past the "Mom!" bit before he realizes the moment has gone and puts the phone down.

You may have tried keeping track of all the cars that go past them, but that number rises very quickly. It's a lot easier (though not entirely accurate, as we'll see later on) just to say it's "all of them."

During a brief pause in the general commotion, Alex asks Misha: "talk us through, how are we doing?" The response, I'm sure, is only partly in jest: "So far, I'm surprised we're still alive." Misha realizes the potential of messing with the guys, so he declares that "this is a very rollable corner, we need to be careful" as they approach the mildest of bends in the track. "Oh, f**k, f**k!" he goes, needlessly moving the steering wheel from side to side and making a lot more of the situation than necessary.

They soon come across a pair of touring motorcycles casually strolling on the track so, having found a potentially slower vehicle (at least in the corners), the guys promptly start yelling "Get out of the way!" They do come close to overtaking one of the bikes, but as soon as they hit a straight, their chances quickly turn to zero.

Alex decides it's time for a different approach and takes aim at Misha's ego in a desperate attempt to go faster - as if this was a driver problem, not a car problem: "Misha, you need to get those motorbikes, they mugged you off," he says. "He was laughing at you," another one of the guys adds, throwing gasoline on the fire. Sure enough, a few corners later the motorcycles are back in view. So close, and yet still so far away.

"There are almost no brakes, just so you know," Misha informs everyone just as a white Nissan GT-R "quietly" passes them by. A few moments later, it's time for a Porsche 911 GT3 RS in full racing livery, and you just have to wonder what must be going through those people's minds as they see an old Land Rover LR3 with seven guys inside huffing and puffing on the track barely doing more than 100 mph (160 km/h) on the longest straight. To be fair, though, as cool and capable as those cars are, I doubt whoever was in them was having more fun than these guys.

Another bike shows up - it looks like two-wheeled vehicles are Big Pete's - the LR3's name - only potential victims. As the motorcycle is reeled in, the boys can smell blood. "Oh, are we gonna do an overtake?" The build-up to the glorious moment begins as the guys cheer for every disappearing inch between them and their prey. It all culminates in a rupture of chanting and applause that sees Misha take one hand off the wheel (well, he was only doing 70 mph - 112 km/h - so no harm in that) and use it to block his ear.

There's no time to enjoy the victory, however, as another potential victim presents itself. Is it anything even remotely fast? Nope, just a pink Mini Cooper. Well, it should definitely be quicker around a track than an old LR3 with roughly 1,200 extra pounds (560 kg) on board in human flesh and bones. Being a rental, I suspect this is a case of a better driver making the most of a lesser vehicle. Speaking of the driver, knowing what follows a successful overtake, Misha wastes no time covering his ear in advance as Mark shamelessly starts chanting "Champions!"


To be fair to them, they did take the famous "Carousel" corner like champions: windows open, arms out, screaming. By this time, the laughing has gone up at least one octave as the guys are slowly but surely running out of breath from way too much giggling.

The only thing they seem to enjoy more than overtaking is going off the track, which, as soon as Misha notices the effect it has on his passengers, happens a lot more often than it normally should, even when driving an SUV.

"Misha, it's probably best if you keep your eyes on the road," Mark says, and if he was talking to anyone else driving any other car, he'd probably be right. But since it's Misha, who knows the Nürburgring like the palm of his hand and could probably cruise it better blindfolded than most people with their eyes wide open, and they're in a Land Rover LR3 that hardly went over 100 mph (160 km/h) despite being driven flat out for pretty much all of the time, I'd say they're OK with him looking anywhere else from time to time.

Sooner or later, even an old Land Rover has to reach the end of the lap (though some might have expected it to return on the back of a flatbed), which meant the boys' fun was about to end. However, there's always time for another motorcycle overtake. "This thing eats bikes," one of the guys says emphatically, and even though he was obviously joking, it was also strangely true.

For once, a lap of the Nürburgring was zero percent about getting the best possible time, and 100 percent about having the most fun. Usually, the percentage split between the two is a lot more balanced, but here, it's a landslide. I'd say everyone involved deserves our sincere thanks for sharing this experience with the rest of us since it is highly unlikely that we'd be able to be part of anything similar in any other - hopefully more real - way.