Photo: Porsche
Porsche unveiled the facelift of the 911 Turbo and Turbo S at this year’s Detroit Auto Show.
During the presentation, the Turbo S version was announced along with a 7 minute and 18 seconds Nurburgring time. While the specified time is impressive, to say the least, the statement was surprising coming in the context of the track’s famed speed restrictions.
The Americans at Car&Driver solved the mystery for everyone through an interview with the boss of engineering of the Porsche 911 Turbo program, Erhard Mossle. As the American publication notes, the official only smiled when first asked about the Nurburgring statement, but eventually elaborated on the topic.
It turns out that Porsche did not get their 7:18 Nurburgring time in a single go of the famed racetrack, considered the most dangerous track in the world. The Porsche official admitted that the announced time includes a bit of digital simulation. By “digital simulation” he means that the company did what some of its competitors did when announcing Nurburgring record lap times, and a bit more.
Porsche clocked the new 911 Turbo S on the Nurburgring, section by section. After the test drivers were satisfied with their times, the company’s engineers then compared intermediate sections to the results of the previous model.
However, since some sections of the Nurburgring had speed restrictions, Porsche used computer simulation to estimate how fast its latest 911 Turbo S would be on the track. Because of this simulation, Porsche avoided mentioning the time in the press release regarding the new 911 Turbo S.
Instead of being upset or irritated, Porsche made us curious, because the brand official stated that the company made “very conservative” estimates of track times. What’s more, the 911 Turbo S used for obtaining those times had standard tires, not “sports tires.”
Therefore, Erhard Mossle is “sure to meet the 7:18 Nurburgring time.” He even said that the car could be even faster than that with proper sports tires.
The interview does not specify if the official is talking about semi-slicks or just the sportiest street tires available on the market.
We’ll find out more this spring, when Porsche takes the new 911 Turbo S to the Nurburgring for real, without speed restrictions and simulations.
The Americans at Car&Driver solved the mystery for everyone through an interview with the boss of engineering of the Porsche 911 Turbo program, Erhard Mossle. As the American publication notes, the official only smiled when first asked about the Nurburgring statement, but eventually elaborated on the topic.
It turns out that Porsche did not get their 7:18 Nurburgring time in a single go of the famed racetrack, considered the most dangerous track in the world. The Porsche official admitted that the announced time includes a bit of digital simulation. By “digital simulation” he means that the company did what some of its competitors did when announcing Nurburgring record lap times, and a bit more.
Porsche clocked the new 911 Turbo S on the Nurburgring, section by section. After the test drivers were satisfied with their times, the company’s engineers then compared intermediate sections to the results of the previous model.
However, since some sections of the Nurburgring had speed restrictions, Porsche used computer simulation to estimate how fast its latest 911 Turbo S would be on the track. Because of this simulation, Porsche avoided mentioning the time in the press release regarding the new 911 Turbo S.
Instead of being upset or irritated, Porsche made us curious, because the brand official stated that the company made “very conservative” estimates of track times. What’s more, the 911 Turbo S used for obtaining those times had standard tires, not “sports tires.”
Therefore, Erhard Mossle is “sure to meet the 7:18 Nurburgring time.” He even said that the car could be even faster than that with proper sports tires.
The interview does not specify if the official is talking about semi-slicks or just the sportiest street tires available on the market.
We’ll find out more this spring, when Porsche takes the new 911 Turbo S to the Nurburgring for real, without speed restrictions and simulations.
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