Nurburg Testing Q:

[styla21]

So i'm trying to brush up on my general Nurburgring knowledge, and doing the odd comparison between cars performance. Also the GT-R banter going on around here made me wonder about that car specifically, and led to this question.

When testing (and reporting) purported Nurburgring lap times, are *production* cars tested as stock - including the speed limiter? There is a big difference between a car hovering at 155mph, and 200... Also how do Japanese / American / Euro cars differ in this respect?

Thanks in advance for any help. :-)

[HeilSvenska]

I think you're talking just about production cars. There's too many variables to actually say that Ring times are a reliable measurement of performance. But then again, I think they do give you the general idea of where the car's performance is compared to the others.

All those times are done under different conditions, by different drivers, who all drive differently (I presume).

But I think it's safe to say that there are no difference in testing Japanese / American / Euro cars at the Ring.
I don't think too many cars with Ring times have limiters in the first place. And 155mph limit isn't that restrictive.

[79TA]

My guess is if they are trying to set a lap time for bragging rights, the car probably doesn't have its speed limiter on. If the speed limiter were a factor, then they might as well just report a bunch of sector times that were unaffected.

[RC45]

The reason I think that Northloop times are very relevant (while probably not directly comparable) is because this track, like no other in the world, mirrors the backroads most every sports car finds itself on weekend in and out around the world.

On tracks like this we learn that - for example - on a bumpy backroad an Enzo can be a deadly missile at the limit, while a Carrera GT would just be extremely scary ;)

[styla21]

My guess is if they are trying to set a lap time for bragging rights, the car probably doesn't have its speed limiter on. Right on. This is sort of my point.. It's difficult to tell what level of 'stock' the cars are tested at. Maybe Sport Auto and others mags who test here disclose this, i'm just not familiar with it.

If the speed limiter were a factor, then they might as well just report a bunch of sector times that were unaffected. Exactly. :-)
The difference of speed-limit-removal, and some slick-cut tyres makes the car a completely different performer, to that of the car in its stock trim.

[HeilSvenska]

When testing (and reporting) purported Nurburgring lap times, are *production* cars tested as stock - including the speed limiter? There is a big difference between a car hovering at 155mph, and 200...
Oh, you just changed that when I changed my response.

Well. Let's just look at some cars with speed limiters that we have times for.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordschleife_fastest_lap_times

M3 CSL can do over 155mph, and you can get the limiter deleted, so its Ring time must be fine. SLR McLaren's also delimited, so that's fine. X5 LM was just a concept, so I assume it was delimited. CLK DTM is delimited. CLK Black Series was speed limit was raised to 300 km/h, and I don't know if it can reach that in the straight, possibly not. The new M3? RS4? M5? I don't know. Ring times are weird things.