Post by MasQueRade on Aug 12, 2009 9:45:55 GMT 8
The world most dangerous and most demanding purpose-built race track appoints the Nissan GT-R as Nurburgring's Rapid Response
The famous Nurburgring, also known as the Green Hell, is a 14 mile twisty race track with 172 corners, every twist designed to test and challenge the best of the best. Thus, such a delicate track would need a (very) reliable car to be used as a 'Rapid Response' to attend to unforeseen circumstances.
The Nissan GT-R was their answer, with the back seat removed to make way for a tank full of fire-retarding foam, a fire hose in the trunk, and other flame-fighting gear, making us wish we were German firemen. And because the Rapid Response GT-R will be hustling round the 'Ring nearly as fast as Toshio Suzuki would flog it, there's a roll cage and carbon fiber Recaro race seats.
If there's one performance metric that's pure marketing hype, it has to be a vehicle's Nürburgring time. Jack Baruth brilliantly debunked this ever growing myth by saying,"Sorry. There's no "Nürburgring lap time record" for a simple reason: Real lap time records are set by real race cars, using real timing and scoring equipment, during actual competition or sanctioned practice sessions. They aren't "self-reported" for the same reason the World's Strongest Man Contest isn't held by having everyone mail in their "results" because people can, and do, lie and cheat."
It's accurate to say that certain cars generally tend to get around Green Hell faster than others. The big players lately have been the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, Dodge Viper ACR, Porsche GT2 and Godzilla, better known as the Nissan GT-R. All four of these cars can scoot around the Nürburgring in 7:30, maybe a squidge faster. Again - it really doesn't matter. But one of the reasons why automakers play up these 'Ring times so much is that the Nürburgring is regarded as one of the most difficult and challenging strips of macadam anywhere - for both car and driver. To rephrase that, there are lots of accidents
The famous Nurburgring, also known as the Green Hell, is a 14 mile twisty race track with 172 corners, every twist designed to test and challenge the best of the best. Thus, such a delicate track would need a (very) reliable car to be used as a 'Rapid Response' to attend to unforeseen circumstances.
The Nissan GT-R was their answer, with the back seat removed to make way for a tank full of fire-retarding foam, a fire hose in the trunk, and other flame-fighting gear, making us wish we were German firemen. And because the Rapid Response GT-R will be hustling round the 'Ring nearly as fast as Toshio Suzuki would flog it, there's a roll cage and carbon fiber Recaro race seats.
If there's one performance metric that's pure marketing hype, it has to be a vehicle's Nürburgring time. Jack Baruth brilliantly debunked this ever growing myth by saying,"Sorry. There's no "Nürburgring lap time record" for a simple reason: Real lap time records are set by real race cars, using real timing and scoring equipment, during actual competition or sanctioned practice sessions. They aren't "self-reported" for the same reason the World's Strongest Man Contest isn't held by having everyone mail in their "results" because people can, and do, lie and cheat."
It's accurate to say that certain cars generally tend to get around Green Hell faster than others. The big players lately have been the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, Dodge Viper ACR, Porsche GT2 and Godzilla, better known as the Nissan GT-R. All four of these cars can scoot around the Nürburgring in 7:30, maybe a squidge faster. Again - it really doesn't matter. But one of the reasons why automakers play up these 'Ring times so much is that the Nürburgring is regarded as one of the most difficult and challenging strips of macadam anywhere - for both car and driver. To rephrase that, there are lots of accidents