Lamborghini Has Defended Its Performante Nurburgring Lap Time With Data

Mere hours after Lamborghini bagged the production car lap record at the Nurburgring via a stunning run in its new Huracan Performante, claims of foul play arose.

You can see why: manufacturers have been known to lay claim to records and amazing lap times through dubious means. Some have added up sector times to get an overall figure. Nissan infamously used a host of modifications to help the Nismo GT-R on to its 7min 8sec lap, belatedly overing them as a kit for existing owners. And Lamborghini? It found various bloggers and vloggers pointing out that the speedometer figures at many points of the lap were not just slower than the Porsche 918 Spyder, but also slower than the Aventador SV during its 6min 59sec run a couple of years ago.

Lamborghini has now responded. At the Geneva Motor Show this week Roadshow were shown the full Vbox GPS log of the lap, displaying its legitimacy and ruling out any theories of adding up sector times. Maurizio Reggiani - Lamborghini’s Director of Research and Development - said that the Huracan’s speedometer is fed from GPS information rather than wheel speed, giving inconsistent results. Furthermore, he explained that the Performante makes up for its lower top speed relative to the Aventador SV through better acceleration and an ability to carry more speed out of corners.

Another claim was that the Performante was running slicks, arising from the lack of tyre squeal in the lap video. Reggiani re-iterated what Pirelli has already said - the Performante ran a set of Trofeo Rs bespoke to the hot Huracan, which will be available to buyers as an option.

Rumours of fakery will die down but no doubt rumble away in the background whatever Lamborghini says. More to the point, this whole saga demonstrates the issue with car manufacturers and Nurburgring lap times. Without an independent body to oversee the process and verify times, the concept is flawed. And anyway, despite all the attention we give ‘Ring times, do they really matter? Do they ever make you want a car more than you already do?

Discuss…