These are the Fastest Cars Around the Nürburgring in Every Category

Nürburgring lap times. Love them or hate them, for some manufacturers they’re now just as important for bragging rights as the old reliables of top speed and 0-62mph time. We always hear about it when the outright production car record gets broken, but there are plenty more sub-records that various manufacturers vie for around the fearsome 12.9-mile German circuit.

The official track record keepers divide the record runs up into a whole host of different categories for different types of cars, from pure dedicated prototypes to electric SUVs, and these are the cars that come out on top in each individual category.

Prototypes/pre-production vehicles: Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo

5:19.546 (Timo Bernhard, 29/06/2018)

Essentially a loose category for purpose-built one-offs and dedicated racing machines, it’s no wonder that the record in this category is also the outright lap record around the Nordschleife. Eight years on from its record-setting run, that still belongs to the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo, effectively a version of Porsche’s old LMP1 Le Mans racer freed from racing restrictions and therefore able to produce around 1,144bhp and so much downforce it’s at risk of punching a hole in the ground. 

Its 5:19.546 lap remains leaps and bounds ahead of anything else that’s been around the circuit, with the next car in its class, the electric Pikes Peak record-holding Volkswagen ID.R, some 46 seconds off the pace at 6:05.336.

Super sports cars (combustion): Mercedes-AMG One

6:29.090 (Maro Engel, 23/09/2024)

The fastest road-legal thing to ever go around the circuit remains the Mercedes-AMG One, not a huge surprise given that it packs an adapted version of a fully-fledged hybrid Formula 1 powertrain. The 1,049bhp hypercar had a long and troubled gestation, but being the fastest production car around the ’Ring by a healthy margin of nearly 10 seconds isn’t a bad legacy.

The only other car in its ‘super sports cars’ class is… the Mercedes-AMG One. The car had already set the outright production record back in 2022, but went back out and bested it a couple of years later.

Super sports cars (electric): Yangwang U9 Xtreme

6:59.157 (Moritz Kranz, 22/08/2025)

When it comes to road cars, the ’Ring separates combustion-powered machines and EVs into separate categories, and in the electric subset of the super sports cars class, it’s the Yangwang U9 Xtreme that currently takes the honours. This quad-motor electric sports car, made by a sub-brand of Chinese car manufacturing giant BYD and producing a mind-bending 2,977bhp, made plenty of headlines in 2025 when it also hit 308mph to become the (unofficial) fastest production car in the world.

The ’Ring lap was another feather in its cap that particular year, snatching the electric super sports car record from the Rimac Nevera by around six seconds.

Sports cars (combustion): Porsche 911 GT2 RS with Manthey Performance Kit (991)

6:43.300 (Lars Kern, 14/06/2021)

The Manthey-kitted version of the Porsche 911 GT2 RS holding this particular record raises a few questions about how the Nürburgring classifies a ‘production’ car. This is, after all, arguably a modified car, for which the ’Ring has a separate class (of which more in a bit), but because the Manthey kit is fully Porsche-approved, it’s able to count as a regular production model.

Semantics aside, it’s little surprise that it’s the record holder in its class. The 991 GT2 RS is already the most hardcore Porsche 911 to date, with 690bhp from its 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six, and the Manthey kit builds further on its already extreme aero as well as adding a suite of lightweight components and track-honed coilover suspension. It helps that the Nürburgring is practically Manthey’s back yard, too.

SUVs (combustion): Audi RS Q8 Performance

7:36.698 (Frank Stippler, 10/06/2024)

Yes, even SUVs have their own class (well, technically, they’re lumped in with vans and pickup trucks too, but last time we checked, nobody’s been brave enough to attempt a record lap in a Transit or a Hilux yet).

For combustion-powered machines in this class, the record currently belongs to the Audi RS Q8 Performance, a 631bhp juggernaut that can hit 62mph in 3.6 seconds. Optional electromechanical active roll stabilisation, a torque-shuffling centre diff and carbon ceramic brakes all help it keep its massive 2.3-tonne heft in check.

SUVs (electric): Xiaomi YU7 GT with Track Package

7:22.755 (Vincent Radermecker, 02/04/2026)

Unsurprisingly, it’s a Chinese brand that holds another EV record with the Track Package-equipped Xiaomi YU7 GT not only the fastest electric SUV, but the fastest SUV full-stop, around the ’Ring.

Built on the same box of bits as the headline-grabbing 1,527bhp SU7 Ultra saloon, the YU7 GT isn’t quite as powerful at ‘only’ 989bhp, but this twin-motor SUV still gets a suite of aero bits, two-valve adaptive dampers and carbon-ceramic brakes. It’s currently a China-only model, although Xiaomi, which started out as a smartphone maker and has only been building cars since late 2023, has its eyes on a European market entry.

Executive cars (combustion): Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid

7:24.172 (Lars Kern, 12/07/2024)

Despite being a roughly 2.4-tonne heavyweight, the range-topping Turbo S E-Hybrid version of the Porsche Panamera has bragging rights in the combustion executive car class, narrowly beating out the old Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S 4-Door by around 3.6 seconds.

Compensating for that massive weight is a combined 771bhp from a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 plug-in hybrid system, plus a clever active ride system that does an astounding job of keeping this big beast on the level in the corners as well as ironing out some of the lumpier sections of the Nordschleife’s gnarled tarmac.

Executive cars (electric): Porsche Taycan Turbo GT with Manthey Kit

6:55.533 (Lars Kern, 15/04/2026)

Even without Manthey’s involvement, the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT previously held this record, before it was snatched up in 2025 by the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra with its 7:04.957 lap. The Manthey kit, once again a Porsche-approved option that allows this electric ultra-saloon to still count as a production car, re-establishes it as the quickest executive EV around the ’Ring by nearly 10 seconds.

Based on the already hardcore Weissach Pack version of the Taycan Turbo GT, which does away with the back seats in favour of a roll cage, the Manthey Kit brings further aero for a peak of 740kg of downforce, track-focused suspension and tyres, and even more power: 805bhp is now the usual output, while an enhanced Attack Mode brings 979bhp for 10-second bursts.

Mid-range cars (combustion): BMW M4 CSL

7:18.137 (Jörg Weidinger, 05/04/2023)

With the exception of a rogue Jaguar XE Project 8, this entire class is dominated by the various offshoots of the G8x BMW M3 and M4 platform, so it’s no surprise that the record is held by the most hardcore member of that family, the M4 CSL.

With 543bhp from its 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six, a series of chassis improvements including racy rose-jointed rear suspension, and a fairly drastic weight-loss programme (although at 1,625kg, it’s still no lightweight by non-hybrid sports coupe standards), it eclipses the time set by the next-fastest variant, the slightly more civil M4 CS, by around four seconds. That said, trad rivals Audi and Mercedes-AMG haven’t bothered fielding their own cars in this category, so the M3 and M4 have rather had things their own way.

Compact cars (combustion): BMW M2 CS

7:25.534 (Jörg Weidinger, 11/04/2025)

After several years of back-and-forth with the Audi RS3, BMW has also cemented itself as the current champion of the compact car category thanks to the CS version of the M2.

At 523bhp, it’s 40bhp up on the standard M2 and 30kg lighter too, this compact coupe is now somehow lapping the Nordschleife just a few tenths behind the time a Ferrari Enzo was putting in a couple of decades ago. It’s hard to see anything topping it in the compact class in a good while: even if Audi sends the more hardcore RS3 Competition Limited around, it’s still over 130bhp down on the BMW…

Compact cars (electric): Mercedes-AMG CLA 45

7:32.070 (Kevin Berger, 28/07/2026)

This one shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given that the new 671bhp all-electric Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 doesn’t really have any other competition in its category. It’s currently the only car to set an official time in the electric compact class, and currently, there’s not really anything else around that would stand a chance of beating it, unless the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N was somehow able to be classed as a ‘compact’ car.

In fact, we can’t think of anything else even on the distant horizon that could be in with a chance of topping it: even the unhinged Renault 5 Turbo 3E is over 100bhp down and is only rear-wheel drive compared to the AMG’s torque-vectoring all-wheel drive, so expect this record to stand for a while.

Modified vehicles (combustion): Porsche 911 GT2 RS Manthey Racing (991)

6:44.749 (Lars Kern, 25/10/2018)

Hang on, so how does this differ from the Porsche 911 GT2 RS with the Manthey Performance Kit that holds the record for production sports cars? Well, as far as we can work out, it doesn’t.

It’s just that when this initial lap was set back in 2018, the Manthey upgrades weren’t yet classed as an official Porsche-approved package, but instead as aftermarket upgrades, meaning it was initially classed as a ‘modified vehicle’. Don’t you just love technicalities?

Modified vehicles (electric): Tesla Model S Plaid Track Package

7:25.231 (Tom Schwister, 02/06/2023)

This is another curious one. Back when the Track Packaged Tesla Model S Plaid set this lap in 2023 (a roadgoing EV record at the time), it was widely reported to be a new ‘production’ EV record, but the Nürburgring now classifies it as a ‘modified vehicle’ lap.

We’re not quite sure why this is, but our best guess is that it’s because when the lap was set, the Track Package’s ultra-sticky Goodyear Supercar 3R tyres weren’t road legal in Europe. Either way, the Track Package also brought carbon ceramic brakes, forged wheels and a derestricted 200mph top speed to the already potent 1,020bhp Plaid version of the now-discontinued Model S.

Autonomous driving: Xiaomi YU7 GT with Track Package

10:29.483 (nobody, 08/06/2026)

In addition to claiming the SUV record, the Xiaomi YU7 GT also set an entirely new record for the ’Ring in 2026, becoming the fastest (and so far only) autonomously-driven car to set a timed lap around the circuit.

This was a fairly sedate lap, some three minutes down on what it achieved with a good old fashioned human being behind the wheel, so it would seem most racing drivers’ jobs are safe for now.

Other records

They’re all the official Nürburgring-approved record classes, but there are a couple of others worth mentioning. One is the record for front-wheel drive cars: this is one that Volkswagen, Renault and Honda spent years trading blows over, but with the latter two having now pulled out of the combustion hot hatch game (in Europe, at least), the current record was set in 2026 by the 321bhp Volkswagen Golf GTI Edition 50, at 7:44.523.

Then there’s the small matter of the actual race lap record. The ’Ring, after all, was originally designed as a racetrack and not the high-performance proving ground/Touristenfahrten ego-tamer it’s become. The 12.9-mile Nordschleife hasn’t been used on its own for racing for some time (it’s still used for endurance races like the Nürburgring 24 Hours, but in combination with the newer Grand Prix loop).

That means the lap record set during an actual competitive race dates all the way back to 1983, when Stefan Bellof set a 6:25.910 in his Porsche 956 Group C racer during that year’s Nürburgring 1000km endurance race.