The Nordschleife circuit at the Nürburgring is a greatly prized bit of tarmac, and carmakers love the bragging rights of being the fastest round the 13-mile track. The latest shots have been fired by Porsche and the Turbo GT version of its Taycan electric saloon, which has snatched the production EV record from BYD’s Yangwang U9 Extreme by some four seconds.

Porsche test driver Lars Kern wrung the neck off the upgraded Taycan and eked out a staggering time of 6:55.553. Upgrades over the ‘standard’ Taycan Turbo GT Weissach Package came in the form of tuning and aerodynamics package tweaks from the Nürburgring veterans at German race team Manthey. The outfit has won the Nürburgring 24-hour race a massive seven times since 2006.

The time set by Kern is also significantly quicker than the 7:07.550 he chucked in when testing a final prototype version of Turbo GT just before the car went on sale back in 2024.

The Manthey kit includes motorsport-inspired features that apparently triple the amount of downforce created through high speed corners. There’s a more powerful drivetrain that bumps power up from 777hp to 804hp in standard conditions and up to an eye-watering 978hp in ‘attack mode’.

Suspension and dynamics systems have also been tweaked and upgraded for all-out track performance along with a special set of Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS tyres. The extensive upgrades contributed to increased speeds across all aspects of the hallowed circuit, from tight corners like Karusel to the fast sweepers of Flugplatz and a higher 192mph top speed on the 1.3-mile straight.

The most impressive thing about this new lap record is that the previous record holder, the Yangwang U9 Extreme, achieved its 6:59.157 minute lap time seemingly with brute force. It has triple the horsepower of the Taycan in its most potent form, spinning the dyno up to an unfathomable 3,018hp and 3,360Nm of torque. 

It also achieved speeds on the straight some 30mph higher. Meanwhile, Porsche’s challenger still managed to make up a solid margin through raw corner speed alone, despite the top speed deficit.

Just a few years ago, going ‘sub-7’ on the Nordschleife was an accolade reserved for dedicated racecars with no interior to speak of. Granted, the Taycan Turbo GT Manthey and Yangwang U9 Extreme aren’t far off electric GT racers, but it’s important to remember that these are still road legal hypercars (you can currently buy the Taycan Turbo GT for £189,200). That in and of itself is incredible to behold. 

So who says electric cars can't be fun to drive? Just don't ask how the performance changes have affected the range...