Viper Club to Nissan and Porsche : Shut up and let us show you how is it done.

This whole Porsche vs Nissan argument over their respective pride and joy's lap times around the Nurburgring Nordschleife is getting really childish. Stop it boys. It makes these otherwise respectable men look like 12-year old kids.

In case you lived somewhere in space where microwaves take 18 months to reach you, Nissan launched its GT-R with much fanfare about its 7:29 lap time set by Toshio Suzuki around the original Norhern Loop part of the Nurburgring circuit (a different section not used by F1 cars). Porsche, probably due to some sense of national pride could not standby and let a Japanese manufacturer beat its 911 GT-2's lap time of 7:32:02 set my its resident "Ring Meister" Walter Rohl on its home ground. So Porsche bought one unit of GT-R State side and have it shipped across the Atlantic back to Deutscheland and let one of its test drivers (not Walter Rohl) to have a go at it. Porsche's 911 product manager August Achleitner would later reveal to the press that they could not even get within 25 seconds of Nissan's claimed 7:29 time, implying that the GT-R used for the lap record is not a stock standard car but is running on racing specs semi slick tires. Nissan would later offer to give "free driver training" to Porsche test drivers on how to flog the GT-R around The Ring, and also released another video of its record breaking attempt which clearly shows standard Dunlop SP Sport 600 DSST CTT tires were used.

But seriously does it really matter what time does a car do around The Ring? Because my bet is that you can never replicate that time and regular racers of The Ring will lap you in a VW Polo or even a Toyota Aygo like you are going in reverse. It's not just a matter of skill. The Nordschleife is a 20 plus km circuit with 73 corners, so long and so many turns that remembering which part of the circuit you are in is already a challenge in itself.

A Sabine Schmitz has shown, even a Ford Transit van driven by a Ring Meister is faster than 911s driven by regular guys with oversized egos.


So what is the value of "My GT-R is faster than your Porsche" around the Nurburgring? Cheap bar table talk? And I am even more surprised that Porsche 911's product manager is free to talk to the press. Don't all corporate communications have to go through a PR department? Specifically to avoid this sort of PR blunder? A 911 is such an admirable car and it stands for so much more than a GT-R. You guys have a so much longer and so much more illustrious racing history. You won 24-hours of Le Mans multiple times over for goodness sake. Why do you see a need to engage with a Datsun who went faster than you? You drive a 911 down a stretch of road and a teenage punk in some loud Honda goes faster than you, so do you drop a gear and up your pace? Immature!

I doubt 911 sales will be affected by the GT-R. They should be more concerned about the tanking economy than some PlayStation generation wheels. Beyond lap times, there is a world of difference between a Porsche and a Nissan, in case you have yet to notice.


While those two boys are busy retaliating each other's comments, a Viper ACR (ACR is Dodge's translation for Clubsport / RSR package) has quietly broken all previous production car lap times around The Ring. The time? 7:22.1, a full 7 seconds off the GT-R. And the best thing is that the effort received no support from Chrysler but is instead cobbled together by a group of Viper enthusiasts from Viper Club of America. American cars are often at the receiving end of all handling jokes at the pub. The recent Corvette ZR-1 and Viper ACR's lap times around The Ring should silence all critics. But do I suddenly fancy Vipers and Vettes just because they went faster than a 911 or a GT-R? Of course no. They are still crude Yank contraptions. Lap times are only for argument sake. Nissan needs the record desperately because it needs to make some big noise for its GT-R launch in the all important American market, it is after all the underdog. But what's with Porsche's recent reaction? They is nothing that they need to prove. Watch a video of the ACR's record breaking hot lap below. More on the Viper's record breaking attempt at Motor Trend.



Viper Club of America's record breaking attempt was driven by Tom Coronel, WTCC and 24hrs of Nurburgring


No fancy pits that Nissan record setters enjoyed. These guys prepped their cars on the car park. More images at Motor Trend