Corvette engineers say ZR1 will best Nissan GT-R's Nürburgring lap time

Nissan just announced that its mighty GT-R just lapped the Nürburgring in 7 minutes 29 seconds, but the boys over at Chevrolet aren't about to hand over the production-car track record. Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter says that a production version of the ZR1 will be able to beat the GT-R's impressive mark.

Up until now, only pre-production ZR1s have been lapping the Nürburgring. But with Chevrolet's 638 horsepower, 205 mph sports car now ready for production, Corvette engineers feel that the supercar from Detroit will have no trouble eclipsing the GT-R's time.

Juechter even told Edmunds that the ZR1 should be able to lap the track in "seven minutes, twenty-something seconds."

But even if the 'Vette can best 7 minutes 29 seconds, it still has to contend with the higher-performance GT-R V-Spec.

But even if the 'Vette can best 7 minutes 29 seconds, it still has to contend with the higher-performance GT-R V-Spec.

Nissan GT-R (The story behind that 7 minute 29 second lap)
Author: Jethro Bovingdon
Videographer: Dave Litchfield

"It's old news that the Nissan GTR is rewriting the rules on what's possible for a relatively affordable and everyday usable super-coupe and that it recently lapped the Nordschliefe in 7:29 - setting a new benchmark for fully homologated production cars. But meeting the man who set the time, Tochio Suzuki, and the man in control of the car's development from the ground up, Kazutoshi Mizuno, is a great opportunity to witness first hand just how obsessive Nissan are about the GTR. And how proud they are that it has undoubtedly set new standards for everyone else to be judged against. Grabbing a couple of laps of Estoril with Suzuki is pretty revealing, too...

First up that Nurburgring lap. The target for the GTR was always 7:30 - and it had to be achieved in a fully representative 'customer-spec' car. Mizuno is quite clear on this: 'This time was set on a totally standard car, just like a customer will get. For us 'Time Attack' must be repeatable in a customer car. No special brake pads or cut-slick tyres - everything was standard GTR.' The time, set on April 8th, was achieved on the Dunlop SP Sport 600 DSST tyre that is standard on the basic GTR (i.e. non Premium or 'Black' spec, which both have Bridgestone RE070R tyres). The Dunlop is a little noisier and not quite as good in the wet as the RE070R, but in the dry it's worth 4-5 seconds around the 'Ring. Incredibly all the tests of the GTR in the UK so far have been on the slower Bridgestone - and yet it has consistently set faster lap times than cars like the GT3.

Suzuki is quietly spoken and although he doesn't like to conduct interviews in English he's eloquent when talking about the lap. 'The conditions were perfect. I don't think the car could go faster. Its main strength is stability - on the brakes and in the corners. And the tyres are very consistent.' Is there a scary part of the circuit? - a key section to getting a good time but also the bit you don't look forward to? 'No. The lap was optimum but the car is predictable and easy to drive on the limit.'

The data trace that Mizuno is proud to take me through suggests that Suzuki is being ridiculously modest. The peak lateral G figure is 1.4 - and the car averages 1.3G from corner to corner. The GTR hits 290kph twice on its way to that lap time. The throttle position graph tells of total commitment (TPOS on the graph). Lapping a 1740kg road car in 7:29 is simply a phenomenal achievement.

Incredibly there's more to come. Mizuno, Suzuki and the rest of the team are already well into the V-Spec development programme. Both men are tight lipped about the project but with an increase in power (to around 550bhp) and a 100kg weight saving, the V-Spec should move the GTR even further ahead of its rivals. Suzuki thinks the car should be as much as 10-seconds quicker than the standard car around the 'Ring. However, the V-Spec will have more extreme track-biased tyres, which will account for a large chunk of the time saving.

Suzuki is on full PR duty, demonstrating the GTR to dozens of journalists around the Estoril circuit. I sense he's bored, hence the early quick and tidy laps becoming more lurid as the day goes on. You can hear that the GTR is fully sideways well before each corner from the pit wall - the tyres wailing under the torture - and the spectacular drifting is necessitating a fresh set of Dunlops with virtually every fuel stop. But when I jump in beside him I ask him to do a proper lap first, and then a silly one. He nods approvingly.

First impression is once again just how fast the GTR is - most cars feel blunted on a wide track but the Nissan still feels immense, the power ramping up with every instantaneous gearchange. Suzuki is super-aggressive on the brakes but smooth on corner entry. However he then has to wait for the front to bite and it takes a couple of exploratory prods of the accelerator before the nose sticks and Suzuki can fully commit the twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6. Estoril is smooth and wide, unlike the Nordschleife and you can tell the GTR isn't as suited to this sort of modern circuit. It's still very fast but the weight does tend to push the front wide and Suzuki is more often managing the power than simply unleashing it.

Having said that, the GTR's body control is exceptional and the brakes seem to shrug off the weight. Through the Parabolica - a long fast right-hander where you'd expect the car to start understeering, it stays neutral and Suzuki pours more and more power down to the track. Impressive stuff. Check out the video to see Suzuki at work - we'll also have the full 7:29 lap up soon.

Lap 2 is slower but super-sideways. Suzuki just turns the GTR in on the brakes, waits for the slide to build and then flattens the throttle to pull the car straight. Sometimes it needs virtually full opposite lock but always the transition between grip-slip-grip is smooth and Suzuki is right on top of the car. Afterwards he says the car could be improved 'to give a little more feedback'. The V-Spec is truly going to be a special car."