The Nurburgring circuit is the measuring stick many look toward to test a vehicle’s capacity in a single lap. It’s a hell of a track that puts the most performance oriented cars and drivers through their paces better than any other, that’s why claiming a good time is such a great thing there.

Cadillac is currently testing their ATS compact sports coupe there to get it ready for release, but today we’re looking at numbers boasted by the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series courtesy of Sport Auto, a local publication.

The German brute sliced 15 seconds off its less aggressive C63 AMG sibling to earn an impressive 7:46 lap time. That tucked the car right between the other two being tested that day: the Porsche 911 Carrera S which won with 7:44, and right ahead of the BMW M3 GTS at 7:48.

While calling any AMG tame feels like an affront to enthusiasts everywhere, there are serious go-fast features on the long-labelled Black Series version, including a staggering 517 horsepower (66 more than the lesser C63 AMG).

GALLERY: 2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series

[Source: BenzBoost]

If you’re a Nurburgring lap video junkie then today is your lucky day. After first announcing the new 2012 Camaro ZL1‘s incredible 7:41.27 time around the Green Hell, Chevy has now released a video of the stunning feat.

The 580-hp supercharged V8 muscle car proves it can handle too, thanks in part to the Corvette ZR1′s Performance Traction Management system.

The lap time, while roughly 20 seconds off the ZR1 is just 1.5 seconds away from a Porsche GT3. The current production car record holder is the Dodge Viper ACR with a lap time of 7:12.

Enjoy the video, and the Camaro’s incredible sounds, after the jump:

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It’s more luxurious. It’s bigger. It’s more comfortable. So it’s obviously a watered-down 911… right? Wrong!

Porsche‘s new 2012 911 Carrera S is faster, much faster, than the previous generation car, lapping the Nurburgring in a blistering 7:40 time, a solid 13 seconds ahead of it’s predecessor. OK, so that number’s a bit abstract, so let’s give it a little context. That time is identical to the previous generation GT3, despite the new Carrera S model being down 35-hp on the track-ready GT3 model.

So if there’s a lesson to be learned here, it;s that you should get your hopes up for the next GT3… way up!

GALLERY: 2012 Porsche 911

[Source: GoAuto]

Just a week after Lexus confirmed its LFA Nurburgring Edition had set a new lap record on the Green Hell, Dodge has one-upped the Japanese automaker. With a 7:12 time, the now out of production ACR’s time is a solid two seconds ahead of the $400,000 LFA supercar.

With a 32-hp advantage on the LFA, the Viper ACR’s real strong points are excessive amounts of torque and a nearly absurd spoiler that provides race car like downforce at speed.

In addition to this news, Dodge also reportedly ran a Viper ACR-X track car on the ‘Ring, lapping almost 10 seconds faster than the standard car with a 7:03 run.

[Source: Jalopnik]

Reports of the BMW M5′s record-setting Nurburgring lap time are just starting to circulate now, well after we first covered the story last week. The source for the 7:55 run didn’t come from BMW, however, nor did it come from testing done by the automotive media, but from a website FastestLaps.com, raising some doubt as to its validity. Further calling into question the legitimacy of the number is the fact that it ever so conveniently tops the Porsche Panamera Turbo by one second.

We contacted FastestLaps.com and Krisjanis Zelch, a representative for the site, told us that he has, “no reason to question its legitimacy.” According to their source the time was mentioned by F10 M5 project leader Albert Biermannn during the debut of the car over the weekend at the Nurburgring.

Cautioning that he didn’t hear the news himself, Zelch did say that it came from a trusted source. “Judging from past experience, I am absolutely certain that this laptime is genuine (as genuine as lap time claims by factories can be) and in future I expect even faster laptimes resulting from independent tests.”

When contacted, BMW PR representative Dave Buchko neither confirmed or denied the time, stating that it, “is not an official time, so I’m afraid I’m not in a position to provide confirmation.” There’s no telling on if or when BMW plans to make an official timed run.

With a BMW factory driver behind the wheel of BMW’s new M5, the luxury sedan has reportedly turned in a lap time of 7:55 around the famed Nurburgring. This makes it the world’s fastest sedan, ahead of Porsche‘s Panamera Turbo (7:56) and Cadillac‘s CTS-V (7:59), and puts it on par of other supercars such as Ferrari’s F430 and is even one second quicker than Porsche’s 996 Turbo.

Powered by a 4.4L V8 twin turbo engine, this accomplishment proves BMW’s M-models have hardly skipped a beat against the competition. It will be interesting to see how BMW’s competitors respond with their next-generation sedans, but it clearly proves that the Germany automaker’s devotion to twin turbo powerplants is paying off.

A word of caution; the time is in no way an official BMW number and we can’t verify the validity of the source (FastestLaps.com). It’s almost not necessary, however, with the new M5 almost certain to run a solid sub-eight minute lap around the Ring.

GALLERY: 2012 BMW M5

[Source: TeamSpeed]

After having set a near-record time on the Nurburgring in the updated Corvette ZR1, Chevy has just released a second film documenting the improvements made to the Z06.

Driven once again by Corvette engineer Jim Mero, the 2012 Z06 equipped with the Z07 chassis package manages a 7:22.68 lap time an astonishing 20 seconds faster than the standing Z06 time. That time is two seconds faster than the updated 2012 Nissan GT-R, three seconds off the ZR1 (despite being down 133-hp) and just 4 seconds off the best time posted by the Porsche GT2 RS.  Chevy is particularly proud of the feat, especially when you consider the Z06 costs about a quarter of what you’d pay for the GT2 RS.

Watch the video after the jump. There are a few particularly scary moments at 6:40 and right at the finish:

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After Nissan announced last Fall that it had shaved over two seconds a lap off its Nurburgring lap time, video of the run has now found its way onto the net.

The added power (530-hp in total), as well as numerous upgrades for the 2012 model allowed Nissan to shave 2.48 seconds off the previous time for a 7:24.22 lap.

As Nissan continues to upgrade the GT-R, however, rivals have stepped up their game as well, and the GT-R is still two seconds off the Viper ACR, and six seconds off the Porsche GT2 RS.

See the video after the jump:

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If you thought BMW had released all the details on its new 1 Series M Coupe last week, you’d be wrong. Marketing the car as a true enthusiast’s machine, almost all 1 M Coupe’s sold are certain to find their way onto a race track and so BMW has gone though the effort of testing the car on THE race track – the Nürburgring. The time? How about an 8:12.

To put that into perspective, that’s 10 seconds faster than the E46 M3, which is hardly surprising, however, as the old E46 only made 262 ft-lbs, compared to the substantial 332 ft-lbs the new turbocharged straight-six makes. Perhaps more impressive is that it’s as fast as the old Z4 M Coupe (another car-guy special) and faster than the 500-hp V10-powered E60 M5.

BMW will officially unveil its new sports car at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, so check back for live photos starting January 10th.

GALLERY: 2011 BMW 1 Series M Coupe

[Source: BMWBlog]

German automotive publication Sport Auto has finally gotten their hands on a new BMW M3 GTS, taking it to the Nürburgring to see how it stacks up as a serious sports car. For those not familiar with Sport Auto, they take almost every car to the Ring, where former race car driver turned magazine editor Horst von Saurma runs it through its paces.

And the lap time achieved by von Saurma is an incredible 7:48. For those keeping track, that’s a huge 17 seconds faster than the standard BMW M3. Most certainly a few seconds of the 17 are made up thanks to the GTS’s cup tires.

What’s possibly more shocking, however, is that if you look back to the previous generation E46 M3 CSL, that car managed a 7:50 time – which until now made it the fastest production BMW. And as rare and pricey as the CSL was, it’s nowhere near the $170,000 asking price for the M3 GTS.

GALLERY: BMW M3 GTS

[Source: SportAuto via Bimmerfile]