Porsche Carrera GT Is 16 Seconds Faster On The Nurburgring With Modern Tires

A couple of months ago, Porsche launched a recall campaign for the Carrera GT, developing new titanium suspension components for it and supplying a free set of newly developed Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires to all owners. Sport Auto recently got its hands on a bright yellow Carrera GT fitted with these tires and set a blistering lap time around the Nurburgring with the car.

With Porsche factory driver Jörg Bergmeister behind the wheel, the Carrera GT lapped the 20.6 km (12.8-mile) version of the Nordschleife in 7:12.69. To give some context, that’s 16 seconds quicker than the previous best lap time set by a Carrera GT at the circuit in 2004 driven by the legendary Walter Rohrl. Equally as impressive is the fact that it’s now 15 seconds slower than the Porsche 918 Spyder, which was the first series-production car to dip under the fabled 7-minute mark.

Read: Porsche Carrera GT Owners Get Free Tires And $109,000 Worth Of Suspension Upgrades

While the Carrera GT is more than 20 years old, it appears remarkably composed on the track. The new Michelin tires provide plenty of grip and Bergmeister was able to expertly minimize understeer and oversteer during the lap. The Carrera GT also lacks some of the wild aero add-ons of most modern supercars, sends its power exclusively through the rear wheels, and was only ever sold with a six-speed manual transmission.

While storming down the main straight at the circuit, the Carrera GT briefly topped out at 302 km/h (187.6 mph).

Tire technology has come a long way since the Carrera GT first hit the market, and it’s worth noting that it’s been a full 11 years since the 918 Spyder set its ‘Ring record. If fitted with brand-new rubber, it’d probably go quite a bit quicker than 6:57. Nevertheless, it’s still impressive that the Carrera GT isn’t far behind its much more powerful and advanced successor.