29 January 2021 4:53 pm / 1 comment
Porsche, a brand that is no stranger to the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit, has just set the production sedan lap record at the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta circuit. The weapon of choice this time is the 2021 Panamera Turbo S facelift.
Piloting the four-door grand tourer around the four-kilometer track was professional race car driver Leh Keen. He set a benchmark lap time of one minute 31.51 seconds, which is slightly quicker than the Taycan Turbo S‘ time of one minute 33.88 seconds.
“The engineers found a perfect balance,” said Keen. “They really made it feel small and sporty. The stability gave me a ton of confidence to use every bit of the asphalt and curbs. And yet the car has a completely different and more refined and relaxed character on the highway – an amazing combination.”
Porsche has set a new lap record for production cars at the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with the 2021 Panamera Turbo S.
The German auto firm put pro racing driver Leh Keen behind the wheel of the vehicle in November, and he managed to drive it across the finish line in just 1 minute and 31.51 seconds, almost 2.4 seconds faster than the Taycan Turbo S, according to FastestLaps.
Overall, it’s placed in seventh position behind the 991 Porsche 911 GT2 RS (1:24.88), Porsche 911 GT3 RS (1:26.24), Corvette ZR1 (1:26.45), Dodge Viper ACR (1:26.54) and the Corvette Z06 C7 (1:29.81 w/ Tommy Milner & 1:30.18 w/ Randy Pobst).
Speaking of the car and run, Keen said: “The engineers found a perfect balance. They really made it feel small and sporty. The stability gave me a ton of confidence to use every bit of the asphalt and curbs. And yet the car has a completely different and more refined and relaxed character on the highway – an amazing combination.”
Porsche
As well as improved dynamics, the new turn of track performance also comes from the extra power added to Porsche s 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8. The addition of upgraded connecting rods, crankshaft, timing chain, and new fuel injectors now sends 620 hp and 604 lb-ft of torque to all four wheels via an eight-speed PDK. That s an upgrade of 70 hp and 37 lb-ft of torque over the Panamera Turbo and makes the Turbo S the fastest of the purely gas-powered Panamera lineup. A lineup that now consists of 21 models in total.
If you re planning on taking a stab at beating Keen s benchmark lap at Road Atlanta, then you ll need to drop $179,050 on Turbo S, then tick a few option boxes to add the Michelin Pilot Sport cup 2 ND0 ultra-high performance tires specially developed for the Panamera and tuned at the Nurburgring.
2021 Porsche Panamera pricing revealed – and a track record for 620hp Turbo S
Chris Davies - Jan 22, 2021, 9:00am CST
Porsche has confirmed pricing for the 2021 Panamera range, and if you’ve been wondering just what the new Panamera Turbo S can do with 620 horsepower on tap, a new lap record demonstrates just why the big sedan is still the daddy. Headed to US dealerships in spring 2021, the new model year for the Panamera spans both a plug-in hybrid and more potent versions like the Panamera GTS.
While outwardly the cars are familiar, with mild styling changes across the board, Porsche has made some more meaningful changes. The 2021 Panamera GTS gets a performance increase, for example, squeezing a 20 horsepower bump from its twin-turbo V8. Power is now 473 hp and 457 lb-ft of torque.
autoevolution 13 Jan 2021, 14:43 UTC ·
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Last year, the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was host to a race between baggers for the first time. The event was part of the first-of-its-kind Drag Specialties King of the Baggers event, and this year it s all coming back with a vengeance. 1 photo
The 2020 event was a major hit, as it was watched online in massive numbers, with millions tuning in for the show.
“The popularity of the event was crazy so how could we not do more? We know there are plenty of Bagger fans out there as our videos of the debut Laguna event were watched by millions,” said in a statement MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey.