I guess we all know about ‘the Green Hell’, a name that has been given to the famous Nurburgring Nordschleife, a circuit in Germany where you can actually go to on specific days, pay an entry fee, and take your own car onto the track to see what she can do when there are no boundaries you usually encounter on the open road. Still, the Nurburgring is a dangerous place, just do a search on ‘Nurburgring crashes’ and you’ll get countless results—some funny, but most of them about drivers that crash their pride and joy into the wall on this track.
But, the Nurburgring is also famous for being an official test track for some of the world’s biggest car manufacturers, and while you might think Lamborghini would take their cars to the Nardo track in Italy for testing, they also bring their new models to Germany to put down a time on the Nurburgring.
Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 Superveloce
While we’ve found hundreds of unofficial videos over the years, the first official one from Lamborghini themselves about a car on the Ring dates back to May 2015, when they hammered the stunning Aventador LP750-4 Superveloce over the track:
The Aventador Superveloce was the first production car that managed to complete the entire 20.832 km (12.944 mi) Nurburgring track in under 7 minutes (6:59.73, to be exact). Truth be told, this was in a car with a full roll-cage, and which was fitted with Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires during development. Still, it was an amazing feat in 2015 for a car with no turbochargers, no superchargers, and no hybrid propulsion—just a massively powerful V12 engine and special tires.
Before we get into an argument about my statement on the SV being the first production car to breach the 7-minute barrier—yes, I know about the Porsche 918 Spyder putting down a time of 6:57 in 2013, but that’s a hybrid car. I also know the Radical SR8 (6:55) and Radical SR8 LM (6:48.21) were faster in 2005 and 2009 respectively, but you can hardly call those two actual production cars, now can you?
So for me, the Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 Superveloce was the first NA production car to be this fast around the track, period.
Lamborghini Huracán Performante
Only a year later, in late 2016, Automobili Lamborghini SpA was able to set another record on ‘the Ring’, this time with a car we wouldn’t get to see until the next year. The Lamborghini Huracán Performante, unveiled at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, managed to put down a time of just 6:52.01, making it the fastest production car at that time.
In late 2016 the only car that lapped the Nordschleife faster was the Radical SR8 LM (about 4 seconds faster), but again, nobody really considers that to be a production car, while the Huracán Performante surely was. Take a look at this impressive lap in the official video:
Today the Lamborghini Huracán Performante is no longer in production—but apart from the new (and insane-looking) Huracán STO, the 2017–2019 Performante is still considered one of the most aggressive-looking models in the entire Lamborghini V10 lineup. Let’s also not forget that this specific car introduced Active Lamborghini Aerodynamics to the world, with the adjustable flaps in the front bumper and inside the rear wing.
While some might argue whether such a performance version should only be made as a coupe, I was quite pleased Lamborghini decided to build the Huracán Performante Spyder. I like convertible cars, so I had no issue with the top of the line performance edition being sold as a Spyder too, and while the new Huracán EVO might have similar power to the Performante, I would still get one of the older ones—even if she doesn’t have the large touchscreen on the central console.
Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Sadly, the reign of the Huracán Performante as the fastest production car in the world didn’t last long. By September 2017, Porsche shattered the record by about 5 seconds with their 911 GT2 RS (6:47.25). But Lamborghini retaliated in force a year later when the Aventador LP770-4 SVJ ran the Nordschleife in 6:44.97, once again bringing the title of fastest production car back to Sant’Agata (still under camouflage). Check out the video below:
By the time you read this, production of the Aventador SVJ will be swindling down. Production was limited at 900 Coupe and 800 Roadster versions, and all of them have been sold out for a long time, but right now the last units are being assembled at the Linea Aventador in Sant’Agata. In fact, you can’t order any Aventadors anymore—that had already been the case for the Aventador S, but with the Aventador LP780-4 Ultimae sold out too, no more classic V12 models are available.
But back to the 2018 Lamborghini Aventador SVJ. This car came with ALA for the first time on the V12 flagship, and while the earlier Superveloce looked aggressively angular, the SVJ counterpart was more fluid—somewhat less aggressive-looking, but a stunning beauty in her own right. I for one really like the styling on the SVJ, even more so on the SVJ Roadster, but again, that’s my personal opinion.
Lamborghini Huracán STO
I know what you’re thinking: what about the new Lamborghini Huracán STO, or Super Trofeo Omologata—that car should be faster than the old Performante, right? The STO comes with 640 hp at 8,000 rpm, exactly the same number as the Performante, but strangely enough, the official specifications from Lamborghini show that the Performante is both faster and quicker.
Top speed on the old Performante is listed at 325 km/h (202 mph) while the STO only shows 310 km/h (193 mph), and the 0 to 100 km/h acceleration shows a similar difference, 2.9 seconds on the Performante, 3.0 seconds for the STO.
Make no mistake, Lamborghini did take the new Huracán STO to the Nurburgring Nordschleife, and they did some really fast stints on the track, but we never got an official video of it or any timing. There were some third-party videos posted about some controversy of this being a production version of the STO or a specifically prepared one for attacking the Green Hell record—but whichever it was, we don’t have an official timing from the Huracán STO on the Nordschleife.
The Current Record Holder
The Lamborghini Aventador SVJ held on to the track record for the fastest production car at the Nurburgring Nordschleife for about two years, but she got eclipsed by just one second when the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series managed to set a time of 6:43.62 in November 2020. A few months after that, Porsche came into the arena again, bringing their 911 GT2 RS (991.2) and set a blisteringly fast time of 6:38.835 on the 20.832 km track.
But once again there is some controversy. This was a car equipped with the Mantley Performance Kit, an official Porsche option available straight from the dealership, but should this be considered a real production car, or a ‘special order’? Whatever your opinion is, the fact the Aventador SVJ is still firmly in third place isn’t bad for a car that set her timing three years ago already.
