"How do you measure a car’s overall performance, its ability to cover ground quickly and safely? It’s relatively easy to clock a car’s acceleration, record the distance it requires to stop from 70 mph, and calculate its ability to grip the road, but producing impressive numbers on the test track doesn’t necessarily mean that a car will be quick on challenging public roads.
In theory, the time it takes a car to get around a road course is the best way to gauge its overall performance, because the quickest lap time requires a combination of braking, acceleration, grip, and handling. But there are few tracks that genuinely replicate a demanding stretch of public road. A great example is the Nürburgring in Germany, a long track about 50 miles southwest of Cologne. The Nordschleife, a part of the original circuit, is a 12.9-mile ribbon of blacktop that weaves a crazy course through the Eifel Mountains.
The Nordschleife’s length and elevation changes, along with an interesting combination of turns, provide a telling measure of a vehicle’s handling abilities. Add to that long straights of up to 1.5 miles and numerous braking zones, and you have the best one-lap measure of a vehicle’s overall performance. Its benchmark status is evidenced by the fact that most automakers test at the “Ring,” and hard-core enthusiasts around the globe know that a sub-eight-minute lap there distinguishes a car as truly special."
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