2010 Porsche 911 Turbo Cuts 10 Seconds From Nurburgring Lap: Report

PORSCHE REVEALED its next-generation 2010 997 911 Turbo back in August, and this week the wunderkind has reportedly cut a full 10 seconds from its previous best time at the Nurburgring.

According to British mag Autocar, Porsche’s engineers have managed to reduce the turbo 911’s time to 7:39, 10 seconds better than the outgoing model’s 7:49 run.

Despite the huge improvement, the new 911 Turbo’s lap falls short of the Nissan GT-R’s best time of 7:28, set by former F1 steerer Toshio Suzuki.

In keeping with its traditionally conservative approach to 911 design, Porsche has changed little with the styling of the new Turbo.

Chrome headlight frames, revised foglights and a new wheel design is the extent of the exterior updates.

Mechanically though, the 2010 911 Turbo features significant upgrades to output, handling and performance.

Power is derived from a new 3.8 litre direct-injection engine developing 373kW (500hp), an increase of 15kW and only 22kW short of the 911 GT2.

The 2010 Porsche 911 Turbo is likely to be the quickest all-wheel-drive production Porsche ever, reaching 96km/h (60mph) in around 3.7 seconds. Top Speed should climb to around 312km/h.

Along with a higher price tag, the next-generation 911 Turbo is expected to gain Porsche’s PDK dual-clutch gearbox as an option.

Fuel economy is improved, with consumption reduced from 12.7 l/100km to 11.7 l/100km with the manual transmission and 11.3 l/100km for the PDK.

F1-style wheel-mounted paddles replace the dual-action paddle shifters of the outgoing model, offering up-shifts with the right paddle and down-shifts with the left.

A reprogrammed Porsche Traction Management system distributes torque between the all-wheel-drive Porsche's front and rear differentials via an electronic multi-plate clutch.