Porsche Panamera Turbo lays claim to 7:56 Nurburgring lap

[Plex]

The new four-door from Porsche would displace the Cadillac CTS-V if the time holds up

Porsche's intense rivalry with Nissan over Nurburgring lap times may have cooled off in recent months, but a new rivalry appears to be in the works, this time with Cadillac and the CTS-V. A report emerging from Germany today has the Panamera Turbo lapping the Nurburgring in 7:56 minutes - just over 3 seconds faster than the American uber-sedan.

It would also mean taking the mantle as fastest lap time for a production sedan, since the CTS-V holds that title now. Porsche hasn't confirmed the time reported by Sport Auto, nor has it released its own times for the car, so it will remain to be seen if this is the final word.

Still, the possibility of the next round of super-sedans taking the title from the current $59,995 Cadillac CTS-V by mere seconds goes to show just how far Cadillac has pushed the performance-per-dollar value equation, especially considering the Panamera Turbo, at $132,600, is the least expensive of the super-sedan set, which also includes the Aston Martin Rapide and Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S.

On the other hand, lap times at the Nurburgring, while a good measure of real-world performance, aren't the end-all, be-all many manufacturers would have you believe. Variables such as tire type, driver ability, season, temperature, traffic and more can all affect lap times, and in the end, very few if any of the production cars that guard their 'Ring times closely will see actual track use, making the debate academic at best.

Motorauthority