Tuesday 6th November 2007

Loaded CSL Lowers Lap Record

Nordschleife special takes Pagani's crown

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The CSL - Completely Stripped-out Loon

Remember, remember the 5^th of November. Pagani might.

With the ink barely dry on the timesheets confirming that their Zonda F Clubsport holds the fastest production car lap time around the Nürburgring Nordschleife, a Swedish tuning firm lowered the bar again yesterday. And by quite a considerable margin too.

In a specially tuned M3 CSL, touring car driver Richard Göransson lapped the track in 7 minutes 22.9 seconds, shaving just shy of five seconds from the Italian supercar’s record set by 'Ringmeister Marc Basseng.

The CSL used has certainly received plenty of attention in preparation for the run. The interior was discarded, and replaced with a roll cage and race seat, while windows and various items of bodywork were exchanged for lighter equivalents.

The exterior also gained some go-faster fins on the wheelarches and a GTR-alike wing. More importantly, the car rides on a bespoke K&W, suspension set-up with big Performance Friction brakes.

Oh, and did we mention the small matter of the supercharger which boosts the CSL’s already healthy bhp figure to around 600bhp.

What’s more, the car is also up for grabs in a lowest unique bid auction with money raised going to charity, but not before another effort to beat the 7 minute 20 mark has been attempted.

Looking at the picture of this CSL it’s hardly the sort of thing that you could use for anything other than assaulting European track days. While we do like the idea of the continuing war on the Nordschleife, it does beg the question just what the definition of a production car actually is?

[NiallOswald]

Surely this has nothing to do with the production car record set by Pagani? I'm sure if they threw out the interior and bolted a supercharger on the Zonda they could do the same thing...bit of a non-story really, that CSL's practically a racing car.

[MartinMGBGTSV8]

I take 'production' to be a road car that you can buy from the car's original manufacturer and is not a one off.

This Beemer is not that. The Zonda was.

[rhinochopig]

And how is that a production car?? May as well compare it Radicals and Donkerthingies.

[PhantomPH]

said:

While we do like the idea of the continuing war on the Nordschleife, it does beg the question just what the definition of a production car actually is?

I agree - there is surely no way that can be classed as a production car - unless I can go to a BMW dealership and put my name down for one of a limited production run at that spec, officially endorsed and warranted by BMW.

Edited by PhantomPH on Tuesday 6th November 11:07

[RickLine86]

I think if a manufacturer wants to claim an impressive lap-time for a "production" vehicle, it should be made to ACTUALLY produce at least, say, 20 of the vehicles for sale; just like they are required to do to compete in certain racing events.

Otherwise, this is just a load of boocks. I could buy an F1 car from a few seasons ago and get some nutter to sling that round the 'Ring, as long as it has indicators and a number-plate.

[Alex Gurr]

This is like saying the Porsche 962 Derek Bell drove around the ring is a production car because Dauer made a few road legal versions in the 1990's.

I really don't understand the obsession with Ring records. It just ends up being one giant my c0ck is bigger than your c0ck competition, with no real relevence to anybody.

[Adrian W]

Keeps making me think, put someone in my Noble who really knows the ring and just how fast would it go round. It's proven reliable, got 600 ish bhp, 520lbs torque and weighs just over 1000 kilos.

Were the BMW and Pagani on road tyres or slicks?

[dinkel]

Alex Gurr said:

I really don't understand the obsession with Ring records. It just ends up being one giant my c0ck is bigger than your c0ck competition, with no real relevence to anybody.

Well said, it's about having fun innit. Whether it lasts 9:30 mins or 7:23 mins . . . WTF!

[getoffmyland]

www.loaded.se

[IL TORO FURIOSO]

I don't see how this beats the Pagani record as they are two different kinds of cars, one is a production car and one is a one-off special done by a tuning compnay...

[mgv8]

Its still VERY fast and you must give it to them for puting a car together that can do that kind of lap.
The Ring is as close to a normal road as a track is going to get. In real world driving the Ring is not so far from roads.

[LoftyD]

Not a production car, grrr!

[robm3]

I took my CSL round in 9.15 does that count???
(Had a great time though)

[chrisbr68]

Probably cheaper to get one of these for yourself than a Zonda though...

I would say they are trying to stick to road legal and not production cars.

[Tankman]

I had one of the SCARIEST laps ever of the Ring in that thing! The guys testing it were very approachable, friendly and, being Swedish, spoke near perfect English. What I didn't know was that the guy who took me out in it was the brains behind the idea of the car being on the bid to aid site and he had only done 5 laps, ever, before I got in the car with him. Not his fault of course and there were some points I would really have liked to have got out of the car. However, what a fantastically sorted motor. Brutally fast but, in setting the car up, they were conscious of keeping the inate handling characteristics of the M3 and it looked like a very easy car to drive from my view in the passenger seat.

[Mr Whippy]

I think more like 500 cars makes it more valid.

Even a handfull of mega cars can be made and sold that are not really road cars at all.

Agree the record looses all essence when the cars end up being interpretations of 'road car' rather than actual road cars.

Loaded is totally road legal of course, but it's suspension, camber and low-stance, and peaky supercharged delivery would make it less nice to drive on the road than say an Ultima GTR 720, which likely costs less to own overall...

Hey ho. Very nice car, great advert for the toughness of the CSL engine and ESS's chargers, but more a road legal track car now than when it first started out. When it gets mistaken for a pure racer and won't be let out then you have to start to worry and ask if you went too far

Dave

[The Dodger]

Record??? I thought this was held by Radical.....
"In 2003 Radical took its black and gold machine to the Nürburgring Nordschleife and took the production car lap record with a time of seven minutes 19 seconds, way faster than any road-legal car had ever lapped before."

They are now under 7 minutes. See http://www.radicalextremesportscars.com/media/trac...

Anyway, "What's the point?" I hear you say.......SPEED MATERS.

[J16GY]

dinkel said:

Alex Gurr said:

I really don't understand the obsession with Ring records. It just ends up being one giant my c0ck is bigger than your c0ck competition, with no real relevence to anybody.

Well said, it's about having fun innit. Whether it lasts 9:30 mins or 7:23 mins . . . WTF!

Thats exactly what my missus said to me! Regardless, I agree...

[Hendry]

Tankman said:

The guys testing it were very approachable, friendly and, being Swedish, spoke near perfect English.

Tankman then said:

What I didn't know was that the guy who took me out in it was the brains behind the idea of the car being on the bid to aid site and he had only done 5 laps, ever, before I got in the car with him.

I think the above defines irony perfectly.

[V8 EOL - Rich]

This article is a load of bolarks for all the reasons given above. I think this site needs stronger editorial control as this is far from a isolated incident or I shall be voting with my keyboard .