21 August 2009 - 11:00
Radical razes ’Ring
It’s Nurburgring record season all right.
Following Gumpert’s announcement yesterday that its Apollo Speed had a set a new Nurburgring production car lap record at 7m11s, British manufacturer Radical has claimed its SR8LM has lapped the Nordschliefe in 6m48s.
The more astute amongst you will have noticed that 6m48s is quite a bit quicker than 7m11s. Game over, you might think – victory to Radical.
But the controversy arises because the SR8LM sits right at the very edge of the definition of ‘road legal’. It’s a lightweight, trackday special with very few compromises to real-world stuff like, say, weather.
However, Radical says it set the Nurburgring record just 24 hours after driving flat-out from England to Germany. Racing driver Michael Vergers – who set a lap time of 6m56s in the SR8LM’s predecessor back in 2005 – was once again behind the wheel for the most recent record attempt.
“The car was great, I could push really hard and it felt clearly faster than the previous SR8 in 2005,” Vergers said. “It’s fantastic that we’ve beaten the record; hopefully I’ll get an opportunity to return with Radical in the future.”
So who does the lap record belong too? Gumpert? Radical? Or maybe even Dodge? Well, that depends on your definition of ‘road legal’. Let the patented Top Gear speed bump decide, we say…
Want to comment on this?
Yep agree with PHV. They drove it through many european countries to the 'ring. Definitely a lot more comfortable than riding a motorbike. I'm hoping they used the same tyres, but at best they changed them for the same type.
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Yep agree with PHV. They drove it through many european countries to the 'ring. Definitely a lot more comfortable than riding a motorbike. I'm hoping they used the same tyres, but at best they changed them for the same type.
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Well, I guess Radical got it... even if the car isn't really road-friendly, it's still road legal. Which is amazing, can you imagine one of those park in front of your house?
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Gumpert is the winner why because it has a roof.
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
If you can drive it on the road to the track, and then use road legal tyres, don't see there being a problem. The obsession with the fastest 'Ring time is getting a bit Gollum-esque though - can just see the manufacturers going "The thievesss...they stole it from usssss....." with every new time set... *rolls eyes*
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
I'd just like to point out how fuc***ing pissed you brits would be, if we germans broke the track record in Silverstone, Brands Hatch or Donington (which aren't nearly as symbolic put together as the Ring) with a car that isn't road legal whatsoever on your little island... Newspapers would be full of war references and car fans in pubs would rage over there warm, disgusting, british beer. The next thing will be Sheich Whatshisname, who will make an F1 car legal in his middle eastern kingdom, then drive over here and post a 6:15 lap time and it will be all over for anyone.
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
I think the motor industry has finally disappeared up its own backside, personally. Now, I get that the Radical is a track day car, thus lap times are important, but in terms of road legal cars, for owners, which car goes round a bendy track, that doesnt have speed cameras, lorries, men in falt caps driving rover 74's at 29 miles an hour and roadworks every mile and a half is totally and utterly meaningless to how actually owning said car in the real world would be. The obsession with such lap times by manufacturers seems to rise in inverse proportion to how much customers actually care.
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Wow Vipe_des, that was completely over the top and irrelevant... its not a case of nationalism, its a case of whether or not the Radical is road legal. Which in my humble opinion, clearly is, as its been driven through to Germany. And no, we wouldn't be pissed off.
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
"Let the patented Top Gear speed bump decide, we say? " !!! WHAT!!!???!!! A perfect moment to declare that we should ban all the damned speed bumps, and you miss it! A black cloud has appeared on the Top Gear name. For Shame!
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
If it can't drive over a sleeping policeman or hit a pothole without killing you then its not a roadcar, period.
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
I hate to say it and snatch the record out of our country's grasp, but it is NOT a road legal car! First of all it has no tax disk holder and no windscreen to attatch one, and secondly, that front nose would never get over a speed bump.
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Yo, Viper_des, chill out!!! I'm damn glad the Radical is the fastest (even if it was still the fastest before - if it has an MOT, it's road legal - end of!), but in the more 'recognised' production car arena, I was damn glad yesterday that the Gumpert Apollo was the fastest. Why? Because a EUROPEAN sent the Americans back packing!! And as for a 'German' coming over and breaking one of 'our' track records? Uhh, have you looked at the top of the Top Gear Power Lap record board recently? Yes, that is a German ahead of the 'plucky Brit'!!
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Do you not think we might be a wee bit jealous that it is YOU guys who have the Nurburgring in the first place?? Why are we so obsessed with it? Because it is so legendary, the ultimate test for the ultimate machine. Take a chill pill and relax, after yourselves, we buy more German cars per capita than any other country on the planet ? if you still think we really have something against the Germans, well, you're really quite sad! (oh, and most of us actually drink cold European Lager Beers, NOT Ales, but you'd know that if you actually bothered to come over!
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Look at it this way, neither of them are really road cars, but theyre both road legal. the Radical is clearly a road car but the gumpert is about as much of a road car as that mclaren f1 gtr that was converted to road use. face it - both of them are racing cars, but the radical is just faster
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
0_0 say what? awesome! i did dat in forza 2 did da nurbigring with an bentley Track Car i did a 7mins 08
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
@Viper_des Actually, I think you'd find that as a nation we wouldn't be too concerned, at the end of the day Britain is the spiritual home of motorsport - we had the frist purpose built track (FYI it's Brooklands) and a huge proportion of F1 teams are based here, including Mercedes. At the end of the day your rant about us probably ranting about the war simply shows that you Germans are still as millitaristic and up yourselves as ever and ultimately still sore about the first and second world wars, if you weren't you wouldn't have brought it up, would you??? However, your english is a lot better than a lot of the people who've posted on this page from the UK.
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Des has a point and FYI it's Mclaren-Mercedes, Mclaren is a british team that's why they play the british national anthem when they win. And the Radical is pathetic I would rather have a Gumpert than the Radical. The radical may be road legal but it's useless everywhere else. Aston Martin is the only good british company left, most of the others have either ultra leightweght cars with puny engine's, no torque and completely impossable to realistically live with or big and luxurious (and with german engines and leather). Even though I still think the DB9 is one of the best cars ever produced, it can't make up for any thing else. Germany and Japan and Italy make the best cars, and that's a fact!
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Ok, i'm sorry i think i have to save our German reputation here. I think it's great radical posted such a good laptime. They're all just pushing the competition and i think this is great for European engineering. And as for the German-Brittish rivalry: what would the world be like without the greatest car series on earth? I couldnt live without you Brits. Just wanted to show some Love :-)
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Why don't the Ring do official power lap times? It would save all this nonsense. Could the Guinness book of Records not sort them out?
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Because the Nurburg Ring is open to anybody and so there's a list of things that can compromise an official lap time like someone getting in the way. If the radical can get over a speed hump and is not on racing slick tires then it should be road legal
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Good on you Dontw8! :-) Blimey there are a few idiots popped up today hey!? I personally don't think the Radical is anything like a road car... don't care if they drove it there, it's a track car, period! Try to use it for anything else and you're clearly a twit. Gumpert Apollo Speed still has it in my book. But I do agree with others... who really cares?
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
@ben10Topgear You may be good at Forza, just a shame you have such poor grasp of the English language. Enough of the kiddy "txt" speak already. Oh, and I reckon the Radical still gets it. It had it before and has improved on that. If I was a rich man, i would love a Radical as a track day tool or weekend drive. Good work. Anyone found a necent video of it yet?
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Is the Radical road legal? Yes. Can it be driven on all roads? No, at least not those with speed bunps. Is a Murcialago road legal? Yes. Can it be driven on all roads? No, at least not those with narrow width restrictors. Clearly some public roads cannot physically accommodate every road legal vehicle, but that does not make said vehicle illegal. Personally I'm waiting for the Caparo T1 to set a 'Ring time - and that has adjustable suspension to get it over speed bumps.
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
My first post here. Love TG and especially the very special british humor. In my world there is no place for stupid national feelings. I have a lot of british friends and many things I love about the UK - and I am from german too. I especially admire exactly that international attitude from my british friends. That made me embarrassed and write. Regarding the record I made some research. There is no real official "Nordschleife" FIA-ish rulebook.
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
2nd part What I found are 2 things though. There is one official Nordschleifen Trophy by a Car magazine called "Sport Auto". They require a road legal car and it has to be road legal in germany too - with "normal" street tires.Because the Radical does not have a normal road clearance, just a national exceptional one - SVA (Single Vehicle Approval) the Radical does not count as legal road car but as a race car. But I love the benchmark, the Nordschleife developed into for Sport Cars - its like the TG-Track for the big sports car manufactures. Like Nissan is kicking Porsche for a while..
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Well, well temper, temper. Can't face the fact we make better cars, well, which is better, a Meybach or an Aston Martin Rapide? The one with the winged badge wins. And what happens win a DBRS9 comes too the top gear track. He,he stumped now aren't yer!
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
It would appear that the only rule for being accepted as the outright record holder for either the Ring or your Track is that the car must be able to successfully clear a sleeping policeman or a speed bump or is that too simplistic? Maybe you are just trying keep the bigger manufacturers sweet. To come clean I owned and used on a regular basis a road legal Radical SR3 for 2 years. It was just like a motorcycle but on 4 wheels and you used it with that thought in mind. It was the vehicle that has given me the most fun and I have owned an RS500, Porsche GT2, 2 M3's, and many other 'daft' cars and still regret the day I sold it, this is unfinished business. And by the way I had no problem with it clearing speed bumps in Hyde, Cheshire.
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.
Advertisement
Advertisement feature
Discover the new Insignia VXR
The Vauxhall Insignia VXR is in showrooms now. To read more about the car and for your chance to win an iPod Touch, click here.
Test Driven
.jpg?p=080926_03:52)
Audi TT Roadster
Forget the hyperdrive quattro versions. This honest, no frills TT is one of the best you can buy.
Advertisement
Open Car Bar
PetrolheadViper commented on this article
21 August 2009
Arggh who the hell cares. If they drove it on the road to the nurburgring then its road legal so let them have I say. Anything to beat the Germans lol.
Link to this comment
Report this comment
You are about to report a comment for breaking our Code of Conduct.
Please note, we will not remove a post just because you disagree with what is being said.
This form can only be used for reporting a comment. If you want to contact us please go to our contact us page.