It’s not going to threaten the Porsche 918 Spyder of McLaren P1 at the top of the Nurburgring leader board, but the Seat Leon Cupra 280 has beaten the Nurburgring record for a front-wheel drive car, and done so in less than 8 minutes.
The previous record, set by the Renault Megane RS Trophy in 2011 of 8m07.97s, has now been beaten by nearly 10 seconds, with the 206kW Seat Leon Cupra 280 setting a time of 7m58.4s and becoming the 1st FWD car to break the 8 minute barrier.
The Leon Cupra, which is based on the VW Group’s MQB platform, was running Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres, but other than that was apparently a full road going version of the hot hatch.
You may want to take note that there is no official governing body for the Nurburgring lap-time battleground, but Seat has proved that a sub-8 time is possible. The track conditions, as reported to Top Gear, were dry, with an air temperature of 10 degrees Celsius and a track temperature a few degrees below that.
The Seat’s record time places it faster around the Green Hell than the previous generation Dodge Viper, and quicker than an Aston Martin DBS.
After seeing this, Honda has a tough task ahead of them, as they claimed the upcoming turbocharged Civic Type-R would be the fastest FWD around the ‘Ring. Your move Honda – make it a good one!
