Archive for the ‘Manufacturer testing’ Category

Audi RS5 blasts around Nordschleife

While no official details about the RS5 have been made public, it appears as though there are now a few pre-production examples getting around. Here is a clip of what is believed to be an RS5 lapping the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The deeper lower vents on the front grille certainly indicate this is an RS5 model, […]

BMW X5 M in testing

A short clip from BMW-web.tv showing the X5 M being put through its paces around the Nürburgring. It doesn’t show a lot, but there’s some in-car footage, with commentary, at Klostertal and the Karussell.

Pontiac G8 GXP sets Nürburgring lap time

A Holden Commodore SS, or more correctly, a Pontiac G8 GXP has been spotted testing at the Ring. The Aussie derived saloon, sporting Victorian number plates, has set a lap time of 8 minutes 30 seconds. The time was set by a GM engineer, not a professional racing driver, and looking at a list of […]

Audi R8 GT3 wet weather testing

Audi’s awesome R8 GT3 has recently been spotted in wet weather testing at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Despite the presence of the small quattro badge on the front grille, GT3 racing regulations stipulate the car must be rear-wheel drive only and the purpose-built customer racecar is expected to produce at least 375kW (500bhp). The car is […]

Renault Megane III Coupe spied in testing

Last month pictures of the new Renault Mégane III were revealed. Now, the Coupé model has been spotted in testing on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Styling cues such as bigger front air dams and centre exhaust point to this being a Renaultsport model in development, which is due to be shown at next year’s Geneva Motor […]

How important is manufacturer testing at the Nordschleife?

This is a question Dale Lomas from RSR Nürburg asked himself on his BridgeToGantry website. It’s a great read. I’ve included a small extract below: “But the importance of this 20.8 kilometre tarmac rollercoaster (whose infield section alone contains four complete villages and a population of nearly 2500) runs deeper than it being a summer […]

MINI Cooper S past blast

Taking a step back in time here is a small snippet offrom Wheels August 2001 issue with some spy shots of the R53 MINI Cooper S testing at the Nürburgring (click on the image for a larger version). At the time the then all-new MINI Cooper under BMW’s stewardship had just been launched and there […]