Hybrid Porsche Sets Track Record at Germany's Nürburgring

The hybrid Porsche 918, powered by two electric motors and a brutal V8 engine, sets the standard on the track that defines fast

Porsche's new hybrid sports car shattered the record Tuesday for a lap around Germany's famed 12.8-mile Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit -- the world's crucible for performance cars.

Porsche factory racer Marc Lieb needed one attempt to blitz the track in 6 minutes, 57 seconds -- the fastest lap for a production car that is street legal worldwide. The lap through the twisting and undulating ribbon of tarmac northwest of Frankfurt is 14 seconds quicker than the previous standard set by a Gumpert Apollo Sport.

Lieb averaged 111.53 mph at the wheel of a Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid sports car that produces a combined power rating of 887 horsepower. The car is powered by a 608-hp V8 engine and two electric motors.

"The radical hybridization of the 918 Spyder from the very outset is what made this record possible," said Dr. Frank Walliser, head of the 918 Spyder project. "The Nordschleife is and remains the toughest measure of a super sports car."

The base Porsche 918's price is estimated at more than $845,000. The car made its debut Tuesday night at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Editor's Note: The questionably street legal Radical SR8LM lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6 minutes, 48 seconds in 2009. 

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