These records have been established with all sorts of vehicles, ranging from electric supercars to SUVs to compact hatchbacks, yet Pirelli has been a constant when it comes to lowering the Nordschleife lap times across every category of car.
All the tyres in the P Zero range but the novelties introduced recently can boast a lap record around the Ring in the last five years: P Zero Trofeo R on the Audi RS 3 and P Zero on the Audi RS Q8 performance in 2024; P Zero Trofeo RS on the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT in 2023; P Zero Corsa on the Porsche Taycan Turbo S in 2022; P Zero Corsa on the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT and P Zero Trofeo R on the Audi RS 3 in 2021; and finally P Zero on the Audi RS Q8 in 2019.
The most recent records have come this year with the Audi RS 3, set on the P Zero Trofeo R – a semi-slick tyre specialised in circuit use – and Audi RS Q8 performance equipped with the P Zero: the Ultra High Performance tyre most frequently chosen by manufacturers to equip their top models. The Audi RS 3 record of 7m33.123s lowered the benchmark for compact cars by more than five seconds, while the RS Q8 performance became the fastest production SUV ever to lap the Ring, in a time of 7m36.698s that broke the existing record by more than two seconds. The same models had previously established the class records in 2021 and 2019 respectively, again on P Zero Trofeo R and P Zero tyres.
The Nürburgring Nordschleife, one of the most challenging circuits in the world, serves as a key testing ground for Pirelli, where the company rigorously evaluates its tyres and latest developments on high-performance vehicles, particularly in partnership with German carmakers. A standout example is the P Zero Trofeo RS for the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT: the most sporting tyre in the P Zero range, designed for track use but fully approved for the road. In a specially developed version for the electric supercar, these tyres brought the innovative Pirelli Electtechnology package to the track; designed to enhance the performance characteristics of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The results speak for themselves: the Taycan Turbo GT achieved a lap time of 7m07.55s, claiming the title of fastest production electric car at the Nürburgring and surpassing the previous record held by the Taycan Turbo S equipped with Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres.
The P Zero Corsa, dedicated to the most performance-focussed cars, also helped the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GTsecure the previous record in the SUV category. Earlier this year, the very same tyre powered the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N electric crossover to a remarkable lap time of 7m45.59s.