Lamborghini still hasn’t shown us completely what the new Aventador SVJ looks like, but the entire automotive world now knows just how capable this hypercar is on a track. 6 minutes, 44.97 seconds – that’s how long it took the Lambo to cover 12.9 miles of twists, hills, blind corners, and blistering straights that make the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The time beats the former record-holder – the Porsche 911 GT2 RS – by 2.33 seconds. It also topped the all-electric Nio EP9’s time of 6:45.9, but the McLaren P1 LM is still technically faster at 6:43.2. The times of both those cars, however, are controversial in that each will have an extremely limited production run.
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But enough about that – you’re here to check out this Porsche-versus-Lamborghini rivalry. The record runs from both cars are backed up by good in-car video, but we wanted to see a direct, side-by-side comparison. Enter our video guru James Bradbury, who mapped out starting points for both of these clips down to the millisecond, creating this awesome Motor1.com video feature. And are we ever glad he did, because this viewpoint offers up some curious insight into the strengths and weaknesses of each car that wouldn’t be seen otherwise. Be forewarned – having your map of Nürburgring corners will help you navigate the following paragraph.
Gallery: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Teaser
Surprisingly, the Porsche jumps out to an early lead. There’s nearly a second between the two cars at Flugplatz, but the Lamborghini slowly creeps back through the more technical sections of the Nordschiefe. At Kesselchen the Lambo's lead is a full 3.5 seconds, but the 911 GT2 RS cuts that back to just two seconds at Brünnchen. We’d expect the Porsche to run better in the bends with the big Lamborghini assaulting the higher-speed sections, but this direct comparison suggests the opposite is true. That theory is further supported by the 911 GT2 RS cutting a 3.5-second deficit at Kliens Karussel to the finishing gap of 2.33 seconds – on a stretch of track that's predominately straight.
Lamborghini has been making a big deal about handling and downforce in its recent teasers. Granted this analysis is a total armchair effort, but the video comparison suggests that yes, the Aventador SVJ can definitely bite at the asphalt. In fact, it might bite so hard with improved aero bits that top speed could suffer. In the end, it still adds up to one thing: Lamborghini has properly renewed its rivalry with Porsche.