New Lap Record on the Nürburgring Nordschleife with KW ( 08.24.2009 )
It is August, 13th. The air has a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius and the sky is clouded. At 12:55 p.m. professional race driver Florian Gruber (age 26) crosses the line of the Nurburgring Nordschleife and unleashes the 700 hp of his GUMPERT apollo sport. He has set off into a race against the clock. His only objective: To break the record for road legal cars on the legendary 13 mile racetrack, once felicitously entitled the green hell by racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart. And to beat the existing official record of the Donkervoort D8 RS06 set almost 4 years ago.
7 minutes, 11 seconds and 57 hundreds of a second later Gruber crosses the line again. He has proven: The GUMPERT apollo sport is officially the fastest road legal factory car ever to circle the Ring until today. With an average speed of around 106,78 mp/h (171,84 km/h) the apollo was by 3,32 seconds faster than the former record holder. And – by the way – more than 13 seconds faster than the Maserati MC 12 in 2008. And, well – I even could have gone a little faster, said the pretty unimpressed driver after coming back into the pits. And not even one drop of sweat on his brow after the record lap. The apollo sport in standard factory specification was equipped with road legal MICHELIN Pilot Sport Cup tires and an adjustable coilover suspension by KW.
The conditions were good, but not perfect – so we have still got potential to go faster, concluded Florian Gruber. From his point of view, the apollo has the potential to even break the 7 minutes mark. And Roland Gumpert, former Head of AUDI SPORT and managing director of the GUMPERT Sportwagenmanufaktur, adds with a wink: It is great that we broke the record and that we were able to show the potential of the apollo – but at this stage there is no need to go faster. We don´t want to demoralize our fellow competitors by now…?
KW contributes a huge part to the lap record by its optimized suspension setup. The Apollo has been tested and adjusted on the KW 7-post test rig to be perfectly prepared for the lap record.
At a glance
GUMPERT apollo sport (700 HP)
Transmission:
sequential six-speed gear box with synchronisation and oil cooling, twin plate clutch configuration (diameter 2 x 200 mm), rear-wheel drive, differential lock by Torsen
Chassis:
Racing kits, 3-way adjustable: KW Competition 3A
long and pushrod-operated double transverse control arm suspension with fully adjustable dampers front and rear and anti roll bar in front
Brakes:
two circuit BOSCH-ABS brake system with six piston callipers, inside ventilated discs (378 x 32 mm) all around
Wheels & Tires:
Aluminium cast wheels with centre look front: 255/35 ZR19 rear: 345/35 ZR19
Dry weight:
1,200 kg (For cars with standard equipment without filling. Special eqipment may increase this value.)
Allowed total weight: 1,550 kg
Length: 4,460 mm
Width: 1,998 mm
Height: 1,105 mm
Wheel base: 2,700 mm
Wheel gauge: front: 1,670 mm, rear: 1,598 mm
Tank capacity: 120 litre
Engine:
V8-cylinder-Biturbomotor with 90o cylinder angle, light metal cylinder heads with 5 valves per cylinder, four overhead camshafts, hydraulic valve clearance compensation, double-flow exhaust system with three-way catalytic converter, dry sump lubrication
Cubic capacity: 4,163 ccm
Engine performance: 515 kW (700 HP) at 6.500 rev/min
Maximum torque: 875 Nm at 4.000 rev/min
Litre performance: 123.7 kW/Litre (168 HP/Litre)
Maximum rev.: 7,200 rev/min
Top speed:
360 km/h / 224 mph (Depending on equipment, county related specification, gear ratio and engine power)
Acceleration figures:
0-100 km/h in 3,0 s
0-200 km/h in 8,9 s
