Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi has returned to Germany’s infamous Nürburgring circuit with a four-door lap record in mind, and this time it has managed to topple the Porsche Taycan at the top of the timing sheets.
Once again taking its SU7 Ultra performance sedan to the 20.8km Nordschleife public road course, Xaomi has claimed the lap record for road-legal four-door cars with a blistering time of seven minutes and 4.957 seconds – clear of the 7:7.55 time set by the Taycan Turbo GT in early 2024.
Not only that, it also outdid the Rimac Nevera electric hypercar by just 0.3 seconds to claim the lap record for production electric vehicles (EVs), and came within a whisker of the combustion-powered Porsche 911 GT3, Mercedes-AMG GT R Pro, and Porsche Cayman GT4 RS.
Unlike Xiaomi’s previous lap in 2024, which used a track-only SU7 Ultra prototype, this lap will stand as an official time as the vehicle used was completely road-legal. The only modification was an optional track package, much like the Weissach Package fitted to the now-defeated Taycan.
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Still, the production SU7 Ultra was only around 18 seconds slower than its prototype counterpart, which was built to be a track weapon with the support of British engineering firm and motorsport powerhouse Prodrive.
Fitted to the prototype version was a carbon-fibre body, stripped-back interior, slick tyres, and extravagant aerodynamic and cooling aids.
The production version still features advanced aerodynamics, but sports a smaller front splitter, altered bonnet, less aggressive rear wing, and even an active rear diffuser that continuously tilts for added downforce.
Xiaomi has claimed the 2360kg Ultra produces 285kg of downforce at its 350km/h top speed, whereas the prototype version produced as much as 2145kg and weighed slightly less than 1900kg. The production SU7 Ultra hit a top speed of 346km/h during its lap of the Nordschleife.
Powering the SU7 Ultra is an all-wheel drive tri-motor drivetrain comprising one Xiaomi HyperEngine V6s motor at the front and two HyperEngine V8s motors at the rear.
Total outputs are quoted at 1138kW of power and 1770Nm of torque, which is claimed to send the car from 0-100km/h in just 1.98 seconds, and to 200km/h in 5.96 seconds. It’s fitted with Pirelli P Zero 5 tyres as standard, and features air suspension, a chassis-integrated roll cage, and carbon ceramic brakes.
This powertrain was shared with the prototype model and is fed by a CATL 93.7kWh NMC battery. Claimed driving range on the generous CLTC test cycle is 620km, down from 830km for the standard rear-wheel drive SU7 variant.
In China, the production SU7 Ultra is on sale for 814,900 Yuan (A$174,000). For reference, Australian examples of the Taycan Turbo GT with the Weissach Package are priced from $416,000 before on-road costs.
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