Nissan Day is without end! Full Disclosure: SpeedSportLife’s Jack Baruth is not only a friend of mine, but was on my LeMons team last May. He’s a pretty good driver, too. Full Disclosure 2.0: Here at Autofiends we love nothing more than reporting on the latest Nurburgring “Lap Record.” Why just this very morning Zach put together a post complete with video all about Nissan’s 7:29 lap time in a “stock” GT-R. We report (used loosely) on this sort of thing for quite a few reasons. One, we cover the auto industry and many of the big boys (Nissan, Chevy, Dodge) are generating a bunch o’ buzz by flinging their top offerings round der ‘Ring. Two: I’ve mentioned this before, but the mill needs grist! 24 hour news cycle, etc. We have to talk about something, right? Three, and most important, for a whole host of reasons, the Nurburgring Nordschleife is the new quarter-mile and/or top speed. Keep reading…

Look, the majority of Corvette owners will never have the opportunity to run 12 flat or kiss the top side of 190 mph — even us auto-journo types never actually get to do that. But the numbers do (to some degree) play into their purchasing decisions. What are you going to do, brag about how much luggage you can stuff under the ‘Vette’s hatch? Ask a GT-R owner if the 7:29 time influenced their brain when it came time to whip out the gold card and I would bet they say, “Yes.” Regardless of all that, Jack ain’t having any of it. He rightly points out that there is no official lap record. None, zero, zip. Doesn’t exist. Just a series of boasts and “stunts” by various manufacturers looking to sell expensive cars featuring more power and capability than their owners could ever need. Jack also points out (and this is my favorite part of his screed) that as runs are carried out on different days, they are absolutely meaningless. Temperature and track conditions have huge impacts on lap times. Especially on a 14-mile plus course like Green Hell. In fact, Jack estimates that a good rain could scrub as much as “nine and a half seconds” of a ‘Ring lap. Definitely worth a read: Avoidable Contact #17: Cheating Nissan, Bitter Porsche