By: Double Apex
Chinese automakers should not be taken lightly, and neither should the claims made by company bosses. “Our goal is to become one of the top five car manufacturers in the world… and we need courage to compete head to head in the world’s top car companies,” said Xiaomi founder, chairman, and CEO Lei Jun.
Part of that challenge was to set a new Nurburgring lap record for four-door cars (as we reported here) with any form of propulsion. And that is exactly what the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype has done.
The Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype was driven to a lap time of 6 min 46,874 seconds on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
As a result it now holds the record for the fastest four-door car around a lap of the famous German racectrack. In January this year, a pre-production prototype of the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT achieved a lap time of 7 min 07,55 sec. This makes the SU7 Ultra Prototype considerably quicker.
This is the first in a two-part plan by Xiaomi. Xiaomi EV’s challenge plan is divided into two phases: the first phase involves using a prototype car to challenge the non-production lap records at the Nürburgring in October 2024; the second phase aims to use a production model to officially target the production car lap records at the Nürburgring in 2025.
The Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype packs a serious punch. Its three electric motors have a combined 1,139kW of power. As a result it can blast from rest to 100km/h in 1.97 seconds and from 0-200 in 5.96. Its top speed is quoted as 350km/h.
But power isn’t enough to set a decent time at the ’Ring. The SU7 Ultra Prototype has over 2,000 kg of downforce. Nearly every panel on the SU7 Ultra’s body is made up of carbon-fibre except the boot lid. It also has AP Racing six-pot calipers on the front axle. In conjunction with the e-motors regen system it can generate well over 2Gs of retardation force.
Xiaomi says there is more to come: However, this is not the full potential of the SU7 Ultra Prototype. Xiaomi EV is dedicated to advancing the frontiers of electric vehicle technology, with these innovations set to undergo rigorous testing and optimization on the legendary Nürburgring track to ensure exceptional performance and reliability.
Article supplied by: Double Apex