Yes, actually the 991 Turbo S should rule the Nordschleife like no other car in this category, so something was clearly off. I still put my bet on the tires, the asphalt temperature was 13°C only and for UHP tires, this is way too cold. Even if they build up heat, it won't be enough to provide maximum grip at this temperature, at least not for the first couple of kilometers. I also have a different suspicion since Sport Auto earned a lot of hate with the GT3 Supertest but i don't want to go that far and accuse them of providing worse test results to please the (typical reader) crowd.
Some people claim that HvS may not be as fast as Christian Gebhardt (the guy who did the Hockenheim test) but I still think the tires are to blame. This whole HvS "bashing" is going on for some time and I still don't think he deserves it.
Also, the active aerodynamics, another possibility to think of, can be counter productive in achieving faster track times on a high speed track due to the increased downforce. It would have been interesting to see a review in Sport mode only, with active aerodynamics in highway/Autobahn mode, not in track mode. Actually, I would like to see how the Turbo S performs with street tires, since no Turbo S owner in his right mind would put UHP tires on it (what for?) unless he wants to track race the car very very often.
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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Turbo S, Porsche Boxster S (981), BMW X3 35d (2013)