Some well-known car manufacturers will be heading back to the drawing board today upon hearing that the Chinese Manufactured Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept has bettered two well-known records at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
Under the guise of Cyan Racing (formerly Polestar), the Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept blazed around the 21-kilometre Nordschleife circuit and in the process, claimed the records for fastest four-door car and the fastest front-wheel-drive car.
[Opinion] Is the Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept a sign of things to come?
As we’ve alluded to in the past, the move away from the historical manufacturing powerhouses is a major worry for the establishment, particularly certain companies in Europe. Over the next decade, the move from combustion to electric cars brings Asia squarely to the forefront and if they choose to sell electric cars in an OEM format, more countries will be able to adapt, brand and launch into the mainstream market. China aside, within the next couple of decades, it’s likely we’ll see countries such as Mexico, Brazil and India taking a huge share of the car manufacturing market. The Zhejiang Geely Holding Group’s Lynk & Co brand clearly shows that there is a huge change on the horizon for the automotive industry.
The Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept lap time
So, how long did it take for driver Thed Björk to lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife in the Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept? Only 7 minutes and 20,143 seconds, averaging 170,4 km/h. This is quite astonishing when you consider that this a mass-production based four-door car.
How the Lynk & Co 03 Cyan compares against the supercars:
- Ferrari 488 GTB (7:20)
- Porsche 911 GT2 RS (7:24)
- Pagani Zonda F Clubsport (7:24.44)
- Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 (7:25)
- Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 (7:28)
- Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio (7:32)
- Koenigsegg CCX (7:33.55)
- and the BMW M5 just a year ago was a mammoth 18 seconds adrift with a time of 7:38.92!
The Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept lap time is a full three seconds faster than the record for four-door cars, formerly held by Jaguar, and 25 seconds faster than the record for front-wheel driven cars, formerly held by Renault.
“We continue to push past the boundaries and goals that we have set for the Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept, a car that acts as a development platform for future Lynk & Co performance cars and parts,” said Henrik Fries, Head of Automotive R&D at Cyan Racing.
“While our main purpose for the many laps on the Nürburgring Nordschleife is development, the records that we broke are a true testament to the potential and capabilities of the Lynk & Co platform, as well as our engineering philosophy from more than two decades of motorsport and road car performance.”
The 7:20.143 lap record was set using the full 20,832km circuit layout as per the official Nürburgring standard and not the shorter 20,600km version as often used by other manufacturers. The Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept lapped the shorter version of the circuit in 7:15.123.
Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept – Technical specifications
Engine
4-cylinder
1969cc
Turbo charged
Power
528hp at 7800 rpm
504Nm at 4500-7000 rpm
Max 8000 rpm
Transmission
Front-wheel drive
6-speed gearbox with paddle shifts
Performance
0-100 km/h in 4,4 sec
0-200 km/h in 10 sec
100-0 km/h in 30 meters
Top speed of 310 km/h
Wheels
20″ forged Cyan wheels
Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 285/30R20 front and rear
Suspension
Öhlins adjustable dampers
Brakes
6-piston calipers with 378 mm ventilated discs front
2-piston calipers with 290 mm ventilated discs rear