Another Two Porsche Track Records Have Been Shattered

Xiaomi brought its soon-to-be-release performance version of the SU7, effectively a four-door hypercar laying down 1,526 horsepower, to the Shanghai International Circuit, in order to take the series-production car record from the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT. Previously, the Taycan Turbo GT lapped the circuit in 2:11.28. This time, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra completed a circuit in 2:09.94. Not only that, but the fastest version of the Taycan Turbo hit 180 mph on the back straight, while the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra didn’t need to start braking for the right-hand turn until it clocked 201 mph. You can watch the lap at the bottom of this article.

An All-Electric Rivalry Is Brewing

This could become quite a rivalry between Porsche and Xiaomi as the Chinese company also beat Porsche and its Taycan Turbo GT by knocking 20 seconds off of its Nürburgring lap time. The Xiaomi SU7 attacked the Germans on their own turf with a lap time of 6:46.87. However, we can’t call that one definitive since Xiaomi ran a pre-production vehicle with no interior. For the Shanghai International Circuit lap, the company used what is claimed to be an unmodified production car.

Watching the video of the Shanghai International Circuit record braking run, it’s clear that the Xiaomi SU7’s 435 extra horsepower over the Taycan Turbo GT is a deciding factor. In fact, it makes up for a few small mistakes the driver, reportedly Xiaomi’s in-house dynamic engineer, makes. The Taycan Turbo GT was piloted by Lars Kern, a career race car driver that Porsche has drafted in and holds several lap records for the brand. This causes us to wonder what the Xiaomi SU7 could do with someone of Kern’s stature and habit of turning in perfect laps behind the wheel.

The SU7 Is Quicker To 60 MPH And Costs Half As Much

Of course, maybe not much other than iron out the small mistakes and possibly brake later in places – but the Xiaomi SU7’s chassis doesn’t prove itself here. We also don’t know if the driver was holding back, but some moments seem unintentional. And, unlike Porsche’s Taycan Turbo GT, Xiaomi boasts that the SU7 is built as a full-on race car for the road, saying that the “SU7 Ultra also comes with a peak chassis system tuned for the Nürburgring Nordschleife, delivering better chassis control and a higher control ceiling.” Porsche boasts that the Taycan Turbo GT is “an outstanding electric sports car,” noting its 7:07.55 Nordschleife time.

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Xiaomi SU7 Ready To Fight Tesla Model 3 In China With More Range, More Power And Cheaper Price Tag

Like the Taycan Turbo GT, the SU7 Ultra is capable of sub-two-second 0 to 60 mph times, although Porsche claims 2.1 seconds. Xiaomi claims 1.8 seconds. It uses a three-motor setup with two at the rear and one providing power to the front wheels. Powering the motors is a 93.7 kWh CATL Qilin 2.0 battery that’s capable of discharging a whopping great 1,330 kW of power. It goes on sale in China later in February for 814,900 CNY, which is around $112,000 – half the cost of getting into a Taycan Turbo GT, which starts at $230,000.