Who would have bet that a phone manufacturer, Xiaomi, would come and beat Porsche on its favourite home turf, the Nürburgring ?
In the space of just a few months, Xiaomi, the Chinese consumer electronics giant, has turned the established codes of the automotive industry on their head with an extra-fast time at the Nürburgring… But to fully understand the significance of this dazzling achievement, we need to look back at the chronology.
The SU7, Xiaomi‘s first electric GT sports car, went on sale in China in March 2024. At the same time, a much more extreme prototype called the SU7 Ultra (more powerful, lighter and optimised for the track) was tested on the legendary German circuit the following summer. On 28 October 2024, a prototype of this SU7 Ultra completed the Nürburgring Nordschleife in just 6 minutes and 46 seconds… A disconcerting time for the German competitors, but achieved with a vehicle that was not really up to standard… Roll-over bar, racing tyres and specific components not available on the production version! In short, this version achieved an incredible time, but is not part of any championship, and therefore has no official value… (in this case, the category is ‘Electric Production Cars’).
A record at the Nürburgring, a royal entry into the big leagues for Xiaomi
The real record came just a few months later. On 1 April 2025, Xiaomi took another lap of the track with a production SU7 Ultra in just 7 minutes 04 seconds, this time validated in the Electric Production Cars category. It’s a feat that sent shockwaves through the world, as the time above dethroned the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT! (The former queen of the category…) So it’s at this precise moment that Xiaomi strikes hard. On its very first attempt, a very young car brand has surpassed one of the most emblematic names on the Nürburgring. The Nürburgring has always been dominated by European manufacturers, and Porsche has reigned supreme here for decades as a national symbol of performance and precision.
But to achieve such a result, Xiaomi has spared no expense. The SU7 Ultra packs more than 1,500bhp from three electric motors, as well as Pirelli semi-slick tyres, carbon-ceramic brakes and a chassis that’s sharper than ever. Features that make this model much more than just a GT sports car: it’s a real technological showcase, demonstrating China’s ambitions in the high-performance electric sector.
