Porsche has raised the bar on lap Germany’s famous Nürburgring‑Nordschleife by setting an official lap record for the world’s quickest electric sedan. Porsche’s Taycan Turbo GT with the optional Manthey Kit, soon available at a retail dealership near you, ran the challenging benchmark circuit in 6 minutes 55.553 seconds—making it more than 12 seconds quicker than the previous record-setting Taycan Turbo GT Weissach.

Making a fast car even faster is no simple task. In the case of the all-electric Taycan, it consisted of a comprehensive upgrade kit from Manthey, a Porsche‑affiliated motorsport specialist, and some uber-sticky high-performance tires from Pirelli, a Porsche factory supplier.

This is the first time Manthey has developed a package specifically for an electric model. With the intent of making the four-door faster and more capable on a racing circuit, the team concentrated on changes to the bodywork, suspension, brakes, electronics, and wheels. The tires, one of the most important components in vehicle performance, were also upgraded.

One of the most visual upgrades is the aerodynamic package. To more than triple the downforce of the standard Turbo GT with the Weissach Package, the Manthey Taycan gets a much larger (adjustable) rear wing, a reshaped front splitter and diffuser, a more aggressive rear diffuser, and extra fins and deflectors under the car. At around 124 mph, the car now generates about 683 pounds of downforce instead of 209, and at its slightly higher 192‑mph top speed it produces roughly 1,631 pounds.

Manthey also tweaks the electric powertrain by reworking the high‑voltage battery control and the power electronics, enabling the system to deliver more electrical current to the motors and increasing standard output from 580 kW (777 hp) to 600 kW (804 hp). Engineers reworked Maximum torque with Launch Control, bumping it up to 936 lb‑ft, and the Taycan’s “Attack Mode” now gives a stronger momentary boost, raising short‑term output to 730 kW (978 hp). The changes produce stronger performance and more consistency over long, demanding laps, as is common on road courses.

The engineers also developed new 21‑inch forged aluminum wheels, fitted with titanium alloy wheel bolts to further reduce unsprung weight—the overall wheel package is wider than that on the Turbo GT Weissach wheels but lighter overall. The brakes were also increased in size. The front discs increase in size from 420 mm to 440 mm, with 410‑mm rotors at the rear and upgraded pads to cope with the higher speeds and heavier loads of serious track driving. To take advantage of the changes, the suspension, four‑wheel steering, and all‑wheel‑drive system were all re‑tuned to make the car feel more agile, more precise, and more stable in fast corners, especially when combined with Porsche’s advanced Active Ride suspension technology.

The tires fitted to the record-setting Taycan Turbo GT were Pirelli’s P Zero Trofeo RS—a tire that has set multiple lap records at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. These are road-legal, ultra-high-performance track tires originally developed as factory fitment for hypercars and supercars, now available for enthusiasts as replacements. The tires fitted to the Taycan use Pirelli Elect technology to better meet the specific demands of electric vehicles. In addition, the Taycan‑specific version is the first production tire using more than 50 percent certified bio‑based and recycled materials—identified by a special sidewall logo—with FSC‑certified natural rubber to ensure a responsibly managed supply chain.

“The Manthey Kit turns the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package into the ultimate track tool. On the Nordschleife, you can feel the stability and confidence the car offers in fast sections and when braking,” says Lars Kern, the record-setting Porsche development driver. “We were able to improve the previous best times thanks to significantly improved aerodynamics, further improved tires in terms of performance, and higher available overboost power.”

Germany’s famous Nürburgring‑Nordschleife has been the benchmark racing circuit for automakers, driving enthusiasts, and professionals for decades. For road‑going performance cars (combustion, hybrid and pure-electric), anything under about 7:20–7:30 full lap is extremely fast and usually the domain of top‑end GT products and factory test drivers. A sub‑7‑minute lap puts you in rarefied record‑chasing territory even among factory-supported efforts.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com