OFFICIAL: Alfa Romeo 4C laps the Nurburgring in 8:04s

The soon to arrive on the road Alfa Romeo 4C has put in a lap time at the Nurburgring of 8:04s, a new lap record for sub-250bhp cars.

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We wouldn’t normally report on a car lapping the Nurburgring in around 8 minutes; after all, the Nurburgring lap record for a full production car is sub-7 minutes, so 8 minutes seems almost a stroll.

But the lap time round the Nurburgring for the Alfa Romeo 4C is worthy of note because it’s a new lap record for a production car with less than 250bhp, and puts the Alfa 4C very much on the map as a performance car.

We’d heard rumours a few weeks ago that Horst von Saurma has managed the impressive time in the 4C round the Nurburgring, but Alfa has now confirmed the time – with the 4C shod with road-legal Pirelli Zero Trofeo tyres – was completed on 23rd September 2013.

To give a bit more perspective to the 4C’s Nurburgring time, it comes in the same bracket as more powerful cars like Audi’s R8 and Porsche’s Cayman S which, when you remember the 4C has just a 1750cc 4-cylinder engine under the skin, is quite remarkable.

All of which will do sales of the new Alfa 4C – which goes on sale this month from £45,000 – no harm at all.