A concept sedan being tested by Lynk & Co could have smashed two Nurburgring records last week in one mad blast around the famed course with 2017 touring car World Champion Thed Björk behind the wheel: one record for front-wheel-drive cars and one for four-door sedans. It could have, that is, had it been a production sedan.
The Lynk & Co 03 Cyan concept lapped the ‘Ring in 7:20.143, beating Jaguar’s four-door record by about three seconds — the 7:23.164 record the British automaker set with a production, all-wheel-drive XE SV Project 8. Lynk & Co calls this concept the road car version of the sedan that it runs in the World Touring Car Cup races.
Of course, Cyan’s record comes with a big, fat asterisk because it’s a preproduction car, so Jaguar still holds the official time, but the British automaker should probably be worried if Lynk & Co wants to try it for real in a few months. Cyan Racing used the longer, 20.832-kilometer layout of the track instead of the shorter 20.600-kilometer one, but in the shorter configuration, the car set a time of 7:15.123.
Cyan’s 03 concept is powered by a turbocharged 2.0 four-cylinder making 528 hp at 7,800 rpm and 372 lb-ft of torque from 4,500 rpm, paired with a six-speed gearbox with paddle shifters. The sedan can make the sprint from 0-62 mph in 4.4 seconds and will get to 124 mph in just 10 seconds. In the Nurburgring runs, it was wearing 20-inch forged wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 285/30R20 tires, while the suspension featured Öhlins adjustable dampers.
Beating the four-door sedan record was impressive enough, but the 03 Cyan concept also put to shame the front-wheel-drive record that has been held by Renault. The French automaker still holds the 7:40.1 record set by a Megane R.S. Trophy-R, but Cyan’s preproduction sedan was able to set a time of 7:15.123 around the track. That’s a 25-second difference, and it may also keep Renault up at night.
“The car is rewarding to drive no matter the conditions, be it the Nurburgring or the autobahn,” said Björk. “The record that we achieved here is something I rank on the same level as my racing titles and a highlight in my part of transitioning development from race to road cars.”
Source: Read Full Article