BMW belts the 'ring

Driving on the perilous curves of the tortuous Nordschleife, or Northern Circuit -- described by former F1 champ Jackie Stewart as 'the ultimate driver challenge' and nicknamed 'The Green Hell' -- the M6 reportedly banged in a time of eight minutes and nine seconds.

That's a quick time. Quick enough to match an Aston Martin Vantage, but still shy, for example, of the 7:56 lap posted in 1999 by the Porsche 911 GT3 -- a record for street-legal production cars at the time. However, BMW claims the M6 was handicapped by its electronic speed limiter, which prevented it from exceeding 250km/h.

To help put these times in perspective, the ultra-exotic Porsche Carrera GT has lapped in 7min 32sec and the lightweight Caterham R500 in 7min 56sec.

What's the current lap record for production cars, you ask? Try a gob-smacking 6:55, set just over three months ago by Michael Vergers in the appropriately named Radical SR8.

Although completely road legal, the SR8 is a highly specialised (and impractical) car that's powered by a high-revving 2.6-litre V8 engine with 269kW. The huge downforce generated by the car's aerodynamic aids mean it's theoretically possible to drive it upside down once a sufficient speed is reached.

Nürburgring circuit stats
Length: 20.8km
Corners: 33 left-handers, 40 right-handers
Steepest climb: 17 percent
Steepest drop: 11 percent
Highest point: 620m above sea level (start/finish straight)
Lowest point: 320m above sea level (Breidscheid)

Race lap records over the years
1927 Christian Werner - 15:51.6
1932 Tazio Nuvolari - 10:49.4
1936 Bernd Rosemeyer - 9:56.6
1958 Stirling Moss - 9:09.2
1969 Jacky Ickx - 7:43.8
1975 Clay Regazzoni - 7:06.4
1983 Stefan Bellof - 6:11.1