It's been just over a year since Cadillac captured the title of fastest production four-door car when John Heinricy circulated the Nürburgring's north loop with a CTS-V in under eight minutes. Considering the pace of leap-frogging between the Nissan GT-R, Corvette ZR1 and Viper ACR it's a bit surprising that it took this long for someone to top the super-Caddy. What's not surprising is that it was a Porsche that finally outran the CTS-V.

Now that the four-door Porsche Panamera has been thrust upon the world, it was only a matter of time before one the test drivers from Weissach brought the crown back to the fatherland. The 500-horsepower Panamera Turbo lapped the Nordschleife in 7 minutes, 56 seconds, 3 seconds faster than the Cadillac.

When Heinricy set his 7:59 time last year, it was done in an automatic CTS-V in a single hot lap at the end of a test session. With any luck, we'll see Heinricy or perhaps one of the Corvette C6.R drivers like Johnny O'Connell head back to the Eiffel mountains for another go.

When Heinricy set his 7:59 time last year, it was done in an automatic CTS-V in a single hot lap at the end of a test session. With any luck, we'll see Heinricy or perhaps one of the Corvette C6.R drivers like Johnny O'Connell head back to the Eiffel mountains for another go.