If anyone out there was worried that about the fact that the 2012 Porsche 911 is bigger and more comfortable than the outgoing generation, you needn't worry any longer. Porsche took the new 911 Carrera S to the Nurburgring, where it set a time of 7:40, a full 13 seconds faster than the 997 Carrera S. While there are a number of factors which can influence lap times, 13 seconds is far too big a gap to deny that the new 911 is the faster car.

The gap is actually so large that the new Carrera S's time actually matches that of the 997 GT3, a car which was much more track-focused, and also packed a 35hp advantage over the new Carrera S. Assuming that there will be a comparable increase in performance, we're now thoroughly excited for the new 911 GT3.