It is perhaps the greatest automotive rivalry of all time, the one between Italian supercar giants Ferrari and Lamborghini. It began when Ferruccio Lamborghini, a tractor-maker at the time, tried telling Enzo Ferrari his gripes with the Ferraris he owned. Il Commendatore annoyed and not taking too kindly to the complaints, insulted Ferruccio, telling him to stick to tractors as he knew nothing about cars, especially the 'super' ones that Ferrari made. Fast track to 2022, where Lamborghini today makes some of the world's most gorgeous, powerful, and blisteringly fast supercars, and has cemented its name in the history books over its almost 60-year-history. While the two brands have always locked heads, they have also pioneered the craft forward with some of the best cars in the world, always on the bleeding edge of automotive genius. Nevertheless, there is no love lost between the two brands, as neither brand allows its owners to own a car from the other Italian titan.
However, when it comes to performance, neither Lamborghini nor Ferrari seem to back down, and today, both are synonymous with speed. While there are plenty of ways to measure how fast a car is, there is none that is as respected as how long it takes for a car to lap the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the most revered circuit in history. In that vein, let's take a look at the fastest Lamborghinis and the fastest Ferraris around the Green Hell, and which brand comes out on top.
10 Lamborghini: Huracan LP 610-4 (7:28.00)
In 2016, German publication Sport Auto took the Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 to the Nurburgring, with veteran driver Christian Gebhardt at the helm. The Huracan has always been a sharp-handling beast, and thus, hopes were high with the Italian V10 machine.
As expected, the Huracan did not disappoint, as it finished its lap of the Nurburgring in 7 minutes and 28 seconds. Of course, conditions weren't the most ideal, which led many to believe that the car could have posted a better time, but going back with a 7:28 Nurburgring time with an average speed of 103 throughout is quite impressive as well.
9 Ferrari Enzo (7:25.21)
There is no doubt that the Ferrari Enzo is the most iconic and most important Ferrari ever made. Named after Il Commendatore himself, the Enzo is the last non-electrically assisted supercar from Maranello, and housed a rather large 6.0-liter V12 engine, cranking out 651 horsepower and 485 lb-ft of torque.
With a 3.14 second 0 to 60 time, the Ferrari Enzo was a track monster right off the assembly line, with passive aero creative 758 lbs of downforce at 125 mph, and over double that at 186 mph. All of its chops weren't for naught either, as the Ferrari Enzo covered the Nurburgring with a time of 7:25:21, beating out the Huracan by three seconds.
8 Lamborghini: Aventador LP700-4 (7:25.00)
The Aventador was Lamborghini's flagship car for the 2010s, and clearly, one of the most important Lamborghini cars ever made. The LP700-4 model of the V12 car was also one of the most powerful, riding on a 6.5-liter V12 unit that cranked out 690 horsepower with 509 lb-ft of torque. This was no ordinary Aventador, and it proved as much when it came to the Nurburgring.
Beating out both the standard Aventador and the Huracan, as well as the Ferrari Enzo and the 812 Superfast, Lamborghini's Aventador covered the Nurburgring in just 7 minutes and 25 seconds. With an average speed of 104 mph around the track, it came in above some other titans of the Nurburgring as well, including Mercedes' AMG GT 63 S and the SLS AMG Black Series.
7 2015 Ferrari 488 GTB (7:21.63)
The 2015 Ferrari 488 GTB, powered by a twin-turbo 3.9-liter V8 engine that developed 661 horsepower and 651 lb-ft of torque, was capable of achieving a top speed of 205 mph. A 0-60 mph time of 3.0 seconds also made this a car everyone looked forward to seeing on the Nurburgring.
The 488 GTB, of course, didn't disappoint, and its time of 7:21:63 made it the fastest Ferrari around the Nurburgring at the time, before its performance-focused Pista variant came along to utterly demolish its time.
6 Ferrari 488 Pista (7:00.03)
Ferrari designed the 488 Pista as the performance-focused model of the standard 488 GTB, and thus, it was clear that the 488 Pista was going to post a better time than the GTB around the Nordschleife. Powered by 661 horses, the 488 GTB did just that.
Thanks to the Italian signature V8, the 488 Pista managed to lap the Nurburgring surprisingly fast, coming through to the finish line in just 7 minutes, becoming the fastest production Ferrari on the famed track.
5 Lamborghini: Aventador LP750-4 SV (6:59.73)
The second Aventador on this list is not the last. This insane 740-horsepower supercar from the house of Lamborghini improved upon the classic Aventador with a rear wing and a more powerfully-tuned engine.
As a result, the Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 SV managed to lap the Nurburgring Nordschleife in just 6 minutes and 59 seconds, breaking the 7-minute barrier and raging past Ferrari's production cars, leaving the latter in the 7-minute class. An average speed of 110 mph throughout its lap helped the car achieve this feat.
4 Ferrari: 599XX (6:58:16)
12 years ago, Ferrari broke the 7-minute barrier at the Nurburgring, second only to the Radical SR8. Of course, Ferrari argued that the SR8 Radical and their 599XX weren't quite in the same class, which made the Prancing Horse's lap time of 6:58:16 all the more impressive.
This was the first time that a production-derived sports car ever posted a sub-7-minute time on the Nordschleife, thanks to its 761-hp V12 engine. At the helm of the Ferrari 599XX during this historical feat was Ferrari factory test driver Raffaele de Simone.
3 Lamborghini: Huracan Performante (6:52.01)
The Huracan is one of the most successful cars for Lamborghini in its 59-year lifespan. Of course, the hit that it was, Lamborghini wasted no time in sprouting performance models for the Huracan, and thus, the Huracan Performante came to be, which improved upon the standard Huracan's performance as well as handling.
With 631 horsepower and 443 lb-ft of torque behind it, the Huracan Performante raged through the Nurburgring and put out an impressive lap time of just 6:52:01. Throughout its lap, it maintained an average speed of 112 mph, becoming the fastest Lamborghini in the Green Hell at the time.
2 Ferrari P4/5 Competizione (6:51:00)
Here it is, the fastest Ferrari ever to lap the Nurburgring. This was back in 2012 when the 4.0-liter V8 engine that called the Ferrari P4/5 Competizione its home propelled the car to a fantastic lap time.
Churning out 563 horsepower and 485 lb-ft of torque, the Ferrari P4/5 Competizione, during the 24 hours of Nurburgring qualifying set a sub-7-minute time of 6:51:00. The P4/5 achieved this feat through a special hybrid drive system that Ferrari employed in the car, very similar to the KERS system in Formula One cars.
1 Lamborghini: Aventador SVJ (6:44.97)
Up until 2018, the fastest Lamborghini at the Green Hell had been the Huracan Performante. Then, 4 years ago, the new Aventador SVJ came out, and Lamborghini made it extremely track-focused. When they unleashed their new Raging Bull upon the Aventador, the goal was to become the fastest car around the legendary circuit.
Thankfully, the Aventador SVJ achieved exactly that, defeating the previous crown-holder, the Porsche 911 GT2 RS, by posting a blisteringly quick time of 6:44:97s. Not only did Lamborghini shave almost three whole seconds off the previous record at the 'Ring, but they also had their new fastest Lambo, which, to this day, remains the fastest Italian supercar around the Nordschleife.