Only a handful of cars have lapped the Nürburgring in less than seven minutes, and the fastest sedan around the Green Hell held a lap time of 7:32.

Until the Subaru WRX STI Type RA NBR. The 447kW four-door set a blistering 6:57.5 lap, which is not only the fastest a sedan has run the ‘Ring, but is among the upper-echelon of lap times in general.

Subaru WRX STI Type RA badge

The RA NBR is a custom built race car built by Prodrive with a full roll cage welded into the standard unibody. Subaru says Prodrive calculated the car’s top speed at the Nurburgring would be 288km/h.

“We brought the WRX STI Type RA NBR Special here to set a record and call attention to the WRX STI Type RA that we will launch later this year,” says Subaru product comms manager Dominick Infante.

The WRX STI Type RA promises a great deal, with improved performance and styling and even better handling dynamics than the current car.”

Subaru WRX STI Type RA front

The ‘RA’ stands for ‘Record Attempt’, a moniker which has been used in the past by Subaru, most notably on a Subaru Legacy which broke the FIA World Speed Endurance Record by driving over 99,758km in 18 days with a top speed of 222km/h.