I find it much more plausible that folks that are not tech savvy would complain more. Just look around amazon some times. People sending back fridges because they are too loud at the same day. My rectractable car roof is broken, it will only do so when the car is in neutral. Is that a knock? Do I have to bring this back while in warranty? etc.

This is what happens when US car media grabs “non automotive” news and runs with.

Whatever you may think when reading that headline. What it means is simply what has been regurgitating in the german landscape for 1-2 years, ever since the green party got into goverment.

• Their all in diplomacy on renewables, neglecting people and economy. The latter claiming that GERMANY as a place of production at 40 €cents/kWh with tendencies to go upwards is not viable and there could be an exodus of competent workforces.

• China’s emerge on the EV market. Since VW, as everyone else, starting from 0, and having to compete with chinese automakers, who are getting batteries cheaper and the cost to produce them also being lower due to employers and energy costs.

All that makes it very hard for VW to remain VW without cannibalizing Audi.
This may or not be a foreshadowing, maybe even a slight threat, of shutting down german facilities and opening hem in Thailand, China, Vietnam - wherever.

That is fairly easy explained.

It has mostly to do with how controlable one thing is over the other.

First of. Speed of your car or rather the Power is a product of torque within a time period. Think of Merry go Rounds in children’s playgrounds. You can decide to either rarely push it, but with heavy emphasis on oomphs by putting your whole body into it or you can keep both hands on it switching and pulling permanently and continuesly.

Large displacement means a car is,… lets say torque “biased/operated”. Big oomphs and big booms. The way you contain that problem is simply by building sidewalls thick enough that can handle the heat those explosions emit. Thats basically it. Thatswhy the 2JZ can be pushed so hard. Because it is a cast iron block with tons of excess material. The downside here being its massive weight.

Now say you want to generate that power by reducing the time factor, by increasing rpm.
In order to increase the RPM by a 1000 in a 2JZ/6 cylinder you introduce a shitload of possible failure points in those moving parts.

At the annual distance traveled of 15k km that would be an 10 Mio rotations, times 4 Valves times 6 cylinders times 3 connecting points that make your piston we will get an astronomical number of additional operations by all the moving parts involved.
Even if they are near perfectly machined and enginered at 99,8% perfection.
You roll the dice often enough - shit will break.

Notoriety from historic accidents. It was here where Nikki Lauda caught fire and Stefan Bellof lost his life after setting a record that held 35 years. Then there is in somewhat recent history the benefit of double exposure. I think there was a time when Formula One was held at the GP and DTM at the Nordschleife.(Not at the same time ofc)

And current factors like, I think there are only 2 other tracks in germany where you can just drive to and “race”. Everywhere you have to pay like 800€ for a track day. So everyone flocks to the ring. Which helps towards international fame.

And just plain old chance. Like why is Silverstone britains goto track and not Brands Hatch? Why is Daytona famous? Assuming every other being also just an oval.

Its never been useless. Yes a lot of it is PR. But it gives a neutral, “scientific” datasheet in relation to that car.

Like for example here is the 919 going through the end of section 1. And here is the Nissan GTR Nismo. You can literally feel how the Nissan is resisting to turn/yaw and more or less conclude the downsides of the AWD system. It delivers power, but feels more like work compared to an exige or mx 5, but outmatches both of them - no need to ask a journalist.

By that logic it would also be useless to listen to Chris Harris telling you that car X handles well/meh/subpar.

Other way around. A high horsepower puller masks mistakes better than an agile car.

Ultima RS.

1200 LS powered midengined horses of sheer lunacy in a less than 1000 Kg package. Unfortunately there is no way these will ever be legal in germany. But if I were an american or brit I would so dare.