[VIDEO] The Clock Just Struck Midnight on GM Not Sharing Nürburgring Times!

Photo Credit: Ford Motor Car

General Motors popularized Nürburgring lap times as a performance benchmark on this side of the Atlantic when the C6 ZR1 set a production car record in 2009. An updated King of the Hill went back and beat the previous Corvette record in 2012, but that’s the last time we heard an official time out of the Crossed Flags team, who left the occasional Camaro to represent the Bow Tie brand at the Green Hell for the past 12 years.

As we detailed going into the weekend, Ford, a company that has never really been in the business of posting ‘Ring laps, either, was recently in Deutschland with its $325,000 Mustang GTD, looking to become the first Detroit Automaker to lap the world’s most infamous track in under seven minutes. Well, Dearborn PR wasn’t just hyping this up because they like to hear themselves talk. The Multimatic-built Pony successfully notched a 6:57.685 at the Nürburgring. That mark hands Ford the North American championship belt from the 2017 Dodge Viper ACR-E that notably scored a 7:01.3 on a fan-funded trip abroad.

Becoming the first North Americans to go under 7-flat is an impressive feat – especially on the heels of the flat-plane C8 Z06’s disappointing 7:10 at the hands of a German magazine last month – but we can’t help but lick our Corvette-loving chops when looking at the GTDs 6:57 and considering the 1,064-horsepower stick that The General has been walking around with since July.

So, for the sake of context, to beat a $140,000 645-horse Dodge, the Blue Oval needed an 815-HP Mustang with a 2.3x higher MSRP. All of this while the overall ‘Ring record for production cars remains with the home-town Germans who, between Mercedes-AMG and Porsche, lay claim to the top four spots: 1. Mercedes-AMG One: 6:29.09, 2. 991.2-generation Porsche 911 GT2 RS (Manthey Performance Kit): 6:38.835 – the regular production GT2 RS stopped the clock in 6:47.25 – 3. AMG GT Black Series: 6:43.616, and 4. 992 911 GT3 RS: 6:44.8.

Notably among the four heavy-hitters is the fact that beyond the ultra-limited production (only 275 built at just under $3 million a pop) AMG One hypercar, both Porsches retail/retailed for significantly less money than the Mustang, while the top-shelf AMG GT started at right around the same MSRP.

Another remarkable thing about the field of leaders is that NONE of them, even the AMG One and its F1 engine augmented by three electric motors (it’s close at 1,049 combined ponies), has more power than the all-engine 2025 Corvette ZR1, with the more attainable AMG being the most powerful of the rest of the group at 720 HP.

Obviously, more goes into a lap than raw power. The car itself has to have grip and downforce, the driver has to be confident and competent, and the ‘Ring’s notoriously finicky weather has to cooperate, but in looking at the incredible sum of the C8 ZR1’s parts (that include the same tires as the leaders and the most extreme aero package ever fitted to a GM vehicle) and the stable of drivers at GM’s disposal, we think it’s time for the LT7 monster to reclaim the ‘Ring in the name of the Stars and Stripes. Special thanks to Ford for hopefully lighting a fire under GM brass, but The General should take it from here!

Source:Ford / YouTube

Related:Thunder-Stealing Time! We Need a C8 Corvette ZR1 Nürburgring Time on December 11th!Targets Acquired: New McLaren and Ferrari Hypercars Give the Corvette Zora Something to Shoot For[VIDEO] 2025 Corvette ZR1 Returns to the Nurburgring

Subscribe Now:

-