Watch the Corvette ZR1 Beat the Mustang GTD and Porsche 911 GT3 RS at Sonoma
Road and Track Toys
For those who have high-octane fuel pumping in their veins, the most exciting vehicles out there are the performance supercars. These models are meant to handle daily life (sort of) while also posting incredible lap times on track days.
Arguably, the king of this segment is the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, the barometer, the standard of which all other brands pattern their performance nameplates after. The newest challengers to the 911 GT3’s crown are the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and the Ford Mustang GTD. These cars are built on the same ideals, so pitting them against each other is a given, and someone has just done that.
Three-Way Ultimate Lap Battle
Hagerty’s new video (see above) highlighted just how close these cars are in terms of performance. Each model has gone through the performance car initiation of posting a lap around the famed Nurburgring in Germany. The results of those ‘Ring laps showed that all three models were only 2.7 seconds apart, with the Porsche being the fastest around that track.
Hagerty pointed out that those lap times in Germany were recorded under different conditions and with different race car drivers, and that their test would eliminate any doubt by lapping all three cars under the same conditions and with the same race car driver, who, in this case, is Racing Hall of Famer Randy Pobst. The chosen track was the technical Sonoma Raceway, and the vehicles will use the tires they leave the dealership with.
Let’s take a quick glance at the contenders, shall we? The Porsche 911 GT3 RS is a lightened and track-focused version of the 911 model that features a naturally aspirated flat-six that pumps out 518 horsepower and also has active aero goodies, namely the rear wing, which has a DRS mode to reduce drag on the straights.
America’s sports car, the Corvette, now comes as a mid-ship menace, and the ZR1 is the meanest of them all with a twin-turbocharged V8 that generates a whopping 1,064 hp. Closing out the list is Ford‘s ultimate Mustang, the GTD, based on the GT3 race car and designed solely as a challenger to the GT3 RS. It has all the GT racing aero goodies, aided by a supercharged V8 producing a massive 815 hp.
Fair and Square
Sonoma was chosen because it was technical and had the right mix of slow, fast, and long corners to give each car an equal fighting chance. Hagerty even showcased the track’s major areas and how each car performed through them in a video.
In the end, America took the win, with the Corvette crossing the line and posting the fastest ever lap time by a production car around Sonoma at 1:34.941, with the Porsche clocking in a 1:37.286 (+2.345 seconds), and at last the Ford Mustang GTD with a 1:38.710 (+3.769 seconds).
What is truly incredible is that the Corvette is actually the most affordable of the bunch, and didn’t have as much downforce. According to the video, the sheer power it produced, along with the amazing balance, kept it in the lead throughout the whole lap.
