American Psychos: Corvette ZR1 vs Mustang GTD in a battle for the US's top track car

Yes, Trans Ams and Mustangs looked cool in a big, brash sort of way. But they were heavy, soft and used leaf springs and steering boxes and squealed their tyres at 12mph with two degrees of steering lock. Gently wallowing over vast distances the American domestic product made lots of sense, but drop them anywhere else in the world and they seemed almost laughable. A million miles off the pace.

Photography: John Wycherley

Over the years this received wisdom has been tested by some really enjoyable Cadillacs, Camaros, Corvettes, Mustangs and GTs, plus the remarkable new generation of cars from the likes of Tesla, Rivian and Lucid. However, it still feels strange to think that the latest chapter in the Corvette vs Mustang story is being played out not at stop signs or drag strips in the US, but in the Eifel forest in Germany.

America’s great sports cars are now obsessed with the Nürburgring, and while they’re keen to match or beat Porsche, they’re much more worried about taking lumps out of each other.

The Mustang GTD became the first American car to dip below seven minutes in 2024 and then returned in April 2025 and improved to a 6:52.072 with a great deal of (earned) fanfare. In late July Chevrolet announced it’d set a 6:50.763. Ford CEO Jim Farley’s response? “Congrats, game on!” It’s recently been out testing an even more extreme GTD in attempt to grab that record back.

It’s a fun, fascinating little rivalry as the cars are so different in philosophy and execution. However, wandering around the GTD it’s hard to imagine how it could be more extreme, to be honest. This thing is jaw-dropping and completely wild.

And HUGE. The GTD is as big as a planet and about as heavy. Ford claims 1,930kg, which seems absurd when you consider a Mustang Dark Horse comes in at 1,832kg with an automatic gearbox. But even a largely carbon fibre body and two seater configuration can’t cancel out the wider track, massive wheels and tyres and the cooling required for a 5.2-litre supercharged V8 that produces 815bhp and 664lb ft. Not to mention the new dual clutch transaxle and the associated coolers that live in the trunk space.

The GTD also has active aerodynamics, super-trick Multimatic spool valve dampers with adjustable ride height and inboard rear suspension. It is every inch the racecar made road legal and clearly finds much of its Nürburgring lap time in the high speed corners thanks to masses of downforce. Ford claims 885kg at 180mph, which is similar to a new GT3 RS.

The ZR1 is different. It’s big by the standards of, say, a Ferrari 296 GTB or McLaren 750S, but it’s low and lean next to the comically pumped up Mustang. With the carbon fibre aero package and ZTK Performance Track Package, it looks nearly as tough as the Ford, though. There are dive planes, a big rear wing, super sticky Cup 2R tyres that appear to have no tread at all, carbon ceramic brakes and this car even has optional carbon fibre rims.

The ZR1 has less downforce – 545kg but at way up over 200mph – but counters with a kerbweight of around 1,800kg. Oh, and did I mention that its 5.5-litre twin turbocharged V8 has 1,064bhp and 828lb ft? In terms of power to weight the ZR1 is king. Bang per buck, too. Even with every carbon fibre box ticked this ZR1 as tested is $237,735. The hand built GTD starts at $325,000, but you’ll need to add $46k for the Performance Package and pretty soon you’ll arrive at a Mustang that costs $400,000.

Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way immediately. The GTD’s stunningly OTT aesthetic and the fact it’s built by Multimatic – which also makes the Mustang GT3 racecars, Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro, Porsche’s 963 Le Mans car and the AMG One hypercar – gets close to justifying the price.

The interior does not. Aside from some titanium 3D printed gearshift paddles made from recycled F-22 fighter jets, it’s pure Mustang in here. Yes, the inboard rear suspension on display on the rear bulkhead is extremely cool, but you can’t see them when you drive. You just see Mustang. There’s not even a set of ultra thin carbon fibre race seats to lift the experience.

Just one lap of the brilliant Ten-Tenths Motor Club circuit in Charlotte, North Carolina is enough to forgive the humdrum interior and scramble your brain. Your eyes might convey that you’re in a Mustang but the action unfolding says something very different. The GTD is fantastic.

The suspension lowers 50mm in Track mode for added control and to unlock all that downforce and the difference is immediately obvious. The Mustang is so stiff and changes direction in a way that simply shouldn’t be possible. It smashes over kerbs, scrapes its underbody aero into the surface and basically consumes anything in its path.

The forces are brutal, but the real trick is that the GTD is sweetly balanced and flows with a mixture of sharp precision and easygoing progression. Any intimidation just melts away and in its place confidence springs up until you’re literally throwing the Mustang from apex to apex and using every last one of those 815bhp. Restraint is not required. The GTD is built to be unleashed.

In some ways the Mustang reminds me of the very car it’s emulating. The Porsche 911 GT3 RS. They could hardly be more different in scale, configuration and power output, but they share this ability to really attack a racetrack without fear of sudden spikes of oversteer or edginess.

The bellowing V8 delivers stunning performance but those 345-section rear Cup 2Rs just soak it all up. The dual clutch transaxle hits hard and clean. And best of all, the balance is so easy to manipulate. I’d expected clumsy understeer in slow corners, but the GTD just snaps towards every apex and then accepts full throttle nice and early.

Oversteer is predictable when it does arrive and there’s an adjustable traction control system to help polish away your own errors. It’s just a fantastically exciting, physical and furious experience. The GTD marries precision and badass swagger like nothing else.

On the same circuit, the ZR1 is a very different experience. In fact, just climbing in rams home the contrast. You sit so much lower and feel right at the tip of the arrow. The view isn’t quite McLaren style panorama but there’s a similar sense of being enveloped by the sights and sensations around.

Though it lacks the detail of the GTD, the steering is lighter than the Mustang’s and more consistent. But the vibe is definitely more about agility than the super locked down aggression of the Ford.

As with the Mustang you need to configure the ZR1 to feel its full potential. Track mode ramps up everything to maximum but doesn’t introduce any artificial jumpiness. There’s an Individual ‘Z mode’ but the default Track setting feels about spot on already. The PTM (Performance Traction Management) system has various setups from Wet to Pro (which has no electronic support) but the Nürburgring time was set in Race 2, which still retains a small helping of traction control, so that’s good enough for me.

If the Mustang’s cohesiveness and sense that every element is balanced to the next is the biggest shock, the ZR1’s first impression centres around that outrageous V8. The power is relentless. Absurd. Addictive. And yet somehow delivered with almost normally aspirated manners. It’s a torque monster, of course, but the really impressive thing is the V8 keeps on ramping up and up as you close in on the red line.

The smaller Mustang engine is a heavyweight, bruising character, but the Corvette just wants to spin and spin. As a result, the Corvette feels much more like a supercar from the likes of Ferrari or McLaren. Only faster, of course. The gearbox is excellent, too.

All that power should mean the ZR1 requires much more care on corner exit, but on box fresh tyres, the traction is remarkably secure. It sometimes squirms against the strain but there’s never rampant wheelspin. However, the ZR1 is more of a handful than the GTD on corner entry and under braking. It has superb turn in response but that creates a tendency for some turn in oversteer.

If you can live with the trait that means no understeer and an ability to carry great speed to the apex, but it does feel less four square and indomitable than the Ford. Wringing a lap time from the ZR1 is slightly busier but just as satisfying and for a car with 1,064bhp it’s still remarkably predictable, exploitable and displays poise that seems impossible given the sheer grunt available from tickover to the limiter.

In other words, American cars are not crap. We can put any lingering doubts to bed right here and now. The Mustang GTD and Corvette ZR1 are both pretty bloody fantastic. For pure drama it’s hard to beat the Ford. Everything it does, its very being, is outrageous. That it stacks up dynamically and manages to defy its weight to be an effective and thrilling track car is hard to believe. What a project.

Yet the American dream centres around abundance for the many, not the few. And the ZR1’s price (from $182,395 – we’ve driven Ferraris with a higher option spend), its power, performance and its sharp, intuitive chassis response is impossible to ignore. Plus, it’s just plain faster. Around the Ten Tenths circuit the ZR1 reaches a peak speed of 146.3mph and records a time of 1:12.97.

The GTD tends to carry more apex speed but peaks at 137mph and stops the clock at 1:15.61. In terms of pure entertainment these two are very difficult to separate, but in raw lap time it’s not even close. Lighter, much more powerful and mid-engined, the ZR1 is simply irresistible and sneaks the win.

There’s more to come. Ford is aching to snatch away Corvette’s record for an American car at the Ring – the fact it’s already so close speaks volumes for the downforce advantage – and there's now an even faster, hybrid ZR1X that features a driven front axle and 1,250bhp.

But, the real story here is that the US is unashamedly creating some fantastic sports cars with big engines, big power and plenty of attitude just as so many European manufacturers seem apologetic and have perhaps lost sight of their customer’s real desires.

The old cliches just don’t cut it anymore. No need to rue what we’ve lost, though. Instead, let’s celebrate cars with a clear sense of purpose, some deep-rooted motorsport cool and a wicked sense of humour. Even when they’re from Bowling Green, Kentucky or Detroit, Michigan.