Ford GT Mk IV Is Now the Third-Fastest Car to Lap the Nürburgring

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real_fake_hoors@reddit

So, what cars does the Ford GT Mk IV compete against in the prototype/pre-production class? Well, the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo remains the reigning champ, with its long-standing 5:19.546 lap. Second place goes to the all-electric Volkswagen ID.R Pikes Peak racer, which tamed the Green Hell in 6:05.336, about 10 seconds faster than the Ford.

For a second there I did a double take and thought that electric VW van must be damn fast.

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DefinitelyNotAxlerod@reddit

An electric ford minivan is quite fast though

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narwhal_breeder@reddit

wonder how fast that renault minivan with the F1 V10 goes around the ring

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narwhal_breeder@reddit

If anyone else is curious what is faster:

Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo: 5:19.546
ID.R Pikes Peak racer: 6:05.336
Ford GT Mk IV: 6:15.977

i've seen the ID.R go up the mountain and it's hard to believe that the 919 is 45 seconds faster than that. I could have sneezed and missed the ID.R.

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junaidnk@reddit

Can that Porsche record be broken in this decade?

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m0nty555@reddit

One of the teams should bring an f1 car.

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j_rock_127@reddit

F1 cars are made to run on glass-smooth tracks. The Nordschlife would require a ride height on F1 cars that negate much of their advantage

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TheCaptainSlowly@reddit

Ground effect cars sure, but the older 2017-2021 cars (and even the current gen cars) should do fine in terms of ride height.

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junaidnk@reddit

Even the F1 car might not make it to unless it strips the ruleset like the Porsche Evo did

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-AbeFroman@reddit

I wish Mercedes would have given the W11 an unshackled tour like Porsche did with the 919. Imagine the records!

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junaidnk@reddit

Yeah, that would’ve been peak performance. Who would’ve been the driver in that case? Lewis?

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I would be surprised if any active driver would have gotten permission to do that, probably their development drivers or someone recently retired or in a gap year. It‘s a different risk and especially in an F1 car, even with the halo etc.

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toobs623@reddit

RB would probably let Max do it if it kept him around for another year lol.

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KingDamager@reddit

Na max wanted to do it and helmut pulled it. They were willing to let him do an exhibition lap then realised that once you put max in the car there’s no way he’s going to exhibition

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toobs623@reddit

Yeah, I remembered that. I think it'd likely be a different conversation these days, but it won't happen either way. Besides, it'd likely have to be a pre-2022 car. I can't imagine the ring would work too well with the ground effects era and the crazy stiff suspension.

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Agloe_Dreams@reddit

The 919 is likely slower than an F1 traditionally but the higher speed nature of the track likely plays into its hands.

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Das-Wauto@reddit

919 with the derestricted powertrain as it was here in Evo trim is an absolute monster. An F1 car is lighter but would struggle to put power down the way the Porsche did with its AWD. The ring is a very undulating surface compared to F1 tracks so the extra driven wheels are a massive advantage.

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DestroyerOfTacos@reddit

Yeah if you watch the footage the 919 deploys power to rip it into turns any time its below like 120kph. Insane.

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NotTheTrueKing@reddit

The nurburgring is more dependent on mechanical grip than most tracks though.

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MrSwankers@reddit

There's a good chance an F1 car breaks before completing the lap the nord is not up to snuff if I remember correctly

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WorldlinessCareless7@reddit

Helmut Marko said Max asked him for a lap around the ring in an F1 car he was aiming to beat porsches time lmao straight up refused the request.

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RicardoMoyer@reddit

with these new regs a miata is probably faster than even the merc…

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m0nty555@reddit

They’re not that much slower than previous regs and we’re in early days of them, so wouldn’t be suprised if cars actually end up faster. It’s a good track for recharging as well as there are a lot of breaking zones and really only one long straight. Plus, from what I recall Porsche was modded to increase fuel flow etc, so you can do same thing for f1.

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st1802015@reddit

The Porsche was fully gloves off with no restrictions. More power more aero more fuel more everything. It was a farewell tour of "look what this thing can do without limits".

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DM46@reddit

Saying the ring only has one long straight is technically correct if you are only comparing it to other 20 km or longer race tracks.

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Dredgeon@reddit

BMW Sauber tried it in 2007. 6:36

They apparently did it on old tires for demo purposes and the driver said it drove like shit on the bumpy surface. They said a 5:15 was possible with optimal conditions, but I wonder how close any driver could get to that with how ill suited the track is for go karts. Fomula is cool but they aren't cars. That's partly why Porsche built the 919 evo to show that they didn't need F1 to build the fastest car on the ring.

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Hour_Firefighter_707@reddit

Ehh. LMP1s were F1 cars with bodywork. If you take the fenders off they look exactly the same as a single seater. And with the downforce that the 919 Evo carried, it didn't have very compliant suspension either. They weren't taking any kerbs in that car.

A 2020 F1 car would probably come close to it without any modifications

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Dredgeon@reddit

I don't think you're wrong, but that doesn't mean F1 isn't a bridge too far. Just the weight difference makes it an entirely different kind of motorsport in my opinion.

I don't doubt the F1 team's claims of being able to go faster either. More than anything I just think F1 is way too removed from real cars to be very interesting to me even though they are the fastest. I'm a bigger fan of GTD.

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Hour_Firefighter_707@reddit

Yeah, that's true. BTW, I just watched that 919 lap after making that comment. I'd forgotten just how stupid it is. The whole video looks like it is playing at 1.5x

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mac_fraser@reddit

Especially when the electric motor kicks in at the top end around 320 on the straights, absolutely insane. I need to go watch it again now too 😅

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NotTheTrueKing@reddit

F1 cars in 2016 and LMP1 cars in 2016 were pretty close in pace as well, until F1 redid the regs in 2017 and massively upped their downforce. Even then, the 919 Evo had a smaller footprint than a comparable F1 car when it did its record laps.

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narwhal_breeder@reddit

Nurburgring is too bumpy for any modern F1 car. Vegas had a hell of a time getting their street circuit smooth enough.

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boofishy8@reddit

I’d guess the McMurty Spierling could do it now

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junaidnk@reddit

We have a contender folks!

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MLPorsche@reddit

if Adran Newey were to build any of the Red Bull X2010/11/14 fan cars then yes, however the full potential of those would be limited by how far the driver is willing to push

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avboden@reddit

could be? yes. A crazy fan-car could probably do it. Will be? No.

The Porsche is a unicorn of a company saying fuck-it and just building the wildest car that violates all the normal regulations possible.

No one else has the desire to do that right now.

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Logitech4873@reddit

How about the McMurtry? Would it have a chance?

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avboden@reddit

Probably not fast enough on the big parts

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Riverrattpei@reddit

Yeah the McMurtry tops out at 298km/h and the 919 was hitting 340km/h in some of the fast bits and hit maxed out it's gearbox at 365km/h on the final stretch

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Noobasdfjkl@reddit

Probably not. F1 cars are likely not able to deal with the relative poor quality of the surface of the ring, and no team is going to dedicate the resources to properly set one up, especially when the risk is so high.

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borkelhavus@reddit

That Porsche lap is, to this day, one of the most insane things I've ever seen on video. What a terrifying machine

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cgduncan@reddit

Seriously. If anyone hasn't seen it, watch it on your TV, whatever biggest screen you have. It takes your breath away.

Human driver is the limiting factor at that point.

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Sophey68@reddit

Iirc idr pikes peak missed out because of too much aero

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narwhal_breeder@reddit

Its not just aero - its very outgunned power/weight compared to the 919.

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Logitech4873@reddit

The ID.R also had a much lower top speed.

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Moctecus@reddit

The ID.R was limited to 265 kph on the Nürburgring lap. On the main straight at the end of the lap, it topped out at 249 kph due to low SoC. The 919 Evo did 369 kph.

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narwhal_breeder@reddit

? what do you mean. It won overall in 2018.

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Noncog0@reddit

Don't forget the 956

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JupiterTarts@reddit

5:19 is disgustingly fast and I'd never believe you if there wasn't an on-board video of it.

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420Sailing@reddit

hilarious fourth place is a Chinese electric sedan production chassis with some aero and slicks bolted on

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Penguinho@reddit

I mean, it's not just aero and slicks. It's the production powertrain, batteries and frame, and it looks mostly like the production car, but it was rebuilt ground-up by Prodrive IIRC. The production version is in the 7:05s, just ahead of the Taycan.

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Gizmuth@reddit

Ford is making it hard for me to hate on them recently

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RoyShavRick@reddit

Just take a look at their pricing and the hate will come back pretty quickly.

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Gizmuth@reddit

I don't really care it's still a cool car

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RoyShavRick@reddit

For sure yeah it's just a joke about how they are charging so much for the Dark Horse and Dark Horse SC compared to rivals.

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st1802015@reddit

What rivals? If you want a front engine, rear wheel drive 2 door coupe with a V8, you buy a Mustang because literally nobody else makes a muscle car. They can charge what they want because they literally have no competition in the market.

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RoyShavRick@reddit

Yeah but at the price they are charging a fee years old Camaro 1LE is just so, so much better.

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Silly_Ad_4772@reddit

Well go and buy a used Camaro then and tell yourself it's so much better.

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a7kki@reddit

Then get the old Camaro 1LE and don’t talk whine about the pricing

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st1802015@reddit

I agree with you, my point was that if you want a new muscle car in the classic format it’s Mustang or bust. Ford know that hence the pricing.

If you want a used muscle car, different story entirely.

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a7kki@reddit

I agree with you I’m just replying to all these other people who can’t seem to get over the fact that ford making more fun vehicles this year than any of their dodges or chevys 😂😂😂😂

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Silly_Ad_4772@reddit

What rivals ?None left that i can see .At least Ford still offer a rear wheel drive V8 with a stick shift if you want one.Good on them .

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Not_Daijoubu@reddit

I hate em because all their cool cars are out of my reach and they long killed the ones that were in reach. :')

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hatlad43@reddit

First thing first; it's nonetheless impressive. But difficult to say what has been achieved here other than being the fastest American car around the Nurburgring.

Fastest internal combustion engine-only car? Nope the Porsche 956's 6:11 is still faster, which still makes it the 3rd fastest car around the Nurburgring in history. Don't give me crap like "oh it's a racing car on racing spec", so what? It adhered to a set of rules that the 919 Evo, ID.R, and this GT Mk.IV never needed to; which makes the 956's achievement more impressive imo.

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PontiAztek@reddit

"slightly shorter than usual due to construction work"

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Ok_Explorer604@reddit

Impressive time, even if it isn't road legal. Doesn't hurt that it's a great looking car, I think even more than the road car. But every time these Nürburgring discussions come up, the 956 will always pop into my head. Pretty awe inspiring that it could go even faster on 43 year old tech and aero.

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TeriusRose@reddit

Not according to comments on, mostly, Instagram. With people being extremely salty about it for whatever reason. Not road legal = not impressive for some reason.

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aaronuu7@reddit

I love fords racing passion. I wish other OEMs cared this much.

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st1802015@reddit

Porsche, BMW, Aston Martin, Toyota/Lexus, Lamborghini, Ferrari and GM all have pretty extensive racing involvement...

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banjoetraveler@reddit

Even Hyundai 😪

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ZenithRepairman@reddit

GM being in all of the major racing categories doesn’t do it for you?

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Penguinho@reddit

Again, Stefan Bellof should count. I know it's a racecar and set in qualifying, but he did set a time of 6:11.

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TBIRallySport@reddit

Is it not counted because it wasn’t quite the full lap? On Porsche’s website, it says the lap was “slightly shorter than usual due to construction work”.

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Penguinho@reddit

It was shorter than the normal Nurburgring race configuration, but it's the same course the 919, ID.R and GT Mk IV ran. I'm kind of assuming it's not counted because it's a full racecar, not a prototype or production vehicle, but I could be wrong. Another reason it might not be counted is that the timing wouldn't be quite as rigorous as the post-2019 lap attempts.

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noSSD4me@reddit

Ford vs Ferrari was a great inspiration I guess, jk 😂 Good on Ford, keep it up!