‘Ring-a-Ding-DING! GT350R Allegedly Pokes Hole in Z/28’s Nürburgring Time

‘Ring-a-Ding-DING! GT350R Allegedly Pokes Hole in Z/28’s Nürburgring Time

’Ring-a-Ding-DING! GT350R Allegedly Pokes Hole in Z/28’s Nürburgring Time

Has the GT350R shown the Z/28 its taillights around Germany’s Nürburgring?

As of however, there is no independent confirmation on this, but British mag Evo is claiming that Ford’s new Shelby GT350R has lapped the Nürburgring in 7:32.19, a lot more than a second quicker than Chevy’s monstrous Z/28, which did the deed in 7:37.47.

Prior to the GT350’s unveiling at last year’s L.A. Auto Show, a source told us to count on a car that would run close to the Z/28, though it may possibly not turn in very the exact same overall performance figures as the track-focused Camaro. He assured us that we’d see a accurate competitor to the bow-tie track rat at the Detroit show—one capable of knocking it off its modern day-day roadgoing Trans-Am–car pedestal.

When we found out that Ford had gone to the difficulty and expense of fitting carbon-fiber wheels on a vehicle that will retail for significantly less than $ 100,000, we had been inclined to believe our source’s claims. This new rumor does practically nothing at all to dispel our faith in that belief. Certainly, we can’t wait to put an R through our Virginia International Raceway torture test.

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You may possibly recall that at final year’s Lightning Lap, the Z/28 came inside a tenth of a second of Ferrari’s F12berlinetta and posted a 1.16 lateral-grip number—giving it skidpad parity with the Porsche 918 Spyder. Have we reached peak super(pony)vehicle? Likely not, as the subsequent Camaro is due to be drastically lighter and will be primarily based on GM’s Alpha platform—the basic guts that underpin the sweet-handling Cadillac ATS and CTS. Fifty-a single years soon after Plymouth and Ford launched the segment, the battle for ponycar supremacy rages on. Rage on, superponycars. Rage on.

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’Ring-a-Ding-DING! GT350R Allegedly Pokes Hole in Z/28’s Nürburgring Time

Porsche Boxster and Cayman Prototypes Circle the Nürburgring Under . . . Four-Cylinder Power? [Video]

Looking at the photo above, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything unusual about the Porsche Cayman within. Sure, it has a bunch of testing equipment affixed to its body, not to mention a pro driver behind the wheel, but to find out what’s truly special about it, you’ll need to watch the video embedded below. More critically, you should listen to the video—yep, that ain’t a flat-6 singing its song. 

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YouTube user TouriClips snapped video of some Boxster and Cayman prototypes circling the Nürburgring, and their deep, slightly off-kilter exhaust burble is unlike the sound produced by any current mid-engine Porsche. As we already knew, Porsche is working on a new range of flat-4s, and this video indicates that real-world testing has commenced. It’s hard to tell from this video whether the test cars’ units are turbocharged. Ultimately, both naturally aspirated and turboed 4s will be offered for production, albeit not before the current Boxster and Cayman are redesigned in a few years time.

Based on the conservative time frame Porsche has given us, this video shows only what we already knew to be the case: that development is ongoing, and that the company is taking its sweet time. But we must say, Porsche can leave the sound right where it’s at—a sonorous note not unlike the only other high-power flat-4 we know of, the turbocharged 2.5-liter produced by Subaru.

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Porsche Boxster and Cayman Prototypes Circle the Nürburgring Under . . . Four-Cylinder Power? [Video]