Ford GT Mk IV Is The Fastest American Car To Lap The Nürburgring, And The Third Fastest Car Ever
The Ford GT Mk IV is now the fastest American car ever to lap the Nürburgring. I won't lie, I completely forgot about the Mk IV, since it came out in 2023 and isn't road-legal, built solely for on-track driving. But after a few quiet years, Ford took its most extreme supercar to the Nürburgring to set a frighteningly quick 6:15.977 lap time, which not only makes it the fastest American car ever around the Green Hell, but the third fastest car of any kind.
Ford built the GT Mk IV together with Multimatic, the Canadian racing parts supplier whose adaptive spool valve suspension is one of the main reasons why the GT so capable on track. The Mk IV also has a longer wheelbase than the roadgoing GT, a fully carbon-fiber body, an absolutely enormous rear wing, enough hood louvers to make an '80s muscle car jealous, and a specific racing gearbox. Oh, and I almost forgot the 800 horsepower from its twin-turbo Ecoboost V6. The new blistering lap time was set by Ford factory driver and two-time 24 Hours of Nürburgring winner Frédéric Vervisch. "The car is an absolute weapon, a true extension of your will," he said of the GT Mk IV.
It's the fastest American car but not the fastest American road car
While the Ford GT Mk IV was available to customers — only 67 were set to be built starting in 2025 and each one cost $1.7 million — it isn't road-legal. So it might be the third fastest car ever at the 'Ring, but it isn't the fastest road-going car — that's still the Mercedes-AMG One, which set a time of 6:29.090. The fastest street-legal American car is the Corvette ZR1X, with a 6:49.275 lap. Although, some observers recently unofficially hand-timed a Ford Mustang GTD going even faster, but that's yet to be officially confirmed by Ford.
Still, it's impressive that the Ford GT Mk IV beat the all-electric Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype, with its carbon-fiber body and 1,527 horsepower, by seven seconds. The only two cars to ever boast faster lap times than the GT are the electric VW ID.R Pikes Peak racer (6:05.336), and the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo (5:19.546). However, since the VW ID.R is fully electric and Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo is, well, an unrestricted hybrid Le Mans racer, the Ford GT Mk IV also holds the record for the fastest purely internal-combustion car ever.