- These two American juggernauts are both absolute animals on the track.
- The grey-and-yellow Mustang GTD featured is owned by Vaughn Gittin Jr.
- McFarland’s Corvette ZR1 has been tuned to deliver 1,180 hp at the wheels.
The pony car and the Corvette have been needling each other for decades, but the past year turned the rivalry into open warfare. The arrival of the unhinged Mustang GTD, plus Chevrolet’s Corvette ZR1 and ZR1X twins, lit the fuse. Beyond their duel at the Nürburgring, the two have been squared off at tracks across the US, with owners keen to prove their machine is the one that matters.
This latest clip comes from popular YouTuber Cleetus McFarland, who owns a tuned Corvette ZR1, and pitted his car against a Ford Mustang GTD owned by drifting legend Vaughn Gittin Jr. While Gittin Jr has far more racing experience than McFarland, the Mustang GTD is at a significant power disadvantage to the C8 Corvette ZR1.
Read: Tuners Finally Unlock The Corvette ZR1 And Z06 That GM Locked Down
McFarland’s ZR1 isn’t an ordinary example either. Earlier this year, his ZR1 was the first to have its ECU unlocked by HP Tuners, and with aftermarket downpipes, race fuel, and a tune, the car delivers a monumental 1,180 hp and 1,094 lb-ft (1,483 Nm) of torque through the rear wheels. By comparison, the Mustang GTD’s 5.2-liter supercharged V8 has 815 hp and 664 lb-ft (900 Nm), and those are figures at the crank, not the wheels.
A Tight Track With Short Straights
The two monsters of American performance were pitted against each other at Ten Tenths Motor Club in North Carolina, a tight and relatively short track, which isn’t the ideal place for the ZR1 to stretch its legs. Helping to keep things even is the fact that both cars sit on Michelin Cup 2 R tires.
After several flying laps, Gittin Jr was able to lay down a time of 1:24.3 in his grey and fluorescent yellow Mustang GTD. McFarland then jumped into his ZR1 and laid down a best lap of 1:23.8, half a second quicker than the GTD. While the GTD may have the advantage during braking and cornering, the ZR1 is noticeably quicker in a straight line.
