Porsche Just Embarrassed Dodge And Ford At The Nürburgring

By Gary Gastelu |

Apr 21, 2025

Sometimes you just have to do it yourself. A 2025 Porsche 911 GT3 has set a lap record for manual transmission-equipped cars on Germany’s Nürburgring Nordschleife track.

Well, the car had a little help from driver Joerg Bergmeister, who put down a smoking lap of 6:56.294 on the 12.94-mile (20.832 km) circuit.

The 502 hp car was equipped with an optional street-legal Weissach Package that adds carbon fiber bodywork, an upgraded suspension, magnesium wheels shod in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires and a rear roll cage.

Bergmeister’s time handily beat the 645 hp Dodge Viper ACR’s 7:01.3 stick-shift record, which was set by a private effort on a slightly shorter track layout in 2017. (Porsche figures the time would’ve been 7:05.8 over the full 20.832 km.) Bergmeister’s car was also faster than the 6:59.927 lap clocked by a previous generation 911 GT3 with Porsche’s quick-shifting PDK dual-clutch automatic transmission.

Perhaps more crucially today, Bergmeister’s time was faster than the 6:57.685 lap that Ford Performance driver Dirk Müller set last August in the 815 hp Ford Mustang GTD, which is only offered with a dual-clutch automatic. It was the first time that a production car from an American brand broke the seven-minute mark at the track.

Ford considers the 911 GT3 the Mustang GTD’s top rival. The 911 GT3’s price starts around $225,000 and $250,000 with the Weissach package, while the GTD is $325,000 before the Performance Pack used to set the Nürburgring time is added. The Performance Pack adds a drag reduction system, magnesium wheels and other features focused on track driving. Ford hasn’t publicly detailed exactly how much the option costs, but the Carbon Series Mustang GTD models that bundle it with other upgrades start at $428,000.

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But while Bergmeister had a near-perfect 54 degree sunny day for his attempt, the weather was damp and gloomy when Müeller got a shot, so Ford is apparently taking another. The automaker said it would be heading back to the track to see what the car could do and it was recently spotted there with the car.

According to the CarSpyMedia YouTube channel that posted video of the test session, Ford was successful in improving the Mustang GTD’s time, but it didn’t reveal by how much. Ford hasn’t officially confirmed the attempt, and it took about four months to announce the results from its previous record run, so there’s no telling when it will release a new time.

It may need to soon if it wants to get the headlines. The specter of a lap time by the upcoming $174,995 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is looming over the Mustang GTD and 911 GT3. Chevrolet has made several trips to the track with the 1,064 hp super-Vette, which has a top speed of 233 mph and already holds five track records in the U.S.

Chevrolet hasn’t given any indications that it has a time in the books, but ZR1 deliveries are expected to begin in a few weeks and claiming the American record, at least, would be a nice mic drop as the cars start leaving the factory.