GM Just Patented New Stick-Shift Drag Reduction System That Could Help The Corvette Destroy The Mustang GTD At The Nürburgring

The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and Corvette ZR1X are two of the world’s fastest sports cars and currently hold many outright and American lap records at tracks around the globe.

One of the most coveted is the Nürburgring, which they once lapped faster than any other American production car, stealing the title from the Ford Mustang GTD.

That was until the Ford Mustang GTD Competition showed up and beat both of them. The ultra high performance version of the Mustang GTD getting an undisclosed power boost and a set of nearly slick, but technically street legal tires.

The Corvettes and Mustang are classified in the Nürburgring’s pre-production/prototype category because they are not yet on sale in Europe, but are all designed to be road legal cars.

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The Mustang GTD’s performance is doubly impressive because it weighs about 300-600 pounds more than the Corvettes and has hundreds fewer horsepower.

But what it has that they don’t is a drag reduction feature that can adjust its wings and flaps to reduce downforce for faster top speeds on straights. The Corvettes both have fixed wings and other aerodynamic devices. At least the current Corvettes do.

General Motors has been issued a patent for a “Manual Aerodynamic System for a Vehicle and Method of Controlling the Same.” It’s the same basica concept as the Mustang GTD’s, but with a twist.

Instead of being engaged by electronics, GM’s patent features manual control, either through a lever on the center console or a pedal. There is a rotary knob that selects the level of drag reduction, but the switch between high and low downforce modes is handled by the driver. It’s somewhat ironic, given that the Corvette is not available with a manual transmission, but does add a layer of driver engagement.

Don’t go looking for it on the current Corvette ZR1 or ZR1X, however. Chevrolet has confirmed that the new 2027 Corvette Grand Sport and Grand Sport X are the final iterations of the eighth-generation Corvette, so a major mechanical change like the one depicted in the patent likely wouldn’t be implemented until the ninth-generation Corvette arrives at a yet to be confirmed date.