2021 Mustang Mach 1 Laps Nurburgring in 7:58.29 Min - by Sport Auto

[Dave2013M3]

This is the hard truth. When 2021 BMW M4 as a direct competitor does 7:30 then 7:58 is slow. Although M4 was automatic but it was on stock tyres which should be 275/40 R18 and 285/35 R19.

On the other hand I think something is off with that time. I'd really like to know what time the Mach 1 HP with 10R80 would have. On the other hand, it doesn't matter to me at all, the car is plenty powerful and fast for me. Nowadays anything is slower than EV car anyway, that's not what this all is about for me.

Once again there is no advantage on the Nurburgring with an auto or DCT. There is not a lot of shifting. On a short technical track you may see some advantage.

I saw a test done with 2 E92 M3s same driver, one a DCT the other a 6MT they were withing tenths to each other not seconds.

Keep in mind the M4 was on the Mich SC2s which is an option for the M4. Like the Mustang if you don't check the box for the SC2s you get a mix of tires. Either MIch PS4S, Pirelli PZ4.

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[WD Pro]

You Sir are delusional. This is under the assumption that you were serious with what you wrote.

I got my answer to that when the lap time list was posted …

WD

 

[Dave2013M3]

Here's a list of lap times +-4 seconds of the Mach 1, some pretty good company:

Funny a lot of the cars highlighted are almost 20 years ago. A new 911 Turbo runs it in 7:17. A new 991.2 Carrera S runs it in 7:25. The older non Turbo 991.1 2016 Carrera S runs it in 7:34 on regular Michelins.

 

[2021 Mach 1]

Funny a lot of the cars highlighted are almost 20 years ago. A new 911 Turbo runs it in 7:17. A new 991.2 Carrera S runs it in 7:25. The older non Turbo 991.1 2016 Carrera S runs it in 7:34 on regular Michelins.

That's a good point, you're right.

 

[Charlemagne]

Keep in mind the M4 was on the Mich SC2s which is an option for the M4. Like the Mustang if you don't check the box for the SC2s you get a mix of tires. Either MIch PS4S, Pirelli PZ4.

Ah, right, then the times are not comparable. Really would need proper US Mach 1 HP for the time to mean anything. Could easily be 10-15 seconds less.

As much as I hate Ford for not providing Handling Package here, I wouldn't want it anyway, the front splitter would be troublesome on the roads and I don't like the rear spoiler much. So I opted for the wider wheels and am already curious how they will feel Maybe I'll get to Nürburgring oneday myself too but plan on local circuits first.

 

[TasGT]

Who cares what it’s Ring lap time is? Did you buy it for that? How many Mustang owners will ever, EVER, drive like that on the road? How many of you will ever go at it 10 10ths in your own car on a race track?
All this ring crap is just pointless Willy waving.
I just sold my Elfin Clubman which was a great little car, only a 1600cc 4Age Toyota power plant, 3 times smaller that the 5L V8, but it would slaughter any Mustang and quite a few Euro high end exotics, on tight twisty roads, and I bought a Mustang. Am I unhappy that it does not handle like the Elfin? NO, it’s a different type of car, more Sporting than sports, more a comfortable but fast cruiser than a Ring miester. And when I fire up the Mustang V8 and immerse myself in that glorious understressed sound track, do I miss the Elfin’s banshee wail and Cannon like crackle on a trailing throttle into a hairpin, not really, it’s far outweighed by the fact I can now cover great distances, in comfort, with enough luggage space for two people, with all the power and speed I could ever need on the road.
It’s like all this BS 0-62 mph in 2.7 seconds crap, where and when are you going to actually do that, and when Audi and Mercedes make claims like that from family oriented station wagons it just makes me groan.
I have had faster cars than my Mustang, better handling cars than my Mustang, but neither of those factors are why I bought one.
It’s horses for courses, enjoy your Mustang for the glorious thing it is.

 

[Dave2013M3]

Ah, right, then the times are not comparable. Really would need proper US Mach 1 HP for the time to mean anything. Could easily be 10-15 seconds less.

As much as I hate Ford for not providing Handling Package here, I wouldn't want it anyway, the front splitter would be troublesome on the roads and I don't like the rear spoiler much. So I opted for the wider wheels and am already curious how they will feel Maybe I'll get to Nürburgring oneday myself too but plan on local circuits first.

Keep in mind its a Euro magazine, they probably can only get their hands on a Euro Mach1. I disagree that tires will shave 30 seconds off the time of the Mach 1. I do believe a US Mach 1 HP will be able to at least get into the 7:40s.

 

[Dave2013M3]

Who cares what it’s Ring lap time is? Did you buy it for that? How many Mustang owners will ever, EVER, drive like that on the road? How many of you will ever go at it 10 10ths in your own car on a race track?
All this ring crap is just pointless Willy waving.
I just sold my Elfin Clubman which was a great little car, only a 1600cc 4Age Toyota power plant, 3 times smaller that the 5L V8, but it would slaughter any Mustang and quite a few Euro high end exotics, on tight twisty roads, and I bought a Mustang. Am I unhappy that it does not handle like the Elfin? NO, it’s a different type of car, more Sporting than sports, more a comfortable but fast cruiser than a Ring miester. And when I fire up the Mustang V8 and immerse myself in that glorious understressed sound track, do I miss the Elfin’s banshee wail and Cannon like crackle on a trailing throttle into a hairpin, not really, it’s far outweighed by the fact I can now cover great distances, in comfort, with enough luggage space for two people, with all the power and speed I could ever need on the road.
It’s like all this BS 0-62 mph in 2.7 seconds crap, where and when are you going to actually do that, and when Audi and Mercedes make claims like that from family oriented station wagons it just makes me groan.
I have had faster cars than my Mustang, better handling cars than my Mustang, but neither of those factors are why I bought one.
It’s horses for courses, enjoy your Mustang for the glorious thing it is.

The ring is a lot of straights too, long ones where you can really stretch your legs. I still feel 7:40 for HP car.

 

[Mazman]

Who cares what it’s Ring lap time is? Did you buy it for that? How many Mustang owners will ever, EVER, drive like that on the road? How many of you will ever go at it 10 10ths in your own car on a race track?
All this ring crap is just pointless Willy waving.
I just sold my Elfin Clubman which was a great little car, only a 1600cc 4Age Toyota power plant, 3 times smaller that the 5L V8, but it would slaughter any Mustang and quite a few Euro high end exotics, on tight twisty roads, and I bought a Mustang. Am I unhappy that it does not handle like the Elfin? NO, it’s a different type of car, more Sporting than sports, more a comfortable but fast cruiser than a Ring miester. And when I fire up the Mustang V8 and immerse myself in that glorious understressed sound track, do I miss the Elfin’s banshee wail and Cannon like crackle on a trailing throttle into a hairpin, not really, it’s far outweighed by the fact I can now cover great distances, in comfort, with enough luggage space for two people, with all the power and speed I could ever need on the road.
It’s like all this BS 0-62 mph in 2.7 seconds crap, where and when are you going to actually do that, and when Audi and Mercedes make claims like that from family oriented station wagons it just makes me groan.
I have had faster cars than my Mustang, better handling cars than my Mustang, but neither of those factors are why I bought one.
It’s horses for courses, enjoy your Mustang for the glorious thing it is.

The only reason I would by a M1 over a regular GT is in fact of its track capabilities. Also a car that is fast and compliant on the ring will many times behave the same on a regular road hence why testing there is important for manufacturers. With that said from what I have seen M1 and GT PP1 on track with same tires(ps4s) seem to be on par. So the next question that comes into mind how much do the stiffer sways/springs/mangeride tune on the M1 matter when stepping up to let's say a 305/315(cup2 ) setup on both cars. On the M1 one is not getting full use of the stiffer/re-mapped stuff with the PS4S tires but the question is how much difference does it make.
Again with that said getting a GT PP1 and with the FP handling pack with stiffer springs, sways and Magneride re-map(which is a 1000USD package) would there be any difference at all in lap time with the same tire on both cars! I think not(or very little), but then we come into things like the Tremec and the added coolers!

I do full acceleration runs whenever I can and wherever I can on a daily basis. So the fact that number do not matter I don't agree on not for my use case. So for me how it behaves on track is of importance even though I will not be able to reach it's full capacitity. But if the car is more compliant and more easy to handle then yes even a average joe will benefit from that. I got my MX5 so I could "learn how to drive" but I would need to have back seats and there are not many cars that offer that tickle and being able to track that do not cost to much hence why at least I am considering of getting a M1.

Of course at the end it boils down to personal preference and use case. Numbers are not everything but it gives some guidance.

 

[Maldelver]

Who cares what it’s Ring lap time is? Did you buy it for that? How many Mustang owners will ever, EVER, drive like that on the road? How many of you will ever go at it 10 10ths in your own car on a race track?
All this ring crap is just pointless Willy waving.
I just sold my Elfin Clubman which was a great little car, only a 1600cc 4Age Toyota power plant, 3 times smaller that the 5L V8, but it would slaughter any Mustang and quite a few Euro high end exotics, on tight twisty roads, and I bought a Mustang. Am I unhappy that it does not handle like the Elfin? NO, it’s a different type of car, more Sporting than sports, more a comfortable but fast cruiser than a Ring miester. And when I fire up the Mustang V8 and immerse myself in that glorious understressed sound track, do I miss the Elfin’s banshee wail and Cannon like crackle on a trailing throttle into a hairpin, not really, it’s far outweighed by the fact I can now cover great distances, in comfort, with enough luggage space for two people, with all the power and speed I could ever need on the road.
It’s like all this BS 0-62 mph in 2.7 seconds crap, where and when are you going to actually do that, and when Audi and Mercedes make claims like that from family oriented station wagons it just makes me groan.
I have had faster cars than my Mustang, better handling cars than my Mustang, but neither of those factors are why I bought one.
It’s horses for courses, enjoy your Mustang for the glorious thing it is.

I don’t disagree with the spirit of what you are saying...

However the track capability of the MACH 1, coupled with a factory warranty, equals value. Now most owners may never capitalize on that value, but it’s there, and it’s important, because we paid for it.

Should we chose, or be forced, to liquidate the car, we expect to be compensated for that value.

I am not saying this vehicle is an investment, but there is value in it regardless whether it’s capitalized on by the original owner, or future owners.

 

[Waldo Jeffers]

Just my two cents, a few hints from someone, who raced the ring personally with motorbikes and a car and with 20years experience from trackdays and hobby-races on motorbikes.

* a lap on the ring is 20.8km (about 12.93mls) long. Even if you are an experienced track day driver or Racer, you need a big deal of laps and routine, to become a fast driver on that track. 3mls lap distance as many random tracks have, or nearly 13mls like the ring make a huge difference. Being an experienced driver alone won't even help you to lap very fast, you need a very fast, experienced driver in front of you or sitting in your car to help you learning the tricks in some corners. The track is tricky, it covers all the difficulties you may expect on any random public road. So there may be a big difference in laptimes, that count for the drivers and nothing else. Differences between fast, ring-experienced drivers and other fast, but not so ring-experienced drivers are bigger than on any other circuit in the World.

* lap times can be deceiving, as there are two different ways laptimes are set. A whole lap is rarely to bet set, only when the track is closed to the public. If the track is open for public, which is the fact most of the times, some areas are restricted, so lap times then are counted "from bridge to gantry" or in short BTG.
BTG-Times are "faster" because they don't cover a full lap. Some people mistake BTG-laptimes as full laptimes. I don't know if all the fast laptimes in the lists cover a full lap.

* Due to the long distance of a lap and the landscape with many altitude changes and changes in the wheather and wind conditions in one lap you will encounter different temperatures in one lap, as well as different grip levels, which makes it harder to compare lap times that were set on different days. You may experience heavy rain and a sunny sky with a dry road surface in one lap.

*Tyres are critical, especially in conjunction with wheather conditions. The same tyre name can be totally different in the US and Europe. For instance, the stock US-Pirelli Pzero, that was used on 2015-2017 models , was a totally different tyre than what european customers knew about "Pzeros" that were sold in Europe. The Michelin PS4s is a good sport tyre for a daily driver but far from being a trackday-capable tyre. Only suitible for the ring in cold wheather conditions. A better tyre can easily rip off 10 or 15 or even more seconds from your laptimes.

*Please take into account, that the Mach1 being tested was a european model. European Mach1 are different from the original US cars. European models of the Mach1 lack some 20hp and some Nm too and there are some more other minor differences like a "opf" a particle filter located after the headers which is known for raising engine temperatures, as one example.

*Any driver, that laps a full lap on the ring in less than 8 minutes, is fu*king fast, regardless of the car he sitz in, hands down! Anyone who likes to disagree should do the ring personally before arguing.

*Speaking with the experience of 5 years and about 50,000mls with my personal car (you can take it away only from my cold, dead hands) that has been equipped with a KW v3, Eibach sway bars and a full load of Steeda and some BMR and FPP parts, plus dba brakes and lightweight rims, any stock Mustang is just a "base kit" that needs to be modified for full function.
Isn't that a Mustang Tradition since 1964?
The Mach1 is very much better in Stock condition than a normal GT, but still it is only kinda basic. So any given Mustang has a greater potential for improvements in Performance and laptimes than most other sportscars. Which makes a comparison to any BMW m-Model, any Mercedes AMG or any Porsche unfair. Not to mention the huge difference in price tags here in Germany between a Mach1 and the other mentioned competitors. If I needed a sports car with fixed roof, it was an US-Mach1 premium.

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