As of yet, there is no independent confirmation on this, but British mag Evo is claiming that Ford's new Shelby GT350R has lapped the Nürburgring in 7:32.19, more than five second faster than Chevy's monstrous Z/28, which did the deed in 7:37.47.

Prior to the GT350's unveiling at last year's L.A. Auto Show, a source told us to expect a car that would run close, but not match, the Z/28. He assured us that we'd see a true competitor to the bow-tie track rat at the Detroit show—one capable of knocking it off its modern-day roadgoing Trans-Am–car pedestal.

When we found out that Ford had gone to the trouble and expense of fitting carbon-fiber wheels on a car that will retail for less than $100,000, we were inclined to believe our source's claims. This new rumor does nothing at all to dispel our faith in that belief. Obviously, we can't wait to put an R to the test.

You may recall that the Z/28 came within a tenth of a second of Ferrari's F12berlinetta and posted a 1.16 lateral-grip number—giving it skidpad parity with the Porsche 918 Spyder. Have we reached peak super(pony)car? Likely not, as the next Camaro is due to be significantly lighter and will be based on GM's Alpha platform—the basic guts that underpin the sweet-handling Cadillac ATS and CTS. Fifty-one years after Plymouth and Ford launched the segment, the battle for ponycar supremacy rages on.

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