American cars, most specifically muscle cars, are not exactly the first choice of enthusiasts when it comes to having track toys, and we really couldn't blame them for that. Sure, they have lots of horsepower from big-block V8s and could easily reach triple-digit speeds effortlessly in a straight line, but they're big and bulky, causing excessive load to the outside tires and break traction quite easily once the car approaches the turns.
We all know that it's not just about outright power when it comes to circuit racing, cars that are light on their feet can sustain faster corner speeds. Lately, American automakers have started to catch up to their Japanese and European rivals, and have come up with sports cars that could hold their own when driven on a racetrack. Here are some of them.
10 Dodge Viper ACR
Take one look at the Dodge Viper ACR with the Extreme Aero Package, and you'll know that it's a serious track machine, especially with its aggressive aero kit that composes of a massive rear wing, front splitter and the big diffuser that simply keeps the car planted to the ground. You'd be forgiven if you thought this car is not street legal because of its GT3-style looks, but it is.
According to TopGear, the Viper ACR could produce 2,000 lbs of downforce at 177 mph, and in turn, made the car slower on the straights over the standard Viper. However, trading top speed for enormous grip seems to have paid off really well, as the car set a 7:01.3 laptime around the Green Hell, which was the 5th fastest time for a production car back in 2017.
9 Ford GT
There's really no need for an introduction when it comes to the Ford GT, the modern iteration of the 24 hours of Le Mans-winning GT40 that single-handedly dethroned Ferrari in the world's most prestigious endurance race.
Ford managed to repeat the feat 50 years later with the race version of the GT, and the road-going version's just as good. According to Motor1, the new Ford GT was 5 seconds faster than a Porsche 918 Spyder around the Virginia International Raceway.
8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
It's not everyday you see an American car smoke German sports cars on their own game, but the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE did just that after setting a 7:16.04 laptime around the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife.
What's the secret? Well, Chevrolet did it the old-school way. No fancy fuzzy logic here. Just a supercharged 650 hp V8 engine, 300 lbs of downforce, 6-speed manual gearbox and F1-style Multimatic spool-valve dampers, which gives a jarring ride on a daily drive, but keeps the car planted when doing high-performance driving.
7 Ford Focus RS
Before Ford shifted to the smaller Fiesta, the Focus RS was their very own rally machine. And even though the car is no longer Ford's main challenger, it still retained its rallying pedigree.
Especially the latest model, which has four-wheel-drive, a 345 hp EcoBoost engine, and a trick button called Drift mode, which, according to Ford, channels 70% of the car's torque to the rear wheels to initiate power oversteer for some sideways action.
6 Factory Five 818
Here's an American car you can definitely trash at the track — the Factory Five 818. Basically, it's the equivalent of the British Caterham 7 and the BAC Mono, an American featherweight two-seater track day kit car that you can drive on the road.
It utilizes the running gear of a Subaru Impreza WRX, which means, you have a mid-mounted 270 hp boxer engine with a low center of gravity, and it only weighs 1,800 lbs.
5 Ford Fiesta ST
Top Gear calls the Fiesta ST "an old-school, fun-filled hot hatch", and it definitely is, because for a long time now, Ford's subcompact hatchback is widely regarded as one of the best modern hot hatches ever made.
It's small, it's punchy, and it's supremely economical thanks to the 197 hp 1.5-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost engine, that could even run on two cylinders in cruise mode to save fuel.
4 Chevrolet Corvette C7 Z06
Before Chevrolet had their success with the Camaro ZL1 1LE, they've already hit the ground running with the Corvette C7 Z06, a track-oriented version of America's supercar.
The car shares the same engine with the Camaro ZL1 1LE, but the Corvette is 300 lbs lighter, and it could go toe-to-toe at the track with the likes of the Porsche 911 Turbo and the Mercedes-AMG GT while costing a lot less, giving the Z06 incredible value for its price.
3 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R
Terms like flat-plane crankshafts and redlines of over 8,000 rpm are not exactly what you would expect from a car built in Michigan, but the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R is an exception, and it's the only American production car (so far) to have a flat-plane V8.
The terms we've mentioned are usually found in exotic supercars like Ferraris, which makes the GT350 special. The naturally-aspirated 5.2-liter V8 produces 526 hp and 429 lb-ft of torque, and gloriously screams up to 8,250 rpm. Ford used old-school mechanical grip together with an advanced suspension system to put the power down effectively, whether on corner exits or simply doing highway pulls.
2 Chevrolet Cobalt SS
Chevrolet produced the Cobalt SS from 2005 to 2010. During in that short model run, it managed to become the fastest front-wheel-drive production car of its era, lapping the Nürburgring Nordschleife in just 8 minutes and 22 seconds. For comparison purposes, that laptime was also achieved by the iconic Nissan Skyline GT-R R32.
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On a drivetrain layout where understeer is inherent, and from a country often criticized for making cars that don't turn, the Cobalt SS is a huge smack in the face of those stereotypes. And back then, the car's 2.0-liter engine produced 260 hp, which is still more than you'll get from a brand new Civic Si.
1 Dodge SRT Challenger
The Dodge SRT Challenger is a perfect example that American muscle cars are no longer one-trick ponies. In fact, the car even serves as the official track toy for teaching performance driving at the Radford Racing School.
Formerly the Bondurant High Performance Driving School, the Radford Racing School's part-owner is no other than ex-F1 champion Jenson Button. And when someone like that doesn't mind using an American car for teaching circuit racing, you probably realize that the Challenger could really perform well at the track.