Is the Car Industry Back in America?
By Will Ratcliff
Posted: 9-20-2024
As the car industry holds their cash before the election, they're releasing their biggest hitters in recent automotive history. A great reveal at Monterey Car Week introduced the BMW M5 Touring. More news for American manufacturers is bringing back the Ford vs Chevrolet fight: except in race cars, not ponies Hyundai announced that their long envisioned N75 concept car is no longer a fever dream-it's real.
If all these great new cars are on the edge of production, can we say the automotive industry is still looking hopeful? Let's check out a few of these new cars.
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BMW M5 Touring - Bringing Back the Wagon
Car enthusiasts have an unmatched affinity for power wagons. Audi's RS6 is on the list of Instagram's top picks. And in a world full of high-rise apartment SUVs with a "sporty" ride, the practicality-fun ratio is perfected in a sports wagon. BMW knows this, and they've heard the fans. A BMW M5 Touring is coming to America.
However, BMW must've stopped by In and Out at the airport, as the already monolithic M5 gains an extra 40 lbs to become the wagon. The rear suspension is stiffened to account for that rear view. A manual option is available. Though the price of a new BMW doesn't inspire a mass inflow of wagons, it's nice to see a car manufacturer listening to their audience-even if the audience doesn't have the money.
Source: Ford Media
Mustang GTD - (One of)America's Newest Supercars
Ford has been dormant in its motorsports division for a few years. But this year's push for a Mustang GT3 entry into IMSA and the WEC, homologation rules require a road-going variant. So who better to make Ford's road-going racecar than their racecar manufacturer Multimatic? Made in Canada, America's superpony boasts a modified GT500 engine.
As their GT3 program peaks interest in the WEC with a 3rd and 4th place finish at Le Mans, interest in the GTD is also gaining. Just recently, it was announced that the Mustang GTD was capable of 815 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque. This is a 55 hp upgrade from the GT500 it stole it's engine from. So is it just a beefed Shelby? Not exactly. Sporting its GT3 bodykit the GTD gains a lot of downforce. It also adds DRS, or drag-reduction system, in the rear wing. It revs to 7650 rpm with a dry-sump oil system to keep that redline in the corners.
So what's the only problem with the GTD? Well there's two. For one, it's $300,000, and isn't made by Ford directly. It may not be serviceable at your local small town dealership. Second, there's another American supercar in the mix.
Supercharged 5.2L of Ford fury makes 815 hp.
Source: Car and Driver
Corvette ZR1 - 1064 Horsepower
Corvette knew they had to raise the stakes. They had already started the very successful C8 generation with a stylish mid-engine design, fulfilling the wishes of Zora Duntov. They exploded the budget supercar scene with the Corvette Z06 in 2023, with a 5.5L flat-plane crank capable of 670 hp and a 8500 rpm redline. Inspired by Ferrari in the basic cylinder, they built a pure GM supercar. Dual intake plenums used Helmholtz' resonance and 3 valves to achieve over 100% volumetric efficiency. On track, the Z06 fights Porsche's GT3 RS on Michelin Cup 2 Rs and wins.
So if they did so well with the Z06, what could they possibly do next?
Maybe they could built an LT6..but add a turbocharger. And then another one. And then make it make 1064 horsepower. No really! That's exactly what they did!
Corvette engineer Tadge Jeuchter spoke of a Stingray mule, a C8 that explored a C7 ZR1 engine in the rear. They were searching for the absolute best of the best Corvette had. Their biggest fear with a turbocharged Corvette, a first of its kind, was turbo lag. And just like every other hurdle in C8 lineup, they nailed it.
Although not much knowledge is available on the LT7 we can continue our knowledge from the LT6. The LT6's dual intake plenum is replaced by a twin-turbocharger setup. A decreased redline for the turbocharged engine only makes sense for the already ground-breakingly large setup. For example, the Ferrari 488 had a twin-turbocharger on a 3.9L flat-plane V8, and that seemed to be the maximum displacement the manufacturers tried. And just like the 488, the ZR1 revs to 8000 rpm. See a trend here?
The ZR1, though rumored to have active aero, only gets a few aero changes. However, the aero change provides a whopping 1200 lbs of downforce with a front air scoop. And before you say, the 488 Pista also did. But this is nothing new to the C8 lineup-the new Corvette Z06 GT3.R, their customer race car built by Pratt and Miller, already showcased this design. It also showed the ridged split window, a design Corvette is bringing back from 1963. One of the most impressive facts about the C8 generation is that every and nothing is new.
Source: Hyundai
Hyundai N Vision 74
10 years ago, if you told the American economy that Hyundai would be a serious fun sports car competitor, they might have laughed in your face. Although the Genesis coupe was stellar, it was nothing like where Hyundai's N division has brought the company. Ex BMW M engineer at the helm, Hyundai has become dazzling. And an idea they had in the N Vision 74 is now becoming a reality
The N Vision is designed to hark back to Hyundai's history. I'm not sure what history they are referring to, as the 80's styled LED funk machine has never existed outside of car enthusiasts' daydream John DeLorean would be proud of the steely design (no, Cybertruck, we're not talking about you).
If you weren't dazzled by the design, be dazzled by the engineering. Two hydrogen tanks sit below the ridged fastback. Individual cooling systems prepare for heavy track use. Two electric motors power the rear wheels with torque vectoring. Combined, they produce 500 kW and 900 Nm of torque. There is truly nothing like this on the market, and never has been.
Summary
So what's the state of the car industry? We'll let's look at the facts. A German manufacturing listening to its American audience. The first ever hydrogen fuel cell supercar. A homologation race-car for the road. A 1064 hp twin-turbocharged factory mid-engined Corvette. I'll let you decide.
[1] GM Authority - GM 5.5L Twin-Turbo V8 LT7 Engine
[2] 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 LT7 V8 Engine Deep Dive
[4] Car and Driver - Mustang GTD Churns Out 815 HP
[5]Car and Driver - 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
