Ford’s most extreme Mustang ever just upped the ante, again. The Mustang GTD, already a record-setter as the first American sports car to lap the Nürburgring in under 7 minutes, has returned to the Green Hell and obliterated its own record. With a blistering lap time of 6:52.072, the GTD now ranks as the fourth-fastest production car ever to lap the 12.9-mile Nordschleife. Let that sink in.
This is a purebred, fire-breathing, titanium-lunged apex predator born from the crucible of motorsport. Engineered with insights straight from the Rolex 24-winning Mustang GT3, the GTD is as close to a race car for the road as Ford’s ever built.
Refining & Improving The Mustang GTD
While the original GTD prototype already blew minds, Ford didn’t stop there. Over the winter, the team went into race engineer mode, dissecting every millisecond of its 6:57.685 lap set in August 2024. Every bit of data, every corner entry and exit, every bump scrutinized. The team then got to work on improving the GTD.
Ford made a slew of updates to squeeze out every ounce of performance:
- Revised chassis tuning with improved torsional rigidity
- Updated suspension geometry and alignment for razor-sharp handling
- Enhanced aerodynamics for more downforce at speed
- Powertrain calibration tweaks for sharper throttle response
- Reprogrammed ABS and traction control for better feedback at the limit
- Advanced development of Active Spool Valves
The result? A 5.5-second lap time improvement that puts the GTD 800 feet ahead of its former self after just one lap.
The Ford Mustang GTD
Let’s be clear: this isn’t just another special edition Mustang. This is Ford throwing down the gauntlet to the supercar establishment. Porsche 911 GT3 RS? Mercedes-AMG GT-R? The Mustang GTD’s knocking on their doors with a blue oval badge and a snarl. It’s evolved from a powerful muscle car into a super sports grand tourer, inching ever so close to becoming a supercar.
GTD stands for Grand Touring Daytona — a nod to IMSA’s top-tier GT class and the 24 Hours of Daytona. And this car lives up to every bit of that legacy. Thanks to its semi-active suspension, this beast can drop 40mm, transforming from a canyon carver to a circuit scalpel. You can drive it to the track, stomp lap records, then cruise home in comfort (while still rattling eardrums with that titanium Akrapovič exhaust).
Ford Mustang GTD Engine & Performance
Powering the GTD is a 5.2L supercharged V8 based on Ford’s revered Predator engine, now pushing an impressive 815hp and 900Nm. That’s channeled through an 8-speed dual-clutch transaxle gearbox mounted at the rear for near-perfect weight distribution. It’ll hit 325km/h flat-out, but what’s more impressive is how fast it gets there, and how it stops, with forged carbon ceramic brakes the size of dinner plates.
Every inch of the GTD screams performance:
- Magnesium wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires
- Carbon fibre body panels and driveshaft
- Dry sump lubrication for track reliability
- Semi-Active aerodynamics for maximum grip
And thanks to the wizardry of Multimatic Motorsports and simulation testing led by veteran driver Dirk Müller, what you get is a car that behaves like a Le Mans GT3 weapon, on public roads and at the Nordschleife.
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