The most track-focused version of the Ford Mustang is the new GTD, and now it has been spied testing at the Nurburgring for the very first time. Looking more like a GT3 racer than a car customers can actually buy and drive on public roads, the Mustang GTD has been engineered to lap Green Hell in under 7 minutes. This Mustang GTD is finished in gloss black and is adorned with all the same aggressive aero components as the show car presented last year. It looks so outlandish that it almost beggars belief that this race-bred machine wears a Mustang badge.
While running on the Nurburgring itself,
the car’s tailpipes were modified but when it was seen on the street, it had
the production-spec tips installed. Spy photographers tell us this is because the
standard car doesn’t comply with noise restrictions at the circuit.
Ford has equipped the Mustang GTD with
technology from the GT3 race car and tasked Canada’s Multimatic with building
it. Found at the heart of the car is a purpose-built supercharged 5.2-liter V8
with dual air inlets and a dry-sump engine oil system. Ford has not yet
provided a final power figure but says it will deliver over 800 hp, making it
the most powerful Mustang ever.
However, horsepower isn’t the most
important part of making a car to demolish the Nurburgring, as evidenced by the
Porsche 911 GT3 RS lapping the track in just 6:49 a couple of years ago.
Fortunately, Ford has all the aero boxes ticked too. The GTD rocks a carbon
fiber undertray, active front flaps, unique fenders, a revised trunk lid, and a
large rear wing. The car has also been equipped with a huge front splitter and
aerodynamic dive planes. There’s no word on how much downforce the car
produces.
