Ford and company have made their way back to the Nürburgring Nordschleife with the heart-pounding Mustang GTD in tow, and one goal in mind: to defy all expectations and put the Blue Oval back at the top of the food chain. Suffice it to say, they did just that, considering they brought with them a new GTD model that has even more guts than before. To anyone who’s been keeping track of the GTD, that notion alone seems impossible, considering how wild it is at base.
The New Mustang GTD Competition Is The King Of The Green Hell
After posting the fastest time around the Nordschleife nearly a year and a half ago, the Mustang GTD effectively re-lit America’s desire to dominate one of the most grueling tests of mechanical mastery on the planet. Since then, Chevrolet has set out to re-ignite the performance-car civil war between the two American brands, with the Corvette ZR1 and ZR1X both topping the GTD’s record.
Ford, obviously, couldn’t let that slide, so they made the logical decision to upgrade the already highly upgraded Mustang supercar to prove that “mechanical limits” and “laws of physics” were just silly made-up words. The GTD Competition (GTD Comp, if you will) has taken the ‘Ring in a blistering 6:40:835, nearly nine seconds faster than the C8 Corvette ZR1X, and more than 11 seconds faster than its own previous record.
Ford now claims the two fastest Nürburgring times of any American brand, and that includes the track-only Ford GT MkIV, while the GTD now holds the sixth-fastest time on the Pre-Production/Prototype Class leaderboard.
The GTD Has Evolved Into An Even Angrier Pony
The Mustang GTD, as many are already aware, is upgraded from screw to stitch with everything a vehicle needs to go very, very fast. And while it was enough to grab headlines and break records, it needed a bit more to keep it on top. For starters, the supercharged 5.2-liter V8 that, at base, pushes out 815 horsepower, has been massaged to deliver even more power via updated hardware and aggressive tuning; there’s no official figure regarding the GTD Comp’s output yet.
Mustang GTD was always meant to bridge the worlds between GT3 race cars and street-legal supercars, and the GTD Competition takes this to the next level to continue keeping Europe’s elite up at night.
– Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford Motor Company
Further upgrades to the aerodynamic features include rear wing modifications, secondary front dive planes, and rear carbon fiber aero discs, which, while giving it the aero balance it needs, also add to the true street-legal racecar vibe it gives off. The Mustang GTD Comp gains a new set of high-performance tires, as well as loses a bit of weight, thanks to new magnesium wheels, new carbon fiber bucket seats, a lighter damper system, and further tweaks that help shave off any extra poundage. To ensure the upgrades were effective, Ford Racing engineer Steve Thompson took the GTD Comp around the ‘Ring and ran a 6:49:337, faster than the GTD’s original record-setting run.
Early Predictions Were Almost Right
A few weeks ago, outlets published what they thought to be the GTD’s new lap time, and it was. But it wasn’t the final, fastest lap time set. Trackside video of the GTD crossing the line at 6:41, shared by YouTube channel StatesideSupercars (and, subsequently, every automotive outlet thereafter), showed Ford’s masterpiece shaving 10 seconds off of its previous record. We now know that Ford Racing and Multimatic factory driver Dirk Müller shaved off 11 before calling it a day.
The GTD Competition will be available in very limited numbers as a street-legal special edition in the future, which we suspect will be priced as high as its performance capability. To commemorate both the outstanding achievement as well as the Mustang’s 62nd birthday, Ford will reopen the Mustang GTD’s application window for North American customers.
Sources: Ford