The Ford Mustang GTD Runs Riot around the ‘Ring

Not satisfied with being the quickest American car around the Nurburgring, now the Mustang GTD has gone five seconds faster.

The track-only Mustang GTD was the fastest American production car to ever lap the legendary circuit. It also broke the 7min mark for the feat, running a 6-minute, 57-second lap late last year. After some tweaks they’ve had another shot. Included are an updated powertrain calibration, a revised chassis with more torsional rigidity, a reworked ABS and TC system, and a refined aero set-up. The upshot was subtracting five seconds from the previous best, with a time of 6min 52.072sec.

The latest Mustang GTD is quicker around the ‘Ring now than the Porsche 918 Spyder, previously the overall record holder for a production car. It’s also quicker than the latest 911 GT3, the Ferrari 296 GTB, and the Lamborghini Aventador SV. The holder of the quickest lap for a production car is Mercedes-AMG One at 6min29sec.

This may wear a familiar body but it is no regular Mustang. The GTD is essentially a ground-up build with a Mustang body over the top. It features a rear-mounted eight-speed dual-clutch transmission that connects to the engine via a carbon fibre torque tube. Semi-active suspension is developed by Multimatic and is track trick. As much as anything this reflects how far tyre and suspension technology have come in 12 years since Porsche set the record with the 918.