While acceleration times like 0-60 and quarter-mile times are useful and well-established, the ultimate performance metric for a high-performance vehicle is how fast it can lap the Nürburgring in Germany. Benna Ford is pleased to announce that the Ford Mustang GTD has entered an extremely exclusive club by lapping the “ring” in under seven minutes.
Only six production models worldwide can claim to be in the “Under seven” club; the Mustang GTD is the only one from America. The specifics are this: On December 10, 2024, the 815-horsepower Mustang GTD, driven by Multimatic Motorsports driver Dirk Müller, completed the 12.9-mile 73-turn lap in 6 minutes, 57.685 seconds. This marks an achievement of a goal stated by Ford CEO Jim Farley at the Mustang GTD’s debut in August 2023.
“The team behind Mustang GTD took what we’ve learned from decades on the track and engineered a Mustang that can compete with the world’s best supercars,” said Ford President and CEO Jim Farley. “We’re proud to be the first American automaker with a car that can lap the Nürburgring in under seven minutes, but we aren’t satisfied. We know there’s much more time to find with Mustang GTD. We’ll be back.”
Ford has produced several blisteringly fast Mustangs in the past couple of decades, and some Shelby Mustangs even have greater horsepower than the GTD. However, even they aren’t as race-track-bred as the Mustang GTD. It began with the Ford Mustang GT3 race car, developed by Ford Performance and Multimatic Motor Sports, to compete in IMSA endurance races, such as the 24 Hours of LeMans, 12 Hours at Sebring, and 24 Hours of Daytona. The goal was to create a high-performance production car inspired by and derived from the Mustang GT3.
This is a more challenging task than it sounds. Not only do production cars need to meet all manner of Department of Transportation and NHTSA safety standards, but the engine can’t be expected to be rebuilt after every long day of driving, as in a race car.
At the heart of the Mustang GTD (taking its name from the GT Daytona IMSA class) is a Ford Performance-engineered 5.2-liter naturally aspirated (non-turbo or supercharged) V8 tuned to achieve 815 horsepower. The engine features a dry sump oil system to prevent oil starvation on fast curves and is the first dry sump fitted to a production Mustang. The V8 is paired with an 8-speed dual-clutch transaxle driving and is located between the rear wheels to help produce a 40/40 weight distribution.
The chassis features a semi-active suspension with short-long arm geometry up front to handle High-G cornering, while carbon-ceramic brakes slow things down when necessary. Much of the body is made of carbon fiber panels, including the large rear wing, which forms road-gripping downforce at speed. As mandated by the Nürburgring, the production car was fitted with a competition seat with a five-point harness and a roll cage.
Ford plans a limited run of about 1,000 Mustang GTDs. With a starting MSRP of about $325,000, it is more than a mere step up from a Mustang GT, so you will unlikely find one in Benna Ford’s inventory. That said, it is a testament to Ford’s engineering prowess and is an example of lessons learned on the track finding their way into production cars.
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