The Ford Mustang GTD was built for speed.
The 800 hp supercar will be offered with a Performance package that includes 20-inch magnesium wheels, a drag reduction system that adjusts the rear wing and underbody flaps to improve its top speed and an aggressive front fascia with dive plans added above the front splitter.
Ford says the Performance pack is engineered to get the Mustang GTD around the Nürburgring Nordschleife race track in less than seven minutes, which is a benchmark for elite performance cars. It was recently spotted testing at the 13-mile-long racing circuit.
The closest a U.S.-brand production sports car has come is the Dodge Viper ACR’s 7:01.3 lap in 2017, so the Mustang GTD could set a record among its domestic rivals, if not the overall mark.
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The fastest production car lap is currently held by the $2.7 million Mercedes-AMG One at 6:30.705, but the Porsche 911 GT3 RS is a more direct competitor for the Mustang GTD and it recorded a time of 6:44.848 in 2022.
Ford has also revealed the GTD’s interior, which is largely a port of the mainstream Mustang’s, but gets its own Recaro seats and a flat-bottom steering wheel with titanium paddle shifters and buttons that can be used to adjust the exhaust volume and suspension stiffness on the fly.
The Mustang GTD with Performance package is being shown off at the 24 Hours of Le Mans wearing deep red Chroma Flame paint and a Carbon Series option that has unpainted hood, roof and rear deck carbon fiber panels.
Exact pricing and full specifications haven’t been announced, but the Mustang GTD is expected to start around $325,000 for a standard version that does without the Performance package’s active aerodynamics, but features the same rear wing design.
The two-seater is assembled by Multimatic and has a supercharged 5.2-liter V8 that sends its power to the rear wheels through an eight-speed transaxle. Its top speed is approximately 210 mph in low-drag mode and 185 in the high downforce setting.
It also rides on a suspension that uses Mutlimatic Adaptive Spool Valve dampers wrapped in stacked sets of of springs, one of which can be compressed to lower the ride height and increase the spring rate for maximum track performance.
