Ford's Mustang GTD breaks 7‑minute barrier at Nürburgring
Ford has achieved its goal. As promised, the Mustang GTD completed a lap of the Nürburgring in under 7 minutes. The cost of this record was considerable, but the Americans didn't seem to mind. The result was the most important aspect. Although this milestone was reached, Ford still seeks more. As they announce, they intend to return even stronger.
The Mustang GTD project generated significant excitement from the outset. Built not merely in the style of a race car but directly based on a performance vehicle, the car aimed to reach new heights. Ford initially declared they aimed to break the 7-minute barrier on the renowned German Nürburgring track.
They succeeded. Multimatic Motorsport's driver, Dirk Müller, who participated in the car's construction, completed the slightly over 21-kilometre stretch in 6:57.685, nearly the same time achieved by the Porsche 918 Spyder. Meanwhile, the Mustang GTD is the fastest production car in America and the first in the US to complete the lap in under 7 minutes. The previous record for an American car belonged to the Dodge Viper ACR, which completed the circuit in 7:01 minutes.
However, it fell slightly short of its theoretical rival, the Mustang GTD. Upon revealing the car's technical details, Ford boasted that their creation extracts more horsepower per litre of displacement than the new 911 GT3 RS. Meanwhile, the coupe from Stuttgart proved to be 2.7 seconds faster. Still,
It seems that Ford will not rest until it surpasses Porsche. During a ceremonial speech, Jim Farley, Ford's CEO, said:
"We are proud to be the first American automaker with a car that can lap the Nürburgring in under seven minutes, but we are unsatisfied. We know that much more time can be found with the Mustang GTD. We will be back."
We await further results. The current ones culminate 2 years of work by a small team of engineers. They did not build the car to mirror a track car; instead, they took the performance Mustang GT3 as their starting point and incorporated elements that are not permitted in the racing class but are feasible on the open market. This includes, among other features, ceramic brakes, active aerodynamics, mechanical supercharging, and semi-active suspension.
If you are interested in Ford's exact journey to success, the Americans have also released a 13-minute video showcasing their efforts.
Let's recall that the Mustang GTD is equipped with a 5.2-litre supercharged V8, which generates 826 HP and 900 Nm of maximum torque, allowing it to accelerate to up to 325 km/h. Ford demands a high price for their achievement. While Porsche has priced its GT3 RS at £262,000, the Americans have priced the Mustang GTD at £393,000. Despite this, the interest in the car is high, and two units from the limited production will also be delivered to Poland.
