The competition is again heating up at the Nürburgring as Ford lays down a new Mustang GTD lap record.
When Chevrolet brought its insane 1,250-horsepower Corvette ZR1X to the ‘Green Hell’ and put up a 6:49.275 lap time, I and so many others had the same response. Ford isn’t going to take that lying down…and indeed, they didn’t. After claiming the title of America’s fastest car around the Nürburgring Nordschleife with the Ford GT MkIV, the Blue Oval is back again with an updated time with the new Ford Mustang GTD Competition model.
As you’d expect since we’re talking about it at all, the latest version of Ford’s $325,000-plus supercar is an even more blistering lap time. Now, the Competition managed a 6:40.835 result, putting it ahead of the ZR1X by 8-and-a-bit seconds, and once again making this more hardcore GTD the second-quickest American car ever around the 12.9-mile Nordschleife.
Once again, Ford Racing and Multimatic factory driver Dirk Müller was behind the wheel of this GTD Competition model for the new record-setting run.
So what exactly did Ford do the GTD to create this Competition model? The automaker didn’t give too many specific details, but did give more of a bullet-point list on the general changes. Ford says it made hardware updates to the supercharged 5.2-liter V8 and gave it more aggressive tuning to push the power somewhere beyond the original GTD’s 815-horsepower output. There are more advanced aerodynamics including rear wing modifications that build on the existing F1-style Drag Reduction System (DRS), secondary front dive planes and rear carbon fiber aero discs to improve downforce. New magnesium wheels, carbon bucket seats and lighter suspension dampers reduce the GTD’s overall weight, and it gets a new set of high-performance tires.
Even better if you’re an enthusiast and you have the cash: You’ll actually be able to order the new Mustang GTD Competition. Ford is reopening the order books soon for the GTD. We’re not sure exactly how many of the Competition will be sold at the moment, though the company’s official statement notes it will be available in “strictly limited, serialized quantities”. Considering Ford currently builds about 40-45 GTDs each month, I’m sure this model will be even more exclusive than we’ve seen so far.
