Roaring V8, V10 or V12 engines, sleek body lines and exotic looks. This is something every car enthusiast can appreciate. Nowadays car brands like Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren focus on the production of their supercar lineup. These cars represent the pinnacle of the road-legal automotive industry. You wouldn’t expect muscle cars, such as the Ford Mustang, to compete with these Supercars. This is what Ford wants to change with the Ford Mustang GTD!
The Ford Mustang GTD: A GT3 car made for the road
Other than design and style, muscle cars and supercars are quite different from each other. Muscle cars are often front-engine and rear-wheel-drive cars. They’re known to have a heavy V8 in the front producing immense horsepower, which is characterised by the low, rumbling noise the car makes. These cars achieve their best performance in straight lines.
Supercars, on the other hand, are designed to be light and have aerodynamically efficient body lines that guide air over the car to create as much downforce as possible. These cars come equipped with V10 or V12 engines. They are very compact, with a focus on on-track performance. They’re agile and can handle taking corners at high speeds.
Why Is It a Supercar Killer?
In the GT3 category, multiple types of cars compete against each other. However, these cars are heavily modified to comply with the category’s rules. The Ford Mustang is one of the cars you’ll find racing against Lamborghinis and McLarens, however, these cars are not road-legal.
When Ford decided to build the new Ford Mustang GTD, they took everything that enhanced the speed and aerodynamics of the GT3 race car and ensured that it was also road-legal by adding safety features and comfort to it. The result? An amazing muscle car, capable of going head-to-head with supercars like the Lamborghini Huracan Performante.
The Ford Mustang GTD On the Nordschleife Nurburgring!
If you know anything about automotive racing and car performance testing, you’ll also know that a lap time on the Nordschleife Nurburgring is the benchmark to prove a car’s performance. Supercars like the Lamborghini Huracan Performante complete a lap around this track in less than 7 minutes.
The Ford Mustang GT350 holds the fastest lap time on the Nordschleife Nurburgring for Ford Mustangs, with a time of 7 minutes and 15 seconds. This is 20 seconds slower than the Lamborghini. However, the new GTD is engineered to complete a lap in under 7 minutes, allowing it to compete with these high-performance cars. Check out one of the Ford Mustang GTD lap attempts in the video below!