Ford Mustang GTD Sets New Lap Record at Nurburgring, Becomes the Fastest American Car with Sub-7-Min Time

The Ford Mustang GTD has now become the fastest American production car to lap the legendary 20.8km Nordschleife loop, beating the Dodge Viper ACR (7:01:30 minutes) and the Lamborghini Aventador SuperVeloce (6:59.73 minutes). Driven by Multimatic Motorsports driver Dirk Muller, the Mustang GTD set an officially certified 6:57.685 lap time on the famed circuit nicknamed 'The Green Hell'. According to Ford, the GTD is the sixth 'standard' production car globally to break the seven-minute barrier. The road-legal Mustang GTD supercar borrows several cues from the GT3 race car such as carbon-ceramic brakes, active aerodynamics (with a Drag Reduction System), semi-active suspension, and a big supercharger. Apart from a carbon fibre body, the GTD that lapped the famed track had motorsports-derived safety gear mandated by the Nurburgring, including a roll cage and a competition seat with a five-point harness.

With this track-focused setup, the Mustang GTD has finally delivered on the goal laid out by CEO Jim Farley at its global debut in mid-August 2023. The lap was recorded in early August though. 

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Credit for the Mustang GTD's successful sub-seven-minute Nurburgring lap time goes to a small, dedicated team of engineers and designers who worked over two years to turn the Mustang GT3 race car into the first-ever Mustang supercar. All this and more are documented in the 14-minute clip, 'The Road To The Ring'. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuxuSLB1hg8&t=840s

'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 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 Mustang GTD: Powertrain

A successor to the second-generation Ford GT, the Mustang GTD uses the same underpinnings and engine block as the GT3. Powering the Ford Mustang GRD is a supercharged 5.2-litre V8 engine that makes 815bhp and 900Nm of peak torque. It gets a rear transaxle rather than a traditional transmission. 

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Thanks to a rear-mounted transmission, the Ford Mustang GTD has a 50/50 weight distribution. The top speed is rated at 325km/h, the same as the Mercedes-AMG GT.