Last Summer, Ford shocked much of the automotive world when it lapped a Mustang GTD around the Nürburgring Nordschleife in just 6:57:685. Well, apparently, that wasn’t quite enough for the Blue Oval, so it decided to head back to Germany to lap the car again after tinkering with it. Because of its work with engineering partner Multimatic, Ford’s beast of a Mustang just clocked a 6:52.072 lap time with Dirk Müller (the same driver as the first run) behind the wheel.
Knocking 5.5 seconds off a Nürburgring lap time is no simple task, and that’s why Ford and Multimatic made the following changes to the Mustang GTD to squeeze just a little more out of this supercharged 5.2-liter V8 monster. It apparently took some of the lessons it learned after winning the Rolex 24 in Daytona. Here’s what they changed, according to a Ford blog post:
Revised chassis tuning with increased torsional rigidity
Updated suspension hardware and alignment for even more precise, predictable handling
Aerodynamic tweaks for improved downforce
Powertrain calibration updates
Revised ABS and traction control behavior
New Active Spool Valve development
A dose of freedom
Ford now owns, by our estimate, the ninth-fasted Nürburgring Nordschleife lap time for a production car, falling just a smidge behind the 6:52:01 lap time set by the Lamborghini Huracán Performante LP640-4. Still, that’s nothing to sneeze at — especially for something that started out as a humble Mustang.
Of course, the GTD is anything but a regular Mustang at this point. Limited to just 1,000 units, the GTD comes with all sorts of suspension, chassis, and aero upgrades — along with a nearly 50/50 weight distribution. It’s also powered by a 5.2-liter supercharged V8 that puts out a Ford-estimated 815 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque through an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. Oh, and it’ll cost the lucky few who can afford one about $325,000. So no, it’s not exactly a normal Mustang, but there’s still a lot of “America, hell yeah!” in this thing.
