Turn your speakers up. A throaty V-8 symphony isn't uncommon at the Nurburgring, but it's usually associated with the likes of Mercedes-AMG. An American muscle car is rare during official testing sessions, but the Ford Mustang GTD is unlike any muscle car from Detroit.
When this road-going version of the Mustang GT3 race car debuted, Ford made no bones about going to the Nurburgring with ambitions of setting a seriously fast lap time. The automaker believes the GTD can run the Nordschielfe loop in under 7 minutes, and testing is now underway ahead of an official attempt later this year.
CarSpyMedia shared a video taken from various locations around the 12.9-mile course, and even at this early stage, it looks composed through the corners. We probably don't need to say it's fast, but we'll emphasize it with some commentary about the first high-speed flyby starting at the 52-second mark. We see the car as it approaches Kliens Karussell, the "little" carousel on the back end of the loop. The GTD actually lifts the inside front tire on entry, carrying all kinds of speed and grip through the gentle banking. It looks very composed, and the sound is pure petrol heaven.
The rest of the video is more of the same. We occasionally hear supercharger whine from the force-fed 5.2-liter V-8, but the deep exhaust note is as American as a Bald Eagle. There's over 800 horsepower under the hood, powering the rear wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch transaxle. Yes, it's a transaxle—mounted at the rear of the car with the drive wheels to give the Mustang a near 50/50 weight distribution.
The race-inspired pushrod suspension is back there too, visible through a plexiglass window where the back seat would normally be. We'd love to watch it work while carving up the 'Ring. Are you listening, Ford?
With an estimated price tag of $325,000, it's far more expensive than any Mustang in history. But, if it succeeds in turning a sub-seven-minute lap, it will be the fastest American production car to ever lap the Nurburgring. That will also place it among the fastest production cars in the world
Judging by this video, things are looking pretty good so far.
