{"id":34452,"date":"2025-05-06T08:31:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T12:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=34452"},"modified":"2025-05-06T08:31:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T12:31:07","slug":"ford-mustang-gtd-scorches-nurburgring-for-another-record-lap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/ford-mustang-gtd-scorches-nurburgring-for-another-record-lap","title":{"rendered":"Ford Mustang GTD scorches Nu\u0308rburgring for another record lap"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Like the Terminator, the Mustang GTD came back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">In August 2024, the 2025 Ford Mustang GTD became the first American-made production car to lap Germany&#8217;s famed 12.9-mile Nu\u0308rburgring race track in under 7 minutes. Not satisfied, the Ford team said it would return for another go. Last month, Mustang\u2019s 815-horsepower beast shattered its own 6.57.7 record by five seconds with a 6:52.1 minute lap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The feat makes the Mustang GTD the fourth-fastest production sports car to ever lap the so-called Green Hell, trailing only the Porsche GT2 RS, Mercedes AMG GT Black Series and Porsche GT3 RS.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cWe\u2019re proud to be the first American automaker with a car that can lap the Nu\u0308rburgring in under seven minutes, but we aren\u2019t satisfied,\u201d Ford President and CEO Jim Farley said last year after GTD\u2019s first sub 7-minute lap. \u201cWe know there\u2019s much more time to find with Mustang GTD. We\u2019ll be back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The new time came as the halo Mustang \u2014 estimated to cost $325,000 \u2014 ramps up for production this spring for customer delivery. Improvements to the car over the August, 2024 test included updated powertrain calibration, chassis stiffening, refined aerodynamics, and reconfigured traction control for better acceleration out of Nu\u0308rburgring\u2019s corners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The GTD\u2019s 2024 achievement was celebrated at the\u00a0<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/business\/autos\/2025\/04\/18\/payne-2025-new-york-auto-show-highlights\/83141563007\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|${u}\">New York Auto Show<\/a>\u00a0last week where the ultimate \u2018Stang was featured in a special exhibit on the show floor detailing the car\u2019s 2024 accomplishment. For its next stop, the display will have to be updated to reflect the new time. The high-speed, roller-coaster, 73-turn track is the benchmark for performance car testing with speeds cresting 180 mph for long stretches.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2025\/05\/01\/PDTN\/83391929007-mustang-gtd-nurburgring-2025-esses.jpg?width=660&amp;height=441&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The 2025 Ford Mustang GTD recorded the fourth-fastest production sports car lap at Germany's Nu\u0308rburgring.\" width=\"507\" height=\"339\" \/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gnt_em_img_ccw gnt_em_img_ccw__cap gnt_em_img_ccw__crd\" data-c-caption=\"The 2025 Ford Mustang GTD recorded the fourth-fastest production sports car lap at Germany's Nu\u0308rburgring.\" data-c-credit=\"Giles Jenkyn, Ford\">\n<p><em>The 2025 Ford Mustang GTD recorded the fourth-fastest production sports car lap at Germany&#8217;s Nu\u0308rburgring. Giles Jenkyn, Ford<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Like last year, the Nu\u0308rburgring lap was clocked by Ford pro-race driver Dirk Mu\u0308ller. Along with co-driver Joey Hand, Mu\u0308ller also piloted the Mustang GT3 \u2014 the race car version of the production GTD \u2014 in North America\u2019s IMSA Weathertech Sportscar series. The pair placed 7<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0at the Detroit Gand Prix and 10<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0overall for the year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The Mustang GT3 kicked off 2025 by winning the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona \u2014 following up on an impressive 2024 when it debuted internationally with a third-place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The winged GTD monster validates Ford\u2019s ambitions to compete against elite sports car brands including Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Corvette. Ford will also be entering the top-rung prototype class in 2027 to compete for the overall world championship for the first time since the GT40 dominate Le Mans in the late 1960s.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2025\/05\/01\/PDTN\/83391928007-mustang-gtd-nurburgring-2025-straightaway.jpg?width=660&amp;height=372&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The 2025 Ford Mustang GTD hits speeds upwards of 180 mph on its Nu\u0308rburgring lap.\" width=\"490\" height=\"276\" \/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gnt_em_img_ccw gnt_em_img_ccw__cap gnt_em_img_ccw__crd\" data-c-caption=\"The 2025 Ford Mustang GTD hits speeds upwards of 180 mph on its Nu\u0308rburgring lap.\" data-c-credit=\"Ford\">\n<p><em>The 2025 Ford Mustang GTD hits speeds upwards of 180 mph on its Nu\u0308rburgring lap. Ford<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cMotorsports is in Ford\u2019s DNA, back to our founding,\u201d said Ford in a press release. \u201cOur vehicles are bred to race, because there\u2019s nothing better than high-stakes competition with the best in the world for improving quality, reliability, and performance. No current Ford vehicle exemplifies this philosophy like the Mustang GTD.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside id=\"gnt_atomsnc\" class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_anc\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"loadAnc\" aria-label=\"Newsletter signup form\">\n<div class=\"label\" hidden=\"\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"message\">\n<div class=\"title\">Get the\u00a0<span class=\"highlight\">Michigan Politics<\/span>\u00a0newsletter in your inbox.<\/div>\n<p class=\"description\">Washington and Lansing, red and blue, we&#8217;ve got your government covered.<\/p>\n<div class=\"frequency\">Delivery: Daily<\/div>\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"input-container populated\">\n<p><input autocomplete=\"off\" name=\"email\" required=\"\" type=\"email\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"clickable\"><\/div>\n<p><label>Your Email<\/label><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"bar\">\n<div class=\"highlight\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"progress-primary\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"progress-secondary\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The GTD\u2019s 2024 attempt was marred by inclement weather, a common issue in the remote Eifel Mountains where Nu\u0308rburgring resides.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The lap time closed the gap to the lap times of the Mustang\u2019s Porsche and Mercedes rivals, both of which compete against Ford (along with Chevrolet\u2019s mid-engine Corvette) in the international GT3 class with race versions of their own supercars.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2025\/04\/18\/PDTN\/83163654007-ny-auto-show-25-mustanggtd.jpg?width=660&amp;height=372&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The Mustang GTD on display at last week's New York Auto Show.\" width=\"504\" height=\"284\" \/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gnt_em_img_ccw gnt_em_img_ccw__cap gnt_em_img_ccw__crd\" data-c-caption=\"The Mustang GTD on display at last week's New York Auto Show.\" data-c-credit=\"Henry Payne, The Detroit News\">\n<p><em>The Mustang GTD on display at last week&#8217;s New York Auto Show. Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 engine is similar to the mill in the last-generation, 760-horsepower Shelby Mustang GT500 but includes upgrades like a rear-mounted transmission, lightweight carbon-fiber driveshaft, dry-sump oil system and swan-neck rear wing for better downforce. The carbon-fiber-skinned GTD was developed by Ford\u2019s Toronto-based racing partner Multimatic, which also developed the mid-engine Ford GT.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The lap record by a production hypercar is 6:29.1 set by the Formula 1-based Mercedes-AMG ONE. The outright lap record is held by the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo race car at 5.19.5.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><em>Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Like the Terminator, the Mustang GTD came back. In August 2024, the 2025 Ford Mustang GTD became the first American-made production car to lap Germany&#8217;s famed 12.9-mile Nu\u0308rburgring race track in under 7 minutes. Not satisfied, the Ford team said it would return for another go. Last month, Mustang\u2019s 815-horsepower beast shattered its own 6.57.7 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34452"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34452"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34453,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34452\/revisions\/34453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}