Ford Mustang GTD: A High-Performance Beast on the Road

The Ford Mustang GTD is a unique creation, bringing a high-priced road version of the GT3 race car to the market. Will you dare try and tame this pony car?

The GTD and GT3 share styling cues, which might make some think the GTD is simply a street-legal version of the GT3, but that’s not the case. The Mustang GTD doesn’t include the naturally aspirated V8, dog-tooth transmission, and tube frame that are all part of the GT3, which spends all of its time on the track. This new flagship Mustang brings some incredible performance qualities to make it an exciting car with much of what the racing version has for racing teams.

No limits for the GTD

Unlike the GT3, the new Mustang GTD isn’t limited by the rules and regulations of track racing. This allows Ford and Multimatic, which built the second-generation Ford GT, to create a car that can go beyond the limitations imposed on the GT3. This new top-pony in the Mustang family uses the same 5.2-liter supercharged V8 engine found in the GT500 but also uses the same Tremec dual-clutch automatic transmission found in other Mustang models. This combination should make the new GTD an incredible car with the right levels of power and performance.

The GT500 engine finds a new home

The engine found under the hood of the Mustang Shelby GT500 has moved to the GTD, providing incredible power to this new top-level Mustang. The GTD enjoys 800 horsepower, which is 40 more than the engine made in the GT500.

This big and heavy engine could cause some problems for the GTD, but the designers figured out how to create a nearly even front-rear weight distribution with a transaxle. This helps the high-performance Mustang achieve the desired drive acceleration to make it a lot of fun on any road.

Pushing power to the wheels

The upgraded and improved rear end has a 1:1 motion ratio between the pushrod and inboard damper to ensure a line of direct mechanical communication between the wheel and suspension movements. The front doesn’t have these pushrods but benefits from the double ball-joint struts of the standard Mustang models, which makes for an excellent level of feedback on the road. For those who don’t understand the various suspension movements, this feature makes it easy to stick this car to the road and high curves at high speeds while maintaining control.

The newest creation from Multimatic is the set of Adaptive Spool Valve (ASV) dampers that are positioned on all four wheels in the new Ford Mustang GTD. These dampers are different from those found in the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, using a motor to switch among 16 different bumps and rebound response settings. In order to put these dampers in the GTD, the inboard-mounted dampers had to cut through the trunk and rest over the transaxle. The Track mode reduces the ride height by 1.6 inches, giving this car a more aerodynamic setting for some serious fun on any road.

The Mustang GTD doesn’t have a trunk for you

This new Ford Mustang looks like any other version of the pony car, but it doesn’t actually offer storage space for your stuff. Instead, this area is used for some of the mechanical elements of the car. The GTD is a two-seat sports car, which means you can use the voided rear-seat area for gear if you need to. The trunk area houses a transmission cooler that uses two air scoops to send air to this area from the trunklid, which helps give this car even more performance qualities out on the road.

This Mustang sounds incredible and sticks to the road

The Ford Mustang GTD is made to be a road-going version of the track car, but it’s not dialed back. Instead, it’s dialed up. The exhaust wears an Akrapovic titanium setup, which makes this car sound mean and ready to take on any other car on the road. There’s no denying how quickly this Mustang will growl past lesser models on any road.

While making a massive sound, the large rear wing of the GTD helps keep this car stuck to the pavement at high speeds. In fact, Multimatic claims the GTD will produce more downforce at 150 mph than a Porsche 911 GT3 RS at the same speed. The standard large rear wing comes standard, but an optional aero package can be swapped out for an active one, giving this car the desired performance.

The new Ford Mustang GTD is the top model in the lineup, offering incredible power and performance features to rival some European supercars. Will you dare try and tame this Mustang?