There’s a new Nurburgring King, it hails from America, and it just embarrassed a whole crop of world-class cars on the pavement that matters.
On Friday, Ford announced the Mustang GTD Competition set a Nurburgring lap time of 6:40.835. To be clear, that’s one of the fastest times of any street-legal car money can buy, and is bested only by the the Mercedes-Benz AMG One hypercar, which is powered by a Formula 1 powertrain.
The Mercedes-Benz AMG One’s ‘Ring time is 6:29.090, for those keeping score.
More importantly, the Mustang GTD Competition absolutely obliterated the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1’s ‘Ring time of 6:50.763 and ZR1X’s time of 6:49.275.
If you’re wondering how in the world the Mustang GTD Competition shaved 11.237 from the Mustang GTD’s ‘Ring time of 6:52.072, or what the heck the Mustang GTD Competition is, you aren’t alone.
Ford said, “The new Mustang GTD Competition will be offered in the future as a special edition, street legal model available in strictly limited, serialized quantities.” How many will be offered, for how much is completely unclear. In fact, we aren’t even sure what tires it’s running yet.
What we do know is the Mustang GTD Competition has more than the standard Mustang GTD’s 815 horsepower. Ford said there’s both upgraded hardware and tuning, which is open to interpretation whether this is a physically larger supercharger, more boost, or what exactly has been done here to get the extra power.
Rear wing modifications to the DRS system are confirmed along with secondary dive planes mounted on the front bumper. There are also now carbon fiber aero discs on the rear wheels.
Speaking of wheels, Ford worked to strip weight throughout the car including new magnesium wheels, new carbon fiber bucket seats, a lighter damper setup, and “additional actions help reduce weight.”
The modifications all added up to the Mustang GTD Competition that is now quicker around the ‘Ring than any Corvette, the Porsche 911 GT2 RS Manthey Performance Kit and its 6:43.300 lap, the Porsche 911 GT2 RS MR and its lap time of 6:44.749, the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT Black Series’ lap of 6:48.047, and of course the Porsche 911 GT3 RS with a ‘Ring time of 6:49.328. The last one was the original target when this all started.
What’s crazy is the Ford Mustang GTD was the first American sports car to break the sub 7-minute barrier around the ‘Ring. Then Ford beat its own time for 5.5 seconds, which is no small feat. But then Chevy came and spit in Ford’s Cheerios by besting the Mustang GTD not once, but twice with the Corvette ZR1 and Corvette ZR1X.
Ford CEO Jim Farley took it personally. Farley congratulated Team Chevy and immediately said, “Game on.” Clearly he was out for blood.
In October Team Ford showed up to the ‘Ring and started testing a modified Mustang GTD. Multiple videos surfaced in March of the Mustang GTD clearly attacking the ‘Ring in a record attempt with videos clocking the car running a 6:41.74. History now reveals that these videos, which noted they might be a second off give or take due to not being able to see the start and finish line, were pretty accurate.
The Mustang GTD Competition now lives in rarefied air right alongside the Ford GT Mk IV, which is now the third fastest car around the ‘Ring and fastest that you can actually buy.
We’ll have to wait and see if Team Chevy or Porsche respond.
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The post The Ford Mustang GTD Competition Just Obliterated the Chevy Corvette ZR1X’s Nurburgring Lap Record appeared first on The Drive.
