Wild horse: 800-hp, $300k Mustang GTD track beast takes aim at Porsche 911 GT3 RS

Mustang is saddling up to take on Europe’s elite sports cars.

Ford Motor Co. took the wraps off Thursday of a track-focused, 800-plus horsepower, estimated-$300,000 supercar version of the seventh-generation Mustang at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Badged the Mustang GTD, it will compete with European track weapons like the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, Mercedes AMG GT Black and Aston Martin Vulcan.

The carbon-fiber-skinned pony was developed by Ford racing partner Multimatic and contains many of the elements of Ford’s GT3 race car that will debut at IMSA’s Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona next January — including a huge rear swan wing and rear-mounted transmission. The GTD badge is a reference to IMSA’s GTD race class that the race car will compete in.

Like the 2019 Multimatic-developed, mid-engine Ford GT Mk II, the 2025 GTD will be available as a limited-edition model late in 2024.

“This is something that’s been in my head for five decades,” said Ford CEO Jim Farley, who moonlights as an amateur race driver. “The GTD takes on the best sports cars in the world.”

Such track-focused weapons have typically come out of the stables of exotic makers. The winged McLaren Senna, for example, cost $1.1 million and the Aston Martin Vulcan — of which just 24 copies were made — cost $2.3 million. The Mustang sets its sights on the Porsche GT3 RS, a similarly-priced beast that set the Nürburgring track record earlier this year.

The Mustang’s sophisticated aerodynamics, suspension and engine are optimized to clock similar, eye-watering, sub-7 minute Nürburgring times.

The GTD sports a similar-displacement, supercharged, 5.2-liter engine as Ford’s last-generation, 760-horsepower Shelby Mustang GT500, but the engine is otherwise bespoke to GTD. To attain its 800-plus horsepower (the most by a production ‘Stang ever) the beast is fed with dual air inlets with a 7,500 RPM redline, houses a carbon-fiber driveshaft, and is outfitted with a dry-sump oil system to keep the engine lubricated during sustained high-g-load cornering. Available is a titanium active valve exhaust system for maximum ear-splitting terror.

That beastly powerplant is mated to a dual-clutch, 8-speed transmission mounted in the rear of the car for 50-50 weight balance. The rear transaxle transmission is a first for Mustang.

Ford draws on the racing experience of Canada’s Multimatic, which builds the Mustang GT3 and GT4 race cars for competition. Multimatic also built the $500,000 mid-engine Ford GT beginning in 2016 and provides the chassis for race teams like Porsche-Penske’s 963 IMSA porotype.

“We did some radical things with the GTD,” said Larry Holt, Multimatic executive vice president for special vehicle operations. “Inboard rear suspension, titanium exhaust, magnesium wheels and the gearbox in the rear of the car. The Mustang GTD sets a new benchmark for roadgoing racers.”  

The GTD will start life at the Ford Flat Rock Assembly Plant and then be transported to Multimatic facilities in Markham, Canada, where the auto supplier's elves will work their magic.

Engineered for the street and track, the GTD is outfitted with two suspension settings. In track mode, the Mustang can be lowered by over 1.5 inches to maximize aerodynamic efficiency.

For maximum stick through corners, the Mustang boasts Michelin Cup 2 tires. They measure 12.8 inches in the front (the width of the Ford GT’s rear tires) and 13.6 inches in the rear. Unlike the GT3 racer’s wheels, which are limited to 18-inch rims, the GTD’s rubber will be wrapped around 20-inch forged aluminum wheels or available forged magnesium wheels. Special, spool-valve Multimatic shocks at all four corners will help the car read the road.

Such engineering sophistication is clearly aimed at the $240k Porsche’ GT3 RS, long considered the segment’s banchmark. The Porsche features similar dry-sump engine and aerodynamic tweaks — though mere 12-inch rear and 10.8-inch front Michelin Cup 2 tires and 518 horsepower.

The GT3 RS, in the hands of legendary racer Jorg Bergmeister, conquered the 14-mile Nürburgring course in 6 minutes, 49 seconds last spring — a record for normally-aspirated cars. With another 300 horses thanks to its supercharger, the GTD may well eclipse the Porsche.

Aerodynamic tricks include center-mounted front springs to aid front downforce, and active front splitter — the latter illegal in IMSA racing. Also illegal in IMSA racing are the car’s carbon ceramic brakes.

For all its racing design, the cockpit is finished in premium materials including Miko suede, leather and carbon fiber. Displays are all-digital and front passengers sit in form-fitting Recaro seats. Only plan on bringing one passenger to the track, though. The GTR will delete its rear seat to save weight.

“This is our company, we’re throwing down the gauntlet and saying, ‘Come and get it,’” said Farley. “We’re comfortable putting everybody else on notice. I’ll take track time in a Mustang GTD against any other auto boss in their best road car.”

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.