Monday 16th September 2024

826hp GTD confirmed as most powerful Mustang ever

664lb ft, 7,650rpm and 202mph also finalised, in case you weren't excited enough already

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If the V8 engine is in its final throes, then the American makers are ensuring it’s going out in suitably outrageous fashion. Following hot on the heels of the twin-turbo Corvette ZR1 is the Mustang GTD; while we knew plenty about it beforehand, exact power and torque numbers from the 5.2-litre, supercharged Voodoo V8 hadn’t been announced. Now we know exact numbers: 826hp (815 SAE-certified imperial ponies), 664lb ft (or a nice, round 900 newton metres) and a 202mph top speed (making only the mid-engined GTs faster Fords in its history). 

Some mighty numbers, no doubt, even from a model famed for its punchy performance (remember the old GT500 was rated at 760hp). Ford has got the dry-sumped Voodoo to such a number by allowing a few more revs (a 7,650rpm cutout is 100rpm up on before), a shorter supercharger pulley, a titanium exhaust and modifications to both the intake and exhaust systems. This is the first time a Mustang has ever been dry-sumped, for some idea of just how serious Ford is taking this GTD project. It has a Drag Reduction System as standard, for crying out loud. 

It’s all with one aim in mind, of course: that sub-seven-minute lap of the Nordschleife. Which would be an incredible achievement for any car, let alone a large, relatively heavy, front-engined one. Only the AMG GT Black Series has achieved it so far, with 730hp. It wasn’t that long ago that six-something minute laps were the preserve of the hybrid hypercars - now there’s a Mustang eyeing one up.

Chief Program Engineer of the GTD Greg Goodall says this monster is “the first-ever supercar with world-class performance and the soul of a Mustang”, which does sound pretty awesome. He added: “We've combined the work of talented engineers and designers, as well as an extremely capable driver, with Mustang GTD technology, power and aerodynamics. We can’t wait to deliver on our sub-7-minute promise to GTD customers.” That’s going to be a video well worth watching. And just imagine how it might drive…

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• ‘Precision Pack’ launched for CT5-V Blackwing
• Wild new Corvette ZR1 makes 1,078hp…

[Mark_Blanchard]

What a fantastic car! This really is 2 fingers up to the net zero brigade.

[axel1990chp]

Read this as a Golf at first…

[WPA]

How does a shorter supercharger pulley work then, surely it should be smaller so it spins faster and not shorter

[alex_2015]

Engineering-wise amazing, at a bargain price.
But what's the point? Slam yourself as good as possible into the biggest tree/pole?
How many drivers are able to control that kind of power, let alone on a public road?

[roadsweeper]

article said:

This is the first time a Mustang has ever been dry-sumped, for some idea of just how serious Ford is taking this GTD project.

It's, "seriously" not, "serious". Seriously!

Enough with the Americanisms already!

[Walshenham]

I can’t work out if I like that to look at or not,

The wheel design is pretty fussy, but that much go in a Mustang is quite amusing.

[supacool1]

WPA said:

How does a shorter supercharger pulley work then, surely it should be smaller so it spins faster and not shorter

Less rotating mass on the engine and will spin the compressor blades faster to make more boost.

Looks a serious bit of kit.

[Discendo Discimus]

WPA said:

How does a shorter supercharger pulley work then, surely it should be smaller so it spins faster and not shorter

That's a tad pedantic. I think we all know it's a smaller diameter pulley and perhaps a clumsy error by the author.

[Fetchez la vache]

Mark_Blanchard said:

What a fantastic car! This really is 2 fingers up to the net zero brigade.

Maybe the net zero brigade also like an 800hp v8 mustang?
Just a thought.

[Gecko1978]

Will this be avalible in the UK will it be under £100k etc I know a new mustang is mid 60s car price wise but in my head they are about 50k lightly used. So if this is like a 75k car then it would be amazing. But I suspect it will be twice that

[CrippsCorner]

I've always liked Mustangs, but never loved them... but this thing I really do love; what a fantastic thing! This can go next to my Ford GT & RS200 in my garage*

This is PistonHeads, so I may need to point out that the garage may not actually exist.

[WCZ]

would be impressed if it did a sub 7 time at the ring !

[MDL111]

Gecko1978 said:

Will this be avalible in the UK will it be under £100k etc I know a new mustang is mid 60s car price wise but in my head they are about 50k lightly used. So if this is like a 75k car then it would be amazing. But I suspect it will be twice that

I thought it will be around 300k or some such figure (might be wrong though)

[nismo48]

That's a Serious amount of car to Behold there

[chrisironside]

I fall into the category of "not excited" by this. Mustangs don't do anything for me.
And for what's expected to be about $350 000 (or £250 000) I'd far rather have something like a McLaren 600LT and a whole bunch of spending money.

[mac96]

Of course you don't need, and probably can't use, 826 HP on the road, but so what? You don't actually need more than say 75 HP, the rest is just for fun, the track, and because it's nice to have more than you need!

Wonderful thing. But I do agree that it looks to be too expensive against traditional supercars, especially when you could have probably 95% of the fun with a standard Mustang GT and some aftermarket parts for well under £100k.

[Debaser]

Excellent. Good effort, Ford!

[KingGary]

I’m more of a GM fan but I’m glad this exists. The “too powerful for the road” comments are bit silly too. What’s important is traction, which comes down to torque at the wheels. The 664lbs figure suggests it’ll put most of its power on the road and it’ll rev nicely as it does it. My Monaro makes almost identical power to this and it’s easy to drive so long as you respect it. This will be infinitely more refined too.

Edited by KingGary on Monday 16th September 14:53

[D4rez]

Gecko1978 said:

Will this be avalible in the UK will it be under £100k etc I know a new mustang is mid 60s car price wise but in my head they are about 50k lightly used. So if this is like a 75k car then it would be amazing. But I suspect it will be twice that

£315k and the very limited run already sold out in July. If you haven’t got one it’s too late and they won’t be building more for Europe/UK.

[wolfracesonic]

alex_2015 said:

Engineering-wise amazing, at a bargain price.
But what's the point? Slam yourself as good as possible into the biggest tree/pole?
How many drivers are able to control that kind of power, let alone on a public road?

Imagine how many people it would be able to take out leaving a car show