Thursday 1st May

Mustang GTD goes even quicker at Nürburgring

As it promised it would, Ford went one better at the Nordschleife - (sort of) beating the latest 911 GT3

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The recent announcement that a manual 911 GT3 had set a new record at the Nürburgring for three-pedal cars must have stung a little at Ford. Because the Porsche’s 6:56.294 was ahead of the 6:57.685 first clocked by the Mustang GTD last summer and which quite a big deal was made about. The much less powerful, naturally aspirated 911 with the old-fashioned transmission was faster than the most serious, circuit-optimised Mustang ever. Not by much, but that wouldn’t have mattered. So Ford has been back. 

Now the GTD is quicker, and usefully so. Ford had always said there was time to be found in the Mustang, so it’s probably just fortunate timing that this new lap arrives so soon after Porsche’s announcement. Probably. They’ve now achieved a 6:52.072, or more than 5.5 seconds ahead of the first lap. It bumps the GTD ahead of the manual GT3 and the previous Manthey Performance Kit 992 GT3, leaving it trailing the current GT3 RS by less than three seconds. So they might not even stop here. 

The time has been confirmed in a YouTube video. Sadly there’s not another onboard for the moment, instead some drone footage and behind-the-scenes bits of the attempt. Safe to say the full lap, if it does emerge, will be well worth seeing (and hearing). As for what comes next in the Mustang GTD story, Ford hasn’t said; prospective customers are still being invited to register their interest on the UK website. We must be getting closer to production cars. Don’t expect that news to pass without some fanfare, either…

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• New 911 GT3 is quickest ever at ‘ring
• Mission accomplished: Mustang GTD goes sub 7mins

[GreatScott2016]

Great achievement, and all for competition, but I would still opt for the Porsche

[supacool1]

Pointless dick measuring but good effort considering it weights a lot.

[LunarOne]

Still named after a diesel Golf. Why didn't they call it the Mustang GT Daytona?

[CKY]

GreatScott2016 said:

Great achievement, and all for competition, but I would still opt for the Porsche

I'd have this because it's not a Porsche, plus all the 10 year olds filming cars leaving ED/the TF car park would run a mile for fear of getting mowed down by an errant Mustang.

[markcoopers]

CKY said:

I'd have this because it's not a Porsche, plus all the 10 year olds filming cars leaving ED/the TF car park would run a mile for fear of getting mowed down by an errant Mustang.

I was just going to say, I am surprised it got out of the barriers without spinning.

[VladD]

LunarOne said:

Still named after a diesel Golf. Why didn't they call it the Mustang GT Daytona?

IMSA Classes

I don't expect they have many diesel Golfs in the USA.

[tight fart]

That’s jolly good going for a Deisel.

[daveco]

I was about to say kudos to Ford for achieving this lap time but then I saw the price.

All of a sudden the Porsche GT3RS looks like good value

[FaustF]

Strong return as promised after last year noting the unfavourable weather.

Brilliant machine, I absolutely adore that Ford have done this.

[TdM-GTV]

Next month's news: Porsche go quicker again around the 'ring with a totally mostly standard, bit tweaked GT3 manual on a set of tires made from superglue.

[FourWheelDrift]

LunarOne said:

Still named after a diesel Golf. Why didn't they call it the Mustang GT Daytona?

Same here, GTD always says diesel to me.

[Baldchap]

FourWheelDrift said:

LunarOne said:

Still named after a diesel Golf. Why didn't they call it the Mustang GT Daytona?

Same here, GTD always says diesel to me.

Yup.

[Angelo1985]

Wow, this must be the record for diesel cars.

[Mouse Rat]

tight fart said:

That’s jolly good going for a Deisel.

Yep good progress

[Big Hammett]

I found it surreal the other week to see one of these driving around the housing estate I live on, I assume to calibrate its ability to drive on bad roads. Even at about tickover it sounded great, and had amazing road presence even compared to other Mustangs.

[nickchallis92]

Not sure Ford USA was too aware of the Golf GTD.

Worth remembering that Americans have the privilege of getting to drive proper engines whilst we drive around in turbo charged lawnmowers with 8 million filters on them.

[Sevenman]

tight fart said:

That’s jolly good going for a Deisel.

For a diesel Grand Tourer even, designed for comfortable high-speed cruising across the continent!

Or maybe I am behind the times

[SDK]

Great story - a £315k Ford beats a £160k Porsche around a track, by a few seconds

[Wardy78]

supacool1 said:

Pointless dick measuring but good effort considering it weights a lot.

Usually, yes. But with the cliched comments that usually accompany any US sports car about their poor handling/track form, this is actually a good PR move, IMO.

[dukebox9reg]

When is Chevy going to turn up and embarrass them with the Corvette?