Yahoo Autos Now You Can Get Your Mustang GTD With Magnesium Wheels And Active Aero If Ford Approves Your Application
Only about 1,000 examples of Ford’s mega carbon-bodied mid-engine 800-plus horsepower Mustang will be built, and like the GT that came before it, Ford will only let you buy one if you have enough social media clout. If that isn’t exclusive enough for you, Ford will let you option a new Performance Package to give the car even more track-day weaponry. If you’re actually going to take your Mustang GTD to the track instead of just showing it off at the local cruise-in, this is the option you absolutely want to have.
There are two key components of the Performance Package which make the Mustang GTD faster on track. For one, the car will be lighter than a standard GTD, as this package pulls some weighty sound deadening from the build list, and the standard wheels are replaced with these chunky-but-featherweight 20-inch magnesium wheels. The second component is aero, which is always important for a quick lap time. In addition to a unique front fascia, the Performance Package adds dive planes and a large splitter to the front, underbody aero flaps for ground effect, and a Formula 1-style DRS active aero rear wing.
“Many sports cars excel at one thing. But for a car to set a quick lap at the Nürburgring, it needs to be great at everything. Cornering, grip, braking, acceleration, there’s not a single area where it can’t shine,” said Mustang GTD Chief Engineer Greg Goodall. “From the lightweight carbon fiber body on every GTD to the active aerodynamics of the Performance package, we’ve learned from motorsport how to make the Mustang GTD excel everywhere, all in the quest for a sub-seven-minute lap of the Nürburgring.”
The Ford team is aiming to get the GTD to run a sub-seven-minute lap time at the Nürburgring, putting it in the same conversation as the fastest European sports cars. The quickest lap time ever recorded by a street-legal car was completed by racing driver Maro Engel in a Mercedes-AMG One hypercar at 6:30.705. It seems unlikely that Ford will get their car to run quite that quick, but based on the numbers, this car should be in the same ballpark as Porsche’s mighty GT2 RS, which has logged a 6:38.835 lap time.
Applications for the super Mustang are open right now in Mexico, Europe, and the Middle East, though U.S. and Canada applications have already closed. Ford still has not announced final performance figures or final pricing, despite deliveries slated to begin within the next six months at an estimated price of $325,000. There’s no word yet as to how much extra the Performance Package might cost, but don’t expect it to be cheap. Porsche got away with charging $31,000 for a similar Weissach Package for its now-discontinued GT2 RS. Perhaps Ford is taking a page from the Porsche handbook.
