2025 Ford Mustang GTD: First American Production Car With Sub-7 Minute Nürburging Time - Storyboard

With an official lap time of 6:57.685, the Ford Mustang GTD is the 10th fastest production car at the Nürburgring

A sub-seven-minute time at the infamous 13-mile Nordschleife in Germany is considered a benchmark by performance car makers

Ford entrusted the task of this record-breaking run, to Nürburgring veteran, Dirk Müller who knows the place like the back of his hand

Despite the less-than-ideal conditions and predicted rain, the Ford team had been preparing for this run for months and decided to go ahead with it

The record was attempted back in summer on August 7th, 2024

Simulators were used to map out every corner, to ensure that everything went according to plan

Here's an onboard shot of Dirk Müller and the telemetry from the record-breaking run

The wait for the lap time was agonizing, to say the least as the Ford team waited with anticipation

Finally, the official time came in and to everyone's relief on the team, the Mustang GTD was now in the history books with a time of 6:57.685

This is a big deal for Ford because the Mustang GTD is the first American car to set a sub-seven-minute time at the 'Ring

So how exactly was Ford able to pull it off? Well, the Mustang GTD or Grand Touring Daytona has IMSA roots and is essentially a street-legal race car

It features advanced motor-sport-derived suspension comprising adaptive dampers, developed by Canadian firm Multimatic. This system allows for instant response based on track conditions

The Mustang GTD utilizes a "Drag Reduction System" to optimize its aerodynamics, featuring an active rear wing and special flaps under the car to maximize speed on straights and generate downforce for cornering

The GTD's engine is a supercharged 5.2-liter V8, with Ford's first-ever dry-sump oil system in a roadgoing Mustang. This ensures lubrication during intense cornering, allowing for higher engine speeds and improved performance under heavy G-forces

With 800 horsepower on tap, the Mustang GTD produces a lot more power compared to the Porsche 911 GT3 RS's 518

But power alone isn't everything and when you compare the weight figures, the GT3 RS is 600 pounds lighter than the Ford, coming in at just 3,268 pounds

Limited to just 1,000 examples, the Mustang GTD also costs $325,000 which is significantly more than a 911 GT3 RS

So does Ford's new record increase its appeal over a 911 GT3 RS?