1 month ago
32
Development of the Mustang GTD race-car-for-the-road has yielded knowledge for Ford that is expected to influence less-potent variants.
Learnings from the development of the Ford Mustang GTD will inform future versions of the muscle car and could even carry over to a new-generation model.
Speaking to Drive for the announcement of the fast Ford’s Nurburgring lap time, Mustang GTD Chief Program Engineer Greg Goodall said the brand will amortise development of its most hardcore current model but stopped short of revealing how and where.
“I can’t tell you for sure exactly what [learnings] we’re going to carry on to other programs and how we’re going to use it,” Goodall said.
“But any time we develop a project, we always try to think about how we can be smart with new components – or when we’re developing things.
“Anytime we do something, we try to learn, we try to reuse, and we try to make that portable.
“Exactly our plans, can’t share that, but we’re always trying to get smarter, and we’re always trying to apply that new knowledge somewhere else.”
It is expected that – like with the sixth-generation Mustang – the current car will play host to several special-edition models later in its lifecycle.
For context, the sixth-generation Mustang – the first to be made in factory right-hand drive for Australia – was in production from 2015 to 2023 and saw the movie-themed Bullitt and track-focused Mach 1 released towards the end of its run.
Australia also received the Mustang R-Spec, a supercharged V8-powered manual model built in conjunction with Herrod Performance from Ford Performance parts, final assembly of which was completed locally.
Exactly how the Mustang GTD’s parts could filter down to other seventh-generation Mustang models is unclear, as some components like the pushrod suspension, rear-mounted dual-clutch automatic transmission, and wider track would necessitate a change to the bodywork.
However, the GTD’s supercharged 608kW/900Nm supercharged 5.2-litre petrol V8 could – in theory – fit under the bonnet of a more common Mustang, such as a new Shelby GT500, the previous iteration of which used a version of that engine.
Regardless, Goodall would not be drawn on particulars, but said he hopes the brand will remain on the supercar scene that is dominated by European marques such as Porsche, Mercedes-AMG and Lamborghini.
“I can’t speculate on what our future product plans are,” Goodall said.
“What I can tell you is we develop our products to be incredible, and we always try to learn from what we’re doing and apply that to the next project.
“So whatever that next project may be, I hope we can stay in this space and keep cranking out more supercar projects as the years go on.
“But whatever the next project may be, certainly we’ll learn things from this.”
Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
