The Mightiest Mustang

The model responsible for the pony-car craze, the Ford Mustang, is an American icon that has always stayed true to its roots of big power in a readily accessible package. Ford has come up with many limited-edition variants over the years, each ostensibly special in its own way, but there has never been anything like the new Mustang GTD. At first glance, its familiar shape might have you believe that this is just another marketing-led iteration that simply offers a big motor and an ever-bigger wing. That, though, would be a gross misestimation of a car that is a complete sub-surface reinvention in the Blue Oval’s pursuit of the ultimate track horse.

With Formula 1-style active aerodynamics, a bespoke suspension, and a supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 that delivers 815 hp and 664 ft lbs of torque, the GTD is a blunt-edged, nose-heavy, big-fendered machine that sets new benchmarks for the model. The wing alone, for example, flips up at speed just like the drag-reduction-system (D.R.S.) on a Formula 1 car, enabling the GTD to reach 202 mph. But you have to look beneath the skin to see the more substantive changes. The performance gurus at Multimatic, who also crafted the epic Ford GT, gutted the middle of the car. While all other Mustangs have their transmissions mounted directly to the back of their engines, the GTD’s transmission sits on the rear axle, which helps offset the weight of the 5.2-liter power plant up front.

The rear suspension also had to be completely rethought, resulting in a unique, lifted, inboard setup that features the left- and right-rear coilover units sitting side by side where the back seats in a typical Mustang would be. That suspension relies on a pair of springs with two different rates. The softer of the two provides good compliance on the road. Drop the GTD to Track mode, though, and an actuator compresses that spring, lowering the car by 40 mm (1.57 inches) at the front and 30 mm (1.18 inches) at the rear while simultaneously increasing the suspension stiffness to turn the GTD into, for all practical purposes, a race car.

Track is the most extreme of the six drive modes, and when it’s selected, the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission has no sympathy for your back, nor does the titanium Akrapovič exhaust spare your ears, as was discovered when pulling out of the pits at the Thermal Club in Palm Springs, Calif. The GTD has copious amounts of grip, thanks largely to the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires—on 20-inch wheels—worn by our tester, but, unlike track-only cars, it feels almost playful as you safely push its limits. It won’t snap into oversteer at the rear or fall into terminal understeer at the front. You can sense when the tires are starting to let go and are able to bring it all under control without too much effort. Obviously, with all the traction controls off (and you can turn them all off), it’s a much wilder beast but still remarkably manageable.

Admittedly, while equally compliant on public roads, the GTD is a lot less happy at lower speeds, and the same will hold for you. The transmission generally shifts smoothly, but there’s such a racket from that transaxle and limited-slip differential, not to mention a huge amount of road noise coming up through the suspension, that any conversation will sound more like a shouting match out of necessity.

The biggest disappointment, though, is the underwhelming interior. Other than a window exposing the rear suspension, Ford did barely anything to differentiate the cockpit. The same unattractive, rubberized fake-carbon-fiber weave still surrounds the same basic button panel found on even the cheapest of Mustangs. That’s a very bitter pill to swallow for a vehicle that starts at about $325,000 (Php 19.8 million).

Yet if you can get past those shortcomings, the GTD will reward you with monstrous performance. I’ve driven caged race cars that are less intense and less capable. The Mustang GTD is fast, furious, and deliriously fun, and as with any great entertainer, it left me only wanting more when the show was over.

This article originally appeared in Robb Report Philippines’ Watches and Jewelry Issue.