2024 FORD MUSTANG GTD 300.000 $
Overview
When the newest generation of the Ford Mustang debuted earlier in 2023, it was practically dripping in race-car perfume. However, just as quickly as the pungent smell of race fuels coming from the Mustang GT4 competition model and GT3 race car—which is destined for 2024's 24 Hour of Le Mans—entered our lungs, a new roadgoing Mustang GTD has entered our hearts. The GTD is a race car that's been stripped of sanctioning bodies' restrictions limiting horsepower, weight, and aerodynamic devices during its transformation into a road-legal ride. It's the most expensive 'Stang ever, starting at $300,000, and its extremely limited availability and racing origins make it the Ford GT of Mustangs. The only sad part of this story is how long we'll have to wait to hear its thunder. The GTD and its screamin' supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 won't become available until late 2024 or early 2025.
What's New for 2025?
There's never been a Mustang like the Ford Mustang GTD. Using a dry-sump version of the 760-hp Mustang Shelby GT500 engine, the GTD has even more power, Ford says, and a price tag that rivals some home property values.
Pricing and Which One to Buy
The price of the 2025 Ford Mustang GTD is expected to start around $300.000.
Coming late 2024 or early 2025, Ford will only produce a limited run of 1000 or so Ford Mustang GTD cars. Similar to the Le Mans-winning GT hypercar program, owners will need to have more clout than cash to take home this prize.
Engine, Transmission, and Performance
The Mustang GTD gets its name from IMSA's GTD (Grand Touring Daytona) racing class, within which full-on GT3 race cars compete. That's the essence of the most powerful Mustang Ford has ever built. With what we expect to be over 800 horsepower from its supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 engine, the roadgoing car actually has far more power than the GT3 race car, which instead uses a 5.4-liter V-8 with around 500 horsepower. Ford says the GTD's redline is over 7500 rpm. The exhaust trumpets playing this symphony of combustion are titanium pipes with an active valve. Without the technical regulation restrictions from a sanctioning body, the GTD's road-legal status has allowed Ford to go bucking-bronco wild. Shifting is handled by a rear-mounted eight-speed dual-clutch transaxle that receives power via a carbon fiber driveshaft. Ford says every panel on the GTD is carbon fiber, save for its door skins. Its body is built to stick its rage to surfaces. That's why it wears such an aggressive front splitter, a vented hood hugged by vented fenders, and is available with that C-pillar-mounted and hydraulically-controlled whale tail of a wing. There's an available aerodynamic-equipment package that adds a carbon fiber underbody tray and hydraulically-controlled front flaps that help balance airflow and front-to-rear downforce. Ford says tech like that isn't allowed in sanctioned GT3-class racing. The trunk is now a treasure box of suspension and cooling components, so forget bringing luggage to track-day events. Two giant air scoops direct air from the rear window area down into heat exchangers in what used to be the trunk to help cool the transaxle. Multimatic's adaptive suspension crowns the transaxle, using race-type pushrod suspension and the latest in adaptive spool valve shocks to enable as much control for drivers as possible. In Track Mode, the hydraulically-actuated springs drop the ride height by roughly 1.5 inches. The Mustang GTD uses 325mm wide tires in front with 345mm rubbers in the rear. Standard wheels are 20-inch forged aluminum, but optional magnesium wheels help shave weight while helping maintain the GT3 race-car look with their design. Unlike the race car, these wheels are five-lug instead of center-locking, but the racing spirit remains very much alive, as the wheels are wrapped in sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires. We'll update this space once we've driven and tested one of these hyper-excitable beasts.
Fuel Economy and Real-World MPG
The Ford Mustang GTD prioritizes lap times over fuel economy, as the roar from its mighty supercharged V-8 quickly reveals. The EPA hasn't published its estimates for this limited-production road-legal race car yet, but we expect it to be the same if not worse than the previously-offered 760-hp Shelby GT500, which used a similar but less-powerful powertrain. That car sucked gas at the rate of 12 mpg city and 18 mpg highway per EPA estimates.
Interior, Comfort, and Cargo
Though it'll look every bit like the race car on the outside, the GTD's cabin will have some street-car touches. Suede, leather, and carbon fiber are the main ingredients in the Ford Mustang GTD's interior dish. It sports Recaro bucket front seats, but sacrifices rear cushions for weight reduction and a bit of cargo space. The paddle shifters are 3D-printed from titanium, same for the rotary dial gear selector and serial placard, and Ford says the material sourced from those components was cut from a retired Lockheed Martin F-22 fighter jet. There are multiple interior color and equipment options, which will likely make for some interesting bespoke liveries that will vary greatly between customers.
