Hot Lap Video: How the Ford Mustang GTD Outsmarted and Outcornered 1,200-hp Supercars

On paper, Ford brought a knife to a gunfight.

The “poor” Mustang GTD “only” makes 815 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque from its supercharged 5.2-liter V-8, meaning it is hugely outgunned by the other three heavy hitters participating in our State of American Performance shootout.

The next-weakest vehicle is the 5,344-pound four-door Lucid electric family sedan that makes 1,234 hp and 1,430 lb-ft of torque.

The Ford Mustang GTD doesn’t weigh that much, but it clocks in at a frankly shocking 4,411 pounds. On paper, the GTD is hopeless in our four-car fight, but reality has a funny way of disproving all sorts of theories. Never mind the GTD’s bleeding-edge suspension technology and massive, massive sticky tires. We’re talking 325’s here … on the front axle.

Will this motor and racing/engineering firm Multimatic’s fancy suspension be enough to defeat physics?

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As far as straight-line speed goes, when you’re well more than 400 hp down on the competition, you’re going to be last. Indeed, on Chuckwalla’s front straight, the GTD trails the others significantly. Posting a Vmax of only 131.6 mph, about 5 mph slower than the Lucid and seven back from the über Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X.

However, this Mustang has other tricks up its sleeve, like its ability to stop. The GTD comes strapped with one of the best sets of brakes we’ve ever tested, and as such, can generate 1.57 g’s of deceleration. Yes, these brakes were straight-up incredible.

But every time a straightaway appears, the Mustang gets hammered; it’s just not as outright fast as the others. This is a pity because if it had more engine, it might have a chance of beating the ZR1X, especially because the Ford often had higher cornering speeds around the Chuckwalla racetrack. Not uncoincidentally, Ford just announced a beefed-up version of this Mustang called the GTD Competition. The Blue Oval hasn’t yet said how much power it will make, but 900-plus ponies is a nice, safe bet. Especially since the upcoming car just beat the Chevy’s Nürburgring lap time by 9 seconds.

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Back to this Chuckwalla lap, the Ford is just a cornering monster, with a minimum corner speed that’s less than 2 mph slower than the Czinger 21C’s, and more than 2 mph faster than the Chevy’s. That’s impressive, especially given the fact that the GTD weighs around 300 pounds more than the ZR1X.

Put it this way: The Ford’s maximum amount of lateral grip is nearly the same as the Corvette’s, 1.44 g’s vs. 1.50 for the ZR1X. Too bad for the Mustang that this small circuit had so many straights, because it lost to the Corvette by just more than two seconds.