What’s this “GT500” you speak of?
The new Ford Mustang embodies the latest generation of the Blue Oval’s iconic pony car, but there’s hardly anything “pony” about this one. Meet the 2025 Ford Mustang GTD — a ‘Stang with a serious attitude (and, as you’d expect, an equally serious price tag, but more on that later).
Ford CEO Jim Farley didn’t mince words when revealing this car to the world and to the competition. “This is our company, we’re throwing down the gauntlet and saying, ‘Come and get it.’ We’re comfortable putting everybody else on notice. I’ll take track time in a Mustang GTD against any other auto boss in their best road car.”
Bold words. So, what does the Mustang GTD have to back them up? Well, don’t expect much to carry over from the standard GT. At its heart, this car brings in the supercharged 5.2-liter “Predator” V8 found in the last-gen Shelby GT500 as well as the current F-150 Raptor R. It delivers even more power this time around, though, offering up 800 horsepower on the way to a 7,500 RPM redline.
To make the extra 40 horsepower from what we saw before, the engine gets a revamped supercharger setup with a new pulley and bespoke tuning to push that V8 right to the limit. Ford also fits an optional titanium Akrapovič exhaust system and sends that volcanic power through a rear-mounted 8-speed dual-clutch and carbon fiber driveshaft. Since the gearbox is right at the back, the Mustang GTD boasts a track-worthy 50/50 weight distribution.
The suspension system is on another level from a normal Mustang
“Where there once was a truck”, Ford continues, there’s now a semi-active suspension setup with a hydraulic control system, as well as a cooling unit for the rear-mounted transaxle. Ford and Canadian firm Multimatic (which also built the Ford GT) worked on implementing the latter’s spool valve damper technology for the Mustang GTD and dial in those hydraulics to adjust the dual spring rate and height control on the fly. When the car’s in Track mode, the GTD hunkers down by 40 mm (or 1.6 inches) from normal.
And the changes hardly end there. This co-developed super ‘Stang uses a short-long-arm suspension design in the front to improve lateral stiffness in high-G-force cornering. The sort of cornering that you would see on, oh, the Nurburgring for example. The GTD uses a staggered set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires (325-section-width up front and 345-section-width in the rear) wrapping 20-inch forged aluminum wheels to make the most of all that power and the hydraulic suspension setup.
On the aerodynamic front, you probably spotted the gigantic C-pillar-mounted rear wing. That also features hydraulic control to adjust the GTD’s aerodynamic profile on the move. This racer-for-the-road also brings vented front fenders and a carbon fiber underbody package, and even that uses hydraulically controlled flaps to improve aerodynamics. It’s making a bit more sense why this car doesn’t have a trunk, isn’t it?
The upshot?
Ford is targeting a sub-7-minute Nürburgring time, putting the Mustang GTD firmly in supercar territory. Keep in mind, this is a road legal Mustang, and as such these upgrades make it the fastest road-going Mustang ever, at least from the factory.
To bring the 2025 Ford Mustang GTD to a quick halt, it uses massive carbon ceramic Brembo brakes, while the driver can also take advantage of the car’s “Variable Traction Control” system via the steering wheel.
Can we see inside the Mustang GTD?
While Ford is all too happy to show us what they’ve been working on with this race-bred beast, we can’t see inside it just yet. Ford promises “premium materials” like Miko suede, carbon fiber and leather (that last one is a bit odd for a racing car, but it is also a car you could feasibly drive every day). The 2025 Ford Mustang GTD also gets full digital displays, naturally, as well as Recaro seats and optional 3D-printed titanium paddle shifters, rotary dial shifter and serial plate. If you do opt for those parts, Ford says they all come from retired Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor jets. Seriously.
If you’re wondering how expensive the 2025 Ford Mustang GTD will be, “titanium from F-22 fighter jets” pretty much tells you all you need to know. If you want a specific number, though, it’s “approximately” $300,000. That number makes this the most expensive Mustang ever created by a huge margin, but at least you can get it in whatever color you want.
Provided you have that sort of cheddar to drop on a Mustang GTD, Ford says it will open up applications similarly to how it rolled out the Ford GT. The company notes this is a limited production model (yeah, it would be, wouldn’t it?), but we don’t know exactly how many will ultimately exist.
Like with the GT, Multimatic will build the car on Ford’s behalf at its plant in Markham, Ontario, Canada. It will arrive in late 2024 or early 2025, or roughly a year after the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 will be out of production.
