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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 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.
The Ford Mustang casts a familiar shadow. It’s blunt-edged, nose-heavy, big-fendered shape has remained true for generation after generation. Plenty of Mustangs over the years have bolstered that shape with big wings on the rear, but none have received the kind of aerodynamic augmentation seen on the GTD.
This particular wing is a unique design that sees it spring from the C-pillars rather than the trunk. That not only creates a singular look, but also serves the practical benefit of making it easier to run hydraulic lines.
That isn’t just a big aerofoil form back there. The wing on the back of the GTD is active, flipping up at speed, just like the drag reduction system (DRS) on a Formula 1 car. It not only helps enable this machine’s top speed of 202 mph, but also turns heads every time you pull up to a traffic light.
While the wing is the most visually dramatic part of the GTD, there’s a lot more interesting stuff happening under the skin. To make a GTD, you start with a standard Mustang, and then you start cutting. The performance gurus at Multimatic, who also crafted the epic Ford GT, gut the middle of the car to make way for the most significant change: the addition of a transaxle.
Where all other Mustangs mount their transmissions directly to the back of their engines, the GTD’s transmission sits on the rear axle. This is a common arrangement in many front-engine race cars, designed to shift as much weight as possible to the rear of the car. In the case of the GTD, that’s to offset the weight of the 5.2-liter V-8 engine up front, which is largely the same as that found in the GT 500, though now tweaked and tuned to deliver 815 hp and 664 ft lbs of torque.
This wholly bespoke drivetrain required some significant changes to the vehicle beyond just cutting a hole in the chassis. 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 it into, for all practical purposes, a race car.
Plenty of cars lower themselves as you go from one mode to the next, but it’s a little more dramatic in the GTD. I dial the Mustang over to Track mode, and an instant later the vehicle abruptly squats into position. That’s my first hint that there’s nothing subtle about this car.
As to be expected, Track is the most extreme of the GTD’s 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.
While the GTD makes a heck of a good first impression on the outside, the interior is our biggest source of disappointment. 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 around $325,000.
Yet if you can get past those shortcomings, the GTD will reward you with absolutely 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.
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Click here for more photos of the 2025 Ford Mustang GTD.
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