After Getting Shamed By Porsche, Ford Mustang GTD Goes Back To The ‘Ring

Ford was so bent out of shape about the Porsche 911 GT3 with a manual transmission beating out the Mustang GTD around the Nurburgring, the American automaker went back and set a new lap record with the little pony. Part of us finds that admirable and part of us finds it hilarious, plus we know this is something enthusiasts will argue about endlessly.

An American icon is making a triumphant return after being gone nearly a decade.

In case you forgot, back in December Ford did this big leadup to revealing the Mustang GTD’s Nurburgring lap time, which was honestly impressive at 06:57.685. The time was not only a record for Mustangs but all American production cars.

Then in April Porsche revealed the lap time for the 911 GT3 with a manual transmission. It did the test because the German automaker was just curious how fast it would be without the automatic since the manual is ordered more.

Porsche didn’t say anything about Ford or the Mustang GTD, but people immediately realized the 06:56.294 lap time was over a second faster.

With its upcoming halo car humiliated and obviously feeling its reputation was on the line, Ford went back to the Green Hell, using the Mustang GTD to lap it in 06:52.072. The Blue Oval is attributing the previous lap time, which it was previously quite happy about, to conditions at the time.

Apparently, it was quite wet and temperatures were high, or something like that. We get how that can affect lap times, but we don’t hear Porsche saying those sorts of things.

Ford also stiffened up the suspension settings, retuned the powertrain, revised the aero, and tweaked the brakes so the fastest pony ever could get around the famous German track even quicker. We’re just wondering why the company didn’t do all that the first time?

Now we have to wonder if Porsche will come back with the new 911 GT3 equipped with the PDK and scorch the Ford Mustang GTD’s lap time yet again. After all, the Germans were clearly holding back by using the manual transmission.

Image via Ford