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The Internet armchair critics crying foul and other automakers squinting real hard can all stop wondering, questioning, and doubting whether the Ford Mustang GTD Competition achieved the unthinkable on street-legal tires.
The Drive can confirm the Ford Mustang GTD Competition that obliterated the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X’s Nurburgring lap record was in fact rolling on street-legal tires. The tires are Michelin Pilot Sport Cup FR. Not slicks.
Ford brought the record-setting car to Laguna Seca Raceway for Monterey Car Week on the exact rubber used to set a ‘Ring time. There are even melted bits visible on the outer edge of the tire with feathering.
The FR designation on the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires stands for “Felgenrippe,” which is German for “rim rub” or “flange rib.” This refers to its built-in rim guard in the form of a rubber ridge on the lower sidewall to help protect wheels from curb rash.
Ford
In April, Ford announced the Mustang GTD Competition had lapped the Nurburgring in an astonishing 6:40.835. That’s one of the quickest times of any street-legal car money can buy bested only by the Mercedes-Benz AMG One hypercar, which has a Formula 1 powertrain.
Ford has been coy about what upgrades the GTD Competition model carries over the standard GTD, which is a $325,000-plus Mustang. But we do know it has more than the standard car’s 815 horsepower thanks to both upgraded hardware and tuning. Ford also admitted there’s been rear wing modifications via the DRS system and an additional set of dive planes mounted on the front bumper. It’s hard to miss the carbon fiber aero discs on the rear wheels. Those wheels are now made of magnesium. An additional weight-saving measure are carbon fiber bucket seats. There are even lighter dampers, though it’s unclear what that means truly at this point. Ford’s also copped to “additional actions to help reduce weight,” but won’t say that those measures are.
In 2024 the Ford Mustang GTD became the fastest American car to ever lap the Nurburgring. Then Team Ford reset and beat its own record by an eye-popping 5.5 seconds in May of 2025.
But Team Chevy came along and bested the Blue Oval’s Nurburgring record, not once but twice, two months later. Ford CEO Jim Farley took it personally and said, “Game on.”
Stefan Baldauf / SB-Medien
Months later The Drive spotted a modified Mustang GTD lapping the ‘Ring at speed in an clear attempt to either set a new record or shakedown modifications. A record was clearly not set because Ford headed back to the ‘Ring in March and started hot laps again with a prototype. Ultimately the modified and upgraded GTD smashed the Corvette’s records—and not by a little bit.
Somehow the GTD Competition shaved 11.237 seconds from the GTD’s lap time. This astonishing gap left competitive automakers and Internet armchair critics questioning whether the Mustang GTD Competition was on street-legal rubber. It was.
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As Director of Content and Product, Joel draws on over 15 years of newsroom experience and inability to actually stop working to help ensure The Drive shapes the future of automotive media. He’s also a World Car Award juror.
