Secret Revealed: The Ford Mustang GTD Transferred Its Wing to the Mustang GT3.

      Ford

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      “Race (and win?) on Sunday, sell on Monday” is the classic adage, right? However, Ford has turned expectations on their head, with the aerodynamics of its newest race car deriving from its street version.

      During the unveiling of the 2025 Ford Mustang GTD, Chief Program Engineer Greg Goodall and Design Manager Anthony Colard shared with The Drive that the Mustang GT3 race car was initially going to feature a standard wing mounted on the decklid, similar to other race cars. But the introduction of the GTD changed everything.

      The design and development journey started with the Dark Horse, followed by the GT3, and then the GTD. However, the last two, GT3 and GTD, were developed simultaneously once the projects commenced, particularly after the GTD was approved.

      The GTD came about because Ford CEO Jim Farley and Bill Ford looked at the Mustang GT3 and told the team, “we need to create a road-legal version of this,” as recalled by Colard.

      Midway through developing the road version, Colard mentioned that a designer proposed a swan neck design with a C-pillar mount for the rear wing, which would eventually be known as the GTD. Meanwhile, the race car was still being finalized in CAD.

      Colard explained that the team already understood the downforce pressure that would be exerted on the rear wing, making it challenging to mount it on the trunk lid. However, using swan necks on the C-pillar simplified the process since those pillars are already reinforced. This was prior to incorporating active aerodynamics. Once the team confirmed its performance on the race car, they decided to integrate both designs. Goodall and Colard emphasized that while it looks impressive, it also delivers functionality.

      “It not only appears sleek, but it also manages loads much better and conceals features more effectively. Later on, we discovered active aerodynamics and thought, ‘Thank goodness we made this choice because it facilitates the active aerodynamics,’” Goodall stated. The ease in implementing active aerodynamics is attributed to the ability to route all wires and lines through the stationary C-pillar, unlike the trunk lid, which needs to move to access the trunk.

      Colard noted that there was a possibility the GTD might not have included active aerodynamics originally. Goodall mentioned that although the topic was debated, it ultimately enhanced the car's performance, contributing to the GTD completing a lap of the Nürburgring in under 7 minutes.

      “We would have still achieved under 7 minutes for the ‘Ring lap time without it, but then we thought, hey, we can gain time with active aerodynamics, so we should pursue this,” Goodall explained. “It would have definitely been a tighter margin,” he added regarding completing the lap under the 7-minute mark at the ‘Ring without active aerodynamics.

      Without the rear wing and active aerodynamics, the GTD would not have been able to reduce its initial 6:57.685 ‘Ring time by 5.5 seconds, ultimately conquering the Green Hell in 6:52.072 six months later.

      Have any tips on aerodynamics? Reach out to us at [email protected]