By far the best things to come out of SEMA that don’t involve rhinestones are the race cars that somehow sneak into the show. Naturally, Ford’s latest turn-key racer, the Mustang GT4, looks to be shined up for the show but mostly built for go—just like we like it.
Advertisement
If you want to go racing, this is the way to do it: order a Mustang GT4 from Ford, and it shows up completely prepped for the GT4 spec, caged and ready to race.
The Ford Mustang GT4 is based on the Ford Shelby GT350R-C—which won this year’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. IMSA is moving CTSCC’s top Grand Sport class to GT4 machinery in 2018, so this new race car couldn’t have come a moment too soon.
Advertisement
Ford Performance partnered with the mechanical wizards at Multimatic Motorsports to design the new GT4 racer. Multimatic campaigned the Shelby GT350R-C in CTSCC, where it was so successful, the series felt like Super Ultimate Mustang vs. Cayman Battle Time for much of this season.
The Mustang GT4 features a rowdy dry-sumped 5.2-liter V8 engine specifically tuned for the GT4 spec by Ford with some help from Roush Yates Engines. Vents in the hood keep that engine cool and happy. That engine is mated to a lightweight Holinger six-speed paddle-shift gearbox with a twin-plate racing clutch.
Much of the rest of the car has been tweaked for competition, too. Revised aerodynamics including a big rear wing, rear diffuser, diveplanes and front splitter suck the car to the ground. Multimatic designed special Dynamic Suspension Spool Valve dampers for the car, plus rear lower control arms to accommodate coil-over springs and front and rear stabilizer bars. The car rides on meaty 11-inch-wide 18-inch Forgeline alloy wheels. Six-piston Brembo brakes slow it all down.
Sponsored
Best of all, the GT4 spec means it will also be able to compete in Pirelli World Challenge’s GTS class, the GT4 European Series, and other series worldwide that use GT4 cars. Pick a GT4 series, any GT4 series—but please, don’t get lost in the parking lot. It’s still a Mustang. You’ll terrify some of the internet-dwelling ‘Stang haters out there.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
