GTD Weight Revealed

[young at heart]

S550 GT500 was almost 4200, why not?

In my mind there’s no point of comparison between the two.

The GT500 was basically a modified version of an existing consumer level street car, while the GTD is supposed to be a dedicated race car engineered from the pavement up for that one purpose.

It seems very obvious to me.

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[robvas]

In my mind there’s no point of comparison between the two.

The GT500 was basically a modified version of an existing consumer level street car, while the GTD is supposed to be a dedicated race car engineered from the pavement up for that one purpose.

It seems very obvious to me.

What?

It is a (highly) modified version of the street car.

It has the engine from a GT500

Transaxle had to add weight
That rear suspension setup has to add more eight
Has to have more cooling
Beefier brakes wheels etc

It's obvious they are adding to and beefing up what begins life as the same chassis

Titanium exhaust etc just just not be enough to lighten it up

 

[Wiley Marmot]

Dang! I would have guessed 3200 lbs. Just another bad lottery pick for me; I guess.

 

[REV745DH24]

Check out the GTD vehicle here in this website,

https://fordauthority.com/2025/01/2025-ford-mustang-gtd-spirit-of-america-officially-debuts/

Enjoy and dream of one yourself!

 

[MAT1955]

Doesn't bother me at all. It's only about 300 pounds heavier than my 2024 GT convertible which handles awesome and goes like stink with just 480HP. The GTD has a lot of heavier racing components on it. Unless you want to spent waaay north of 500K it costs huge money to create speed, performance and reduce weight dramatically. I think Ford did a super job with the GTD - take a look at the Nurburing trial videos. Mission accomplished IMO.

 

[9secondko]

Smaller cars have tighter emissions regulations, which effectively makes a small V8 mustang unviable. That being said, a smaller, cheaper mustang based on c2 (Focus, bronco sport, maverick) with the 2.0 and 2.3 ecos would be pretty cool. The affordable small EV platform coming up for vehicles starting around or below 30k there's a compelling business case for that. Something affordable, stylish, and sensible that appealed to younger buyers who are generally far more willing to buy an EV.


Spit the mustang into more specialized models that can all be the best at one particular task, rather than trying to be this heavily compromised car that's all things to all people.

The standard is Based on contact patch footprint. The track dimensions will be the same or wider and the overhangs will be smaller as the body is wrapped tighter around the smaller frame. A truck gets more leeway than a car, which makes sense due to the workload differences. Beyond that, there’s not much difference between cats until you get tiny.

a mustang that handles needs less mass but more of a footprint. The current mustang spills over everywhere. A lighter, tighter platform would not.
So… it’s extremely viable. No less than tje current platform. Just performs way better.

 

[9secondko]

In my mind there’s no point of comparison between the two.

The GT500 was basically a modified version of an existing consumer level street car, while the GTD is supposed to be a dedicated race car engineered from the pavement up for that one purpose.

It seems very obvious to me.

I think that’s where we are so bummed.
Yes, it was “supposed to be” a race car that got modified to be street legal. That was the marketing jive.

in reality, we have learned it’s just a regular mustang with gt500 drivetrain and a multimatic suspension bolted on. Oh. And a body kit. Seriously.

in other words the s650 version of the old gt500 plus the old cameo z28 suspension. But around $300k more expensive for some reason.

man, I really wanted to believe ford and multimatic’s words. But they’re lies. That’s what burns. If they really did take the race car and add some internal bumpers, etc. for street legal standards, it would be a heck of a lot lighter snd would have smoked tje gt3rs like nothing. Instead, the one car it was created to beat…pretty much laughs at it while passing it at the track. Come on man. That’s just wrong.

I can’t remember where, but someone did a deep dive on the car and why even the multimatic suspension wasn’t going to be all that bevause of the s650 mounting positions. The regular old GT mounting positions. No race car chassis with its own geometry. Just an s659 with multimatic bouncy parts.

hence the serious level of disappointment.
Meanwhile, we are watching our brothers on the other side of the aisle being rewarded with the most amazing car to ever come out of the USA - with what appears to be an even more impressive model to be revealed shortly after.

just when it looked like the most amazing time to be a mustang guy, we get red-pilled. The Gtd isn’t a race car. It’s an s650 from drivetrain to frame to interior, etc. just with a body kit and some suspension upgrades. Should have just been the regular gt500 and cost 110k.

 

[DeluxeStang]

The standard is Based on contact patch footprint. The track dimensions will be the same or wider and the overhangs will be smaller as the body is wrapped tighter around the smaller frame. A truck gets more leeway than a car, which makes sense due to the workload differences. Beyond that, there’s not much difference between cats until you get tiny.

a mustang that handles needs less mass but more of a footprint. The current mustang spills over everywhere. A lighter, tighter platform would not.
So… it’s extremely viable. No less than tje current platform. Just performs way better.

The newer vanquish is a great example of where the next gen mustang should go in terms of proportions. Much longer wheelbase, lower, longer hood, shorter overhangs, etc. It would not only look great, it would improve performance as well.

 

[Bikeman315]

The newer vanquish is a great example of where the next gen mustang should go in terms of proportions. Much longer wheelbase, lower, longer hood, shorter overhangs, etc. It would not only look great, it would improve performance as well.

I’m sorry but that’s funny. The Vanquish is a fairly large car and heavy. And I love AM. Would take one over any other Supercar.

 

[robvas]

The newer vanquish is a great example of where the next gen mustang should go in terms of proportions. Much longer wheelbase, lower, longer hood, shorter overhangs, etc. It would not only look great, it would improve performance as well.

Careful what you wish for

 

[roket]

i kinda expected something like this. in order to get really good weight savings on a modern Mustang, you gotta make a lot of sacrifices to comfort and features. something about the S550s and S650s seem to just be naturally really heavy. carbon fiber body panels dont save much, and neither does a rear seat delete. but now you have a ~100lbs heavier engine, likely more weight added by the transaxle, and all the suspension and cooling stuff added in the back.

supposedly the S550 chassis bare weighs 1200lbs. add a 300lbs engine for the 5.0, 320lbs for the 10R80 or 123lbs for the MT-82 or 121lbs for the TR-3160, or 230lbs for the TR-9070 DCT. now you're about halfway to the curb weight and these are all dry specs. add another ~200lbs for all the fluid including fuel. now you have a chassis with an engine and transmission only with the fluids required for the finished product, and its ~2000lbs.

i have never done weight savings on a vehicle, but to me it seems like a completely futile attempt to do it on an S550 or S650 unless you are an absolute diehard for every pound saved. to me, this feels like that one script in a project that has hundreds or thousands of lines of code patched together, and it seems the only way to make it lightweight is just re-do everything. chassis design and materials have come a long way since the SX50 chassis in 2015, anyways

 

[9secondko]

i kinda expected something like this. in order to get really good weight savings on a modern Mustang, you gotta make a lot of sacrifices to comfort and features. something about the S550s and S650s seem to just be naturally really heavy. carbon fiber body panels dont save much, and neither does a rear seat delete. but now you have a ~100lbs heavier engine, likely more weight added by the transaxle, and all the suspension and cooling stuff added in the back.

supposedly the S550 chassis bare weighs 1200lbs. add a 300lbs engine for the 5.0, 320lbs for the 10R80 or 123lbs for the MT-82 or 121lbs for the TR-3160, or 230lbs for the TR-9070 DCT. now you're about halfway to the curb weight and these are all dry specs. add another ~200lbs for all the fluid including fuel. now you have a chassis with an engine and transmission only with the fluids required for the finished product, and its ~2000lbs.

i have never done weight savings on a vehicle, but to me it seems like a completely futile attempt to do it on an S550 or S650 unless you are an absolute diehard for every pound saved. to me, this feels like that one script in a project that has hundreds or thousands of lines of code patched together, and it seems the only way to make it lightweight is just re-do everything. chassis design and materials have come a long way since the SX50 chassis in 2015, anyways

Well said. It’s “naturally heavy” bevause ford has been reusing the same old platform forever now. Adding this band-aid and that reinforcement and this extra feature, etc. gets heavier and heavier. Everything from the suspension to the frame to the welds to the bolts to the interior stuffing to the way its slabbed together, it’s all simply meant to be cheap / and quick to cobble together

It’s why Ford needs a modern, new mustang platform that can be modified to suit other cars. Not an suv platform that can accommodate a car. Not a crossover platform. A mustang specific platform that enables a light, tight mustang from the ground up. As such, it automatically benefits every other car they choose to build on the platform.

common sense used to rule the day. It’s been severely lacking in so many ways the last 5-10 years. And it seems Ford has been infected with the weirdness for a while. Hopefully we get some common sense car guys back in charge soon. No jaguar people, no political agenda people. Just making grrat mustangs, cars, trucks, etc. that people want and love.

 

[DeluxeStang]

I’m sorry but that’s funny. The Vanquish is a fairly large car and heavy. And I love AM. Would take one over any other Supercar.

But it's this super vanish GT with a ton of tech and materials. That adds a lot of weight.

 

[NegativeMultiplier]

to me, this feels like that one script in a project that has hundreds or thousands of lines of code patched together, and it seems the only way to make it lightweight is just re-do everything. chassis design and materials have come a long way since the SX50 chassis in 2015, anyways

As someone who works in this industry, you just summed it up in a way that makes total sense.

Your main driving script is extremely bloated but removal of anything is going to cause major issues elsewhere. It's no longer feasible to maintain and improve the original code; a modernization effort needs to be made with a greenfield project.

To parallel that with the S650, we need a new platform. It's a great car IMO, but it's seemingly reached its potential. Anything further, and the dynamics may break drastically.

 

[DeluxeStang]

As someone who works in this industry, you just summed it up in a way that makes total sense.

Your main driving script is extremely bloated but removal of anything is going to cause major issues elsewhere. It's no longer feasible to maintain and improve the original code; a modernization effort needs to be made with a greenfield project.

To parallel that with the S650, we need a new platform. It's a great car IMO, but it's seemingly reached its potential. Anything further, and the dynamics may break drastically.

Bill Ford and Jim Farley were talking about mustang not that long ago, how it doesn't really have a limit, and they're considering multiple body styles. I wonder if that means a mid-engine mustang is something that's at least be considered in some meetings. There are a lot of parallels between the c7 and s650. Reaching the limit of front engine performance, needing to do something drastic to increase the car's appeal, a history of mid-engine concepts, etc.

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