Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

Watch this 900-horsepower Ford Mustang drift Germany’s Nürburgring

Stephen Edelstein
By
Ford Mustang Drifts the Nurburgring with Vaughn Gittin Jr. | Ford Performance

Pro drifter Vaughn Gittin Jr. recently went to Germany’s famous Nürburgring racetrack and got nice and sideways in a Ford F-150 Raptor pickup truck. Now he’s back with his regular ride: A 900-horsepower Ford Mustang drift car.

Recommended Videos

Known as the “Green Hell,” the Nürburgring features scores of corners spread out over 12.9 miles. It’s arguably the most challenging track in racing, and lap times have become a benchmark for automakers developing performance cars. The Lamborghini Aventador SVJ currently holds the record for production cars with a 6:44.97 lap. Gittin’s lap time was not released, but given that his last was more about tire smoke and sideways action than outright speed, it probably wasn’t a record breaker.

Related

Given the length of the track and the amount of smoke pouring off the rear tires, it’s amazing they lasted an entire lap. Gittin even manages to get some air at one point. It’s just too bad that the entire lap wasn’t shown, although there is still plenty of action in the roughly three-minute video.

While based on a 2018 Ford Mustang GT, the drift car is a specially modified one-off. However, Gittin’s RTR company does sell Mustang tuning packages, with more aggressive styling and performance upgrades, yielding close to 700 hp in top Spec 3 guise. RTR is planning tuning packages for the F-150 as well.

Ford is planning its own wild new Mustang. The upcoming Shelby GT500 will have at least 700 hp, the automaker has said, as well as the aerodynamic and chassis upgrades to handle all of that power. The GT500 will be the most powerful street-legal Ford production car ever, topping even the 647-hp GT supercar, as well as the previous, 662-hp GT500 from model years 2013 and 2014. This vicious snake will be let out of its cage in 2019.

When the GT500 is finally revealed, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it end up at the Nürburgring. The Shelby probably won’t be able to outrun the fastest supercars but Ford might try to set a fast lap time to gain bragging rights over the rival Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Or maybe Gittin will return yet again to try to drift the thing.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Stephen Edelstein
Stephen Edelstein
Contributing Editor
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
Ford could build its next Mustang-inspired electric car on Volkswagen bones
Ford Mustang Mach E front view

Ford is eager to capitalize on the Mustang Mach-E's popularity by releasing a smaller, more affordable model in the coming years. While development work is on-going, company sources hinted the yet-unnamed car will use Volkswagen parts.

Decision-makers on both sides of the Atlantic are already plotting ways to expand the Mustang family beyond the well-known two-door model and the aforementioned Mach-E crossover, according to Murat Gueler, Ford's chief designer. "Yes, we have already talked about expansion, to some sort of family," he confirmed to British magazine Auto Express.

Read more
The Ford Mustang could ditch its V8 and eventually go fully electric
ford mustang lithium electric muscle car concept shown at sema 2019

Previous

Next

Read more
One version of the electric Ford Mustang Mach-E is already sold out
Ford Mustang Mach E front view

Ford ruffled more than a few feathers when it decided to call its first purpose-designed electric car the Mustang Mach-E. While some argue it's not worthy of wearing the hallowed Mustang nameplate, its target audience doesn't seem to mind one bit, and one of the five Mach-E variants announced during the model's unveiling is already sold out.

The trim-level hierarchy include five models named Select, Premium, California Route 1, First Edition, and GT, respectively. The Blue Oval's official website notes that every First Edition model has already been spoken for. It sounds like a limited-edition model, and it might be, but Ford chose not to disclose how many units of the model it will make. It might cap production after manufacturing a predetermined number of First Edition variants, or it might build the model for a certain amount of time. We've reached out to the company to learn more, and we'll update this story if we hear back.

Read more