At the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Ford this week pulled the wraps off of a brand-new turnkey race car with a familiar face: the Ford Mustang GT4.
The Mustang GT4 is based on the Shelby GT350R-C race car that won this year’s IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge in its class. It has the same normally-aspirated, 5.2-liter V8, although in this application, it’s paired to a Holinger six-speed transmission with paddle-shifters. Uprated dampers, lower-rear control arms, and stabilizer bars have been supplied by the wizards at Multimatic Motorsports, and 18-inch Forgeline wheels wrapped in racing slicks keep the new race car glued to the tarmac.
In addition, some aerodynamic aids not found on the production Shelby model – things like the angry front splitter, rear wing, diffuser, and plentiful hood venting – have been employed to help maintain better downforce. And, being a race car, the Mustang GT4’s interior features an FIA-compliant roll cage, motorsports engine control, anti-lock brake controller, and a Motec dash logger.
Eligible for European GT4, Pirelli World Challenge GTS, and IMSA’s Grand Sport class, the new Ford Mustang GT4 almost makes the production GT350R look soft and gentle by comparison.
“The new Mustang is a global vehicle,” says Ford Performance Motorsports Engineering Manager Mark Rushbrook. “Now, its growing fan base has a GT4 competition model to race and support around the globe.”
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