All-New Mustang Spec Formula Drift Car Looks Ready to Shred All the Tires
Two-time Formula Drift champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. will be making his return behind the wheel of the new Mustang.
Ford and RTR Vehicles just pulled the veil off their latest collaboration, the all-new Mustang RTR-Spec 5-FD Formula Drift car. The tire-shredding monster will make its public debut at the 2023 season-opening Formula Drift Long Beach event April 7-8, along with the return of two-time Formula Drift champion Vaughn Gittin Jr.
The Mustang RTR drift car is obviously based on the new Mustang but it's been given unique body work and Gittin's has a livery inspired by images from the James Webb telescope. In addition to the custom, wider bodywork, the Mustang RTR gets an upgraded suspension and a whopping 1,300 horsepower. RTR's team of drivers—Gittin, Chelsea DeNofa, Adam LZ, and, its newest member, James Deane—will drive three different Mustang RTRs in the upcoming season.
“We took the bad ass styling, technology, and overall progression of the all-new Mustang as inspiration to develop our new Mustang RTRs for Formula Drift,” said Vaughn Gittin Jr. “The result is the best looking and best performing Mustangs that we have ever created, and they are so fun to drive!”
In addition to the Mustang RTR Formula Drift car, RTR Vehicles will be releasing new components for Mustang owners. There's no word on what sort of components RTR will be offering, nor when they will arrive, only that more details will come soon.
However, an RTR parts catalog isn't the only Formula Drift-inspired feature for Mustang owners to get excited about. Ford's Electronic Drift Brake (EDB) will be arriving to Mustangs this summer. According to Ford, the EDB was developed with some input from both Gittin Jr. and DeNofa, who helped fine-tune its calibration. While the EDB isn't exactly a Formula Drift-style hydraulic handbrake, it's designed to be a surprisingly close electronic mimic. It reacts instantaneously, unlike traditional electronic parking brakes, and is operated via lever. It also delivers three times the braking force of traditional parking brakes, so drivers an pull off surprisingly pro-looking drifts on track with enough practice.
Ford's EDB will be available on both 2.3-liter Ecoboost and 5.0-liter V8 Mustangs with the Performance Pack and can be had with either automatic or manual transmissions.
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