Vaughn Gittin Jr. Set to Race 2016 Ford Mustang RTR at Formula Drift Long Beach
By Kelly G.
Vaughn shows us that his 900hp Monster Energy/Nitto Tire Sponsored Mustang is “Ready to Rock” the 2016 Formula Drift Season
This Saturday, April 9th, the first round of the 2016 Formula Drift season can be seen roaring through the streets of Long Beach, California. We are excited to see the debut of Drifting Champion Vaughn Gittin Jr’s new 2016 Monster Energy/Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR.
Underneath the hood of this Competition-Spec Mustang is a 436 cubic-inch Ford Performance/Roush Yates V-8 engine making over 900 horsepower and redlining at 9,000 rpm. Vaughn and his team have spent all of 2015 dialing in the performance and handling of the new S550 platform so that it would be ready to kick off the 2016 Formula Drift season.
“I cannot wait to battle it out with the world’s best at Formula Drift with my brand new competition-spec 2016 Ford Mustang RTR.” says Vaughn. “The new Ford Mustang is so much fun to drive in its stock form and with only 1 year of development in the new car, my team has really turned it up to 11 by making this the most exciting car I have ever been behind the wheel of. This Mustang RTR is a 900 horsepower, nine-second drag car that can turn left and right on a dime — who wouldn’t have fun behind the wheel of it?”
In addition to increasing the horsepower, the RTR Drift Team optimized the Mustang’s new Independent Rear Suspension (IRS) to ensure maximum grip for the Nitto Sponsored tires. The team also set out to use state of the art composite materials as well as lighter and stronger alloys throughout the build allowing it to weigh in at 2,800 lbs with a perfect 50/50 weight distribution.
This video shows just how much improvement was made to the 2016 Competition Spec Ford Mustang RTR over the previous 2014 model. With the introduction of Mustang’s Independent Rear Suspension in 2015, the RTR Drift team was able to turn the new 2016 Mustang into a 9-second drag car that can turn on a dime.
(Photos Ford Performance)
Vaughn Gittin Jr. 2016 Mustang RTR (Photo YouTube)
The 2016 Formula DRIFT season will begin with Round 1: Streets of Long Beach on April 8-9. You can watch Vaughn Gittin Jr. and all the Formula Drift action live stream here: http://www.formulad.com/live