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Video: 2015 Mustang Ice Drifting

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Video: 2015 Mustang Ice Drifting

Ice Rage

Vaughn Gittin Jr. reveals his new Formula Drift livery by drifting on ice

By Steve Turner
Photos of Mustang RTR

Eventually Vaughn Gittin Jr. is going to leave tire tracks across every part of the world. When we last looked in on him, he was drifting a 2015 Mustang through Ordos, Mongolia, in China. With the Formula Drift season about to kick off in Long Beach, California, on April 10, JR wanted to unveil the new livery on his 2015 Mustang RTR drifter in a big way—and he did.

Thanks to over 800 hand-installed studs in the Nitto Tires at all four corners of Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s prototype 2015 Mustang RTR comp car had plenty of grip available on the ice.
Thanks to over 800 hand-installed studs in the Nitto Tires at all four corners of Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s prototype 2015 Mustang RTR comp car had plenty of grip available on the ice.

To do so, he took his prototype competition Nitto Tire/Monster Energy 2015 Ford Mustang RTR to the iced-over Warners Lake in East Berne, New York, for a little ice drifting. The key word is prototype, as Vaughn won’t be jumping into a cold lake with both feet just yet. He will begin the season campaigning his 2014 Mustang RTR competition car, while he continues to test the new S550 chassis and dial it in for competition.

“This video shoot was about having fun while debuting our new livery on our prototype competition car in a unique way,” Vaughn Gittin Jr. enthused “It was such a blast, but also a pretty insane experience for me with such a fast-paced learning curve. This was my first time ever driving on studs, yet alone drifting on ice. Not to mention I was behind the wheel of our one-of-a-kind prototype competition car, so there was no pressure to not destroy the car or anything!”

As you’ll see in this Ford Performance video, Vaughn handled his first time on ice like a champ…

To help the 3,000-pound Mustang RTR prototype’s Nitto tires were upgraded with over 800 hand-installed studs. The mods were definitely effective, and they helped Vaughn quickly find his comfort zone so he could exercise his well-documented car control.

Vaughn revealed the livery of this 2015 Mustang RTR comp car in this video, but the car is still in the testing phase, so it won’t be competing just yet. However, based on the work it’s doing here, it looks like it is ready to rock.
Vaughn revealed the livery of this 2015 Mustang RTR comp car in this video, but the car is still in the testing phase, so it won’t be competing just yet. However, based on the work it’s doing here, it looks like it is ready to rock.

“My mind was blown how well the car worked on the ice. After a few quick tests to feel the grip levels, I started tossing the car into drift extremely hard and fast—it was like the car was built for ice and I knew what I was doing!” he added. “I was pretty amazed of what a 2015 Mustang with over 3,200 studs and a set of Nitto Tires can do on the ice; it was not much different than driving on asphalt. As a very serious professional funhaver, you can bet I definitely did not want the day to end!”

As we said, you can see Vaughn’s prototype 2015 Mustang RTR testing and doing exhibitions on the Formula D circuit this season, but we would have to guess that you also haven’t seen the last of Vaughn having some professional fun on the ice.

You’d never know that this was Vaughn’s first time drifting on ice, but as a professional fun haver, he also had to get out for the car and slide around a bit too.
You’d never know that this was Vaughn’s first time drifting on ice, but as a professional fun haver, he also had to get out for the car and slide around a bit too.

Vaughn Gittin Jr. 2015 Mustang RTR Gallery

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