I have a secret to share: I’m not a fan of most visual car mods. Much of the time, I think manufacturers get it right from the factory. Stuff like huge fender flares, aftermarket spoilers, different headlights, and even wheels usually detracts from a car’s looks (in my opinion).
Once in a while, a tuner shop comes along and blasts my commonly held beliefs to bits. The VeilSide RX-7—the one made famous by The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift—is the best example. While the original FD RX-7 is painfully pretty, I can’t help but be more excited by the VeilSide car. It feels so much more special to my eyes (maybe because Toyko Drift is the first Fast film I saw in theaters, but that’s another story).
My point is, I’m rarely ever excited by tuner cars. If I’m going to tune a car, I’d prefer to do it on my own terms, to fit my own needs. Usually, those changes are limited to brakes, tires, and maybe some suspension work. But this latest build from RTR, Vaughn Gitten Jr.’s Mustang-focused tuner company, is different.
The car is called the Spec 5, and it’s supposed to be RTR’s new halo car. Naturally, it’s based on the current S650-generation Mustang GT equipped from the factory with Recaro seats and the Performance package, which includes stuff like bigger Brembo brakes and a 3.73-ratio’d limited-slip rear differential.
The biggest change, and the one that gets me most excited, is the total widebody conversion. From the looks of it, the new flares aren’t just some tacked-on nonsense. RTR’s gone and redesigned every corner to accommodate a larger space for the wheel wells, using new composite panels that blend into the existing body seamlessly. The fender pieces are entirely new, while the rears mount to the existing metal.
The coolest bits aren’t the flares themselves, but how they’re integrated (or more accurately, not integrated) into their respective trailing edges. Instead of tracing back into the body, RTR cut them off and added carbon fiber panels, along with a set of brightly covered fins to break up the space underneath. Not only does this help alleviate pressure around the wheels, but it also just looks wicked.
There are other visual changes I like, too. RTR has managed to carve out a reputation for its intake-mounted LED lights in the nose, which is something I’d definitely have if I owned a Mustang. I’m also a fan of those 20-inch forged wheels, which are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires. Stuff I’m less likely to want, but that’s still worth mentioning, is all the carbon fiber add-ons. That includes a splitter, rockers, and rear quarter extension pieces. In my experience, low-down carbon body pieces end up being more of a liability, especially if you drive the car properly.
No RTR Mustang is complete without a huge increase in power. The Spec 5 has that in droves thanks to a Whipple supercharger system, which pushes the 5.0-liter Coyote V8 to 870 horsepower and 660 pound-feet of torque. That’s even more than Ford’s own top-dog GTD. Unlike the GTD, you can option the Spec 5 with either a 10-speed automatic or a six-speed manual transmission. Shout out to Ford for keeping the three-pedal dream alive.
Keeping all that power in line is a host of under-the-skin upgrades. There are adjustable coilovers up front, with adjustable dampers and height-adjustable springs in the rear (the S650 has separated springs and dampers out back). There are also adjustable sway bars and heavier-duty two-piece front rotors for those Brembos. On paper, the Spec 5 sounds like it’d be a riot.
Of course, all tuner cars sound like they’d be a riot on paper. Driving them is usually a different story, since tuner firms don’t have millions of dollars to spend on months of ultra-fine-tuning and validation testing by engineers. But RTR has been around since 2009, and I’ve never heard of them putting out any real stinkers. So I’ll remain cautiously optimistic until I drive it.
Not that I’ll likely have the opportunity. RTR is making just 50 of these Spec 5s for the 2026 model year, each priced from $159,999, including the price of the Mustang GT donor car. That’s just about half as much as a GTD, by the way. That number can very easily balloon based on options. I’m most fond of the available custom color program. From the release:
Every Mustang RTR Spec 5 owner has the opportunity to personalize their vehicle with a standard color from the RTR Extended Color Palette, included in the base price, or elevate it with premium and paint-to-sample options for a truly bespoke finish.
As part of the experience, each owner receives a render of their Spec 5 showcasing their chosen exterior color alongside the three available wheel finishes. For paint-to-sample selections, RTR also provides a custom render and a physical speed shape painted in the selected color for final approval, making the customization process every bit as thrilling as the performance it delivers.
With this level of customization available, Spec 5 buyers have no excuse not to get an especially cool shade. We recommend using the GTD my boss David Tracy road-tripped to Monterey earlier this year as an inspiration.
Top photo: RTR
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You need new glasses.
The phrase, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” comes to mind as those things are butt ugly!
Thank you, no. You’re a brave, brave man.
Uhh no thanks man. Those are awful.
I…agree? They were going for a specific look and they accomplished it. No way in hell I would pay $160k+ for one, but I wouldn’t kick it out of bed for eating crackers either.
agree to disagree.
Ehhh…no.
The first photo from the back doesn’t look bad.
The next photo from the front looks terrible.
Also laughs in $160k for a Mustang.
Do not want.
gee, it doesn’t look right, just like the 1968/2012 example in the previous post. Kill it with fire!!!! /s
look someone order one and have it painted mystichrome…..for science
I think it’d look better if you kept the body-color flares and ditched the carbon fiber fillers.
At least it’s not the exposed bolt hole style.. has that trend finally passed?
Reminds me of a 2025 Toyota Tacoma- very of this moment? but whether that’s good or bad? meh. I don’t hate it, but it doesn’t excite me either.
Tuner cars are definitely a weird thing, popularity-wise, aren’t they? Once beyond their introduction, it’s so hard to predict what becomes a legitimate, sought after model vs something that repeatedly fails to sell at auction until its practically given away.
ha…I was behind a new tacoma the other day, and began to wonder what kind of an impact would fold the rear quarter panel like that. It took me a minute or two to realize the creases were intentional.
$160,000 for a Mustang is absurd. I mean…I get that there are people who collect stuff like this but I can’t even begin to imagine spending that much on a pimped out version of something you can go drive off a Hertz or Enterprise lot. I also can’t imagine that these hold value like a factory hot rodded Mustang. All of the Shelby models are annoyingly depreciation resistant but when one of these inevitably goes up on Dougs and Bids in 5 years is it going to net the owner a fortune?
I wouldn’t gamble on it and I do know that’s a factor for people dropping six figures on collector cars. That being said, I’ve actually always been pretty okay with the RTR stuff. I do think they do a decent job making their body kits cohesive and comparatively tasteful, and the performance upgrades are no joke. At the end of the day these are made for racing by a race car driver.
But anyway did Ford do anything about the Getrag 6 speed in the GT? That unit was notorious for blowing up in the S550s and in proud Ford tradition is at its absolute limit from the factory. Forcing it to deal with another 300 horsepower seems like a recipe for disaster and I haven’t read anything about it receiving upgrades when you add the factory supercharger kit.
If only Ford had partnered with another company for a better manual transmission for these cars. OH WAIT…they have, and they’ve already been putting god’s own manual in performance Mustangs for years. Hmmm. Maybe that should what they use…
I know people are giving you a hard time on this, but I get your point of view here. It’s a pretty cohesive look, especially with the graphic package and the spoiler. It doesn’t look tacked on like these things often do, and it’s probably pretty functional.
I don’t have interest in this, especially at this price, but I get it. It looks like it would fit into Need For Speed games or the Fast and Furious franchise really well and I’m sure it’s a heck of a build.
I completely understand why giant fender flares no longer get connected to the body at the back. But man do I hate it visually. I love fatty fender flares. I love a car shaped like a coke bottle from a top down view. But I love that when they are fully molded back in to the body. Giant cutouts are far too “full race” for me to like them visually, even if they are actually on a “full race” car.
If these were fully molded in, I’d be totally on board. But oddly, its also giving off some serious GTR35 vibes.
I can fully appreciate that.
I love the slab-backed Type 65 coupe, but didn’t quite like that the rear wasn’t as aero as it could have been. Once I realized that, I switched my feelings somehow to ‘form must follow function’ as a function of beauty. In this case, if these flares are as functional as I believe they look to be, then I give it a pass.
Get off my lawn! This thing looks heinous
I agree. Maybe I’m too old to know what cool is anymore, but I don’t think this is it. *insert Mr Skinner meme*
I agree that most mods don’t work. I don’t agree that this mod is somehow an exception to that rule.
I would also agree that this is a well-done wide-body conversion… if you paint those carbon fiber fins to body-match. Too much visual noise this way, IMO.
Are you….blind?
But in your defense, a lot of stuff like this is subjective.
For instance, I think that one of the ugliest (if not THE ugliest) sedan ever put in production was the Aston Martin Lagonda. And that car has its fans.
I too am not generally a fan of mods, but I think it is very safe to say we have different tastes in what constitutes a good one.