This week’s lead news story is the just-announced 2025 Ford Mustang GTD that Ford Motor Company says is the pinnacle of Mustang engineering. As we discuss in this week’s episode, it’s hard to argue that. The Mustang GTD delivers a mind-blowing 815 horsepower, 664 pound-feet of torque, and a riveting top speed of 202 mph. The fastest street-legal Mustang ever boasts advanced features that include active aerodynamics, carbon-ceramic brakes, and a sophisticated suspension system.

One goal of the new Mustang standard-bearer is achieving a sub-seven-minute lap at Nürburgring. Powered by a supercharged 5.2-liter V8, the GTD appears to have the goods to do just that. With the dry-sump oil system, its engine offers enhanced lubrication during high-speed cornering and revs up to 7,650 rpm. If that’s not enough, the Mustang GTD also incorporates a specialized drag reduction system that enables it to adjust its aerodynamics to optimize speed and grip based on driving conditions — a pretty nice trick. Co-Host Chris Teague and Host Jack Nerad will react to the newest Ford sup0ercar in this episode.

In our road tests this week, Chris Teague will evaluate another vehicle from an American brand, the 2025 Dodge Hornet. The Hornet is designed to help Dodge turn the page from its musclecar — and some would say muscle-bound — past. Its goal is to maintain the brand’s performance image but putting it in a new context. Chris and Jack will discuss if it lives up to that billing.

The Ford Ranger Lariat 4×4 with the FX4 package is the subject of our other road test this week. The newest Ranger marks Ford’s renewed interest in the midsize truck segment here in North America, and it comes amidst a flurry of new midsize pickups from both domestic and import automakers. Jack and Chris will describe how they believe it stacks up.

This week, our special guest is Brad Arnold, a top-ranking Hyundai designer in North America. At a recent event in central California, he and Host Jack Nerad sat down for a lengthy discussion of the heavily revised 2025 Hyundai Tucson and 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz. We’re sure you’ll enjoy our discussion.

In the news this week, we’ll be talking about something that seems too good to be true. Would you lease a brand-new EV if the monthly payment was $20? That’s happening right now, and we’ll tell you more about it coming up.

In other news, Volvo is ditching its vehicle subscription plan after several years of lackluster interest from the public. We’ll have more on that, and we’ll talk about a Toyota Prius hypermiler who just set a Guiness World record for fuel economy in a drive from coast to coast.

So we have a lot of show for you this week. Thanks for joining us. And please don’t forget to look for our content on YouTube and Rumble. If you subscribe, it will help us bring you even more.

America on the Road is brought to you by Driving Today.com, Mercury Insurance, and EMLandsea.com , the publisher of Nerad’s latest book, Dance in the Dark, which is available HERE on Amazon.com