11-Second S650 Ford Mustang Dark Horse Drags GT500 and Hellcat; Someone Takes a Beating

If you're a FoMoCo fan, you already know the S650 Ford Mustang has finally come out and about for a few months already, and people are constantly trying to live the best stories alongside their new prized possessions. Of course, the most beloved S650 examples are the ones labeled Mustang GT and Dark Horse rather than EcoBoost, and it's primarily thanks to the 5.0-liter Coyote V8 sitting under the hood.

Of course, a longtime YouTuber and Blue Oval fan like this one knows a few tricks when going to the local quarter-mile dragstrip. For example, his 2024 Ford Mustang GT once beat a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. And when it came time for a rematch, the unthinkable happened twice. As such, his Dark Horse should be even better, right?

Well, that's easier said than done because the Mustang GT is quite close to the Dark Horse in terms of performance – up to 486 versus 500 horsepower. Alas, the latter came prepared for this quarter-mile dragstrip encounter – complete with the drag pack and a front-seat delete. The skirmishes we are about to see also occur at a different location – he usually goes to Cecil County Dragway in Rising Sun, Maryland.

However, on this occasion, he changed venues to Island Dragway in Great Meadows, New Jersey. That was lucky for his new personal best in the Dark Horse, though not the same can be said about the opponents. First, he raced a Grabber Blue, E93-tuned 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, and of course, he got his Dark Horse's hoofs handed to him: 11.86s for the latter and a 10.24s pass for the mighty Shelby. Of course, the YouTuber wasn't trying to beat the GT500; he was instead looking for a below-12-second pass – a feat he accomplished on the first attempt.

Secondly, a white Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat lined up for the challenge. Unfortunately, our Dark Horse hero red-lit that pass, and thus, the white Mopar easily challenged his potential victory. Again, interestingly, the Hellcat did a 12-second flat pass while the Dark Horse nailed a 12.04s ET – had that been the prior race, it would have been a resounding victory for the lesser-powered Blue Oval.

By the way, we are all waiting to see what happens with the Dark Horse across the aftermarket world. Already, outlets like Saleen are taking jabs at the stock Ford with the new 302 White Label lifting the Mustang GT power to 510 ponies, ten more than the Dark Horse. And before long, there will also be Saleen Yellow Label and Black label models with 745 hp and 800 hp supercharged variants.