The Mach 1-replacing Dark Horse isn’t your usual Mustang. Available with either a Tremec-supplied manual or a Ford 10-speed automatic, the most badass Mustang in production today is advertised with 500 horsepower and 418 pound-feet (567 Nm) of torque from a displacement of 307 cubic inches.
Make that 5,038 cubic centimeters if you prefer metric. Although the fourth-gen Coyote accepts 87 octane, Ford recommends 91 octane at the very least for best overall performance. In other words, the advertised numbers are only possible on premium.
Pictured on 5 Star Tuning’s dynamometer, the black-painted car in the featured clip shows only 38.5 miles (62 kilometers) on the clock. Equipped with the manual transmission, said car features 87 rather than premium-grade dinosaur juice. Over the course of three pulls, the dyno recorded bests of 444.3 horsepower at 7,050 revolutions per minute and 391.6 pound-feet (just under 531 Nm) at 4,900 revolutions per minute. Sweet numbers, alright!
Even more impressive, remember the aforementioned mileage. To whom it may concern, the owner’s manual for the 2024 model year Ford Mustang recommends being gentle in the first 1,000 miles (approximately 1,600 kilometers). Think no high-RPM driving, no heavy breaking, no aggressive shifting, and no towing whatsoever.
That being said, the Dark Horse is anything but affordable. Unless the dealer charges you extra due to limited availability, the Dark Horse retails at $59,270 (plus $1,595 for the destination freight charge). If you’re in the market for the better-equipped grade, that would be at least $63,265.
Photo: Ford Funatic on YouTube
The fun stuff doesn’t end here, though. If you're more interested in the way the car looks than its corner-carving capability, painted racing stripes will set you back an eye-watering $5,495 at press time. As for handling, the Dark Horse really comes alive with the Dark Horse Handling Package.
$4,995 gets you 19- by 10.5-inch and 19- by 11-inch aluminum wheels with a dark finish, 305/30 R19 and 315/30 R19 performance tires from Pirelli, adjustable strut top mounts, magnetic dampers, and go-faster chassis tuning. The list continues with front towing hooks, a Shadow Black rear spoiler, and a Gurney flap designed for better stability at high speeds. Page 316 of the owner’s manual says the Gurney flap must be removed for on-road driving, most likely to improve fuel economy.
Speaking of which, care to guess how thirsty the Mustang Dark Horse is? As per the Environmental Protection Agency, it averages 17 miles per gallon (13.8 liters per 100 kilometers). The combined rating for the manual-equipped GT is 17 as well. By comparison, the auto-exclusive 2.3L EcoBoost is listed with 26 mpg (a little over 9.0 l/100 km).
Not long now, the S650-generation Mustang will get even thirstier. Assembled by Multimatic in Canada, the Mustang GTD is a limited-run special edition with an 800-horsepower supercharged V8 underhood. The Predator engine was previously used in the S550-generation Shelby GT500, which is listed with a meager 14 mpg (16.8 l/100 km).
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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