At the crankshaft, the 2024 model year Mustang GT is rated at 480 horsepower and 415 pound-feet (563 Nm). The white-painted car in the video below is equipped with Ford's ubiquitous 10-speed automatic. Seventh gear is the 1:1 ratio, yet the gearbox didn't want to stay in seventh for an entire pull on the dyno. Even so, the rear-wheel numbers in fifth gear (1.52:1) are pretty darn impressive.
Pictured in the Middleton Motorsports dyno testing room in Middleton, Wisconsin, the open-top S650 lays down 408.75 horsepower at 7,250 revolutions per minute and 351.09 pound-feet (476 Nm) at 4,990 revolutions per minute. Not surprising in the least, the Mustang GT produced more power and torque in seventh, right until the 5,600-rpm mark.
That's where the fuel was cut off by the pony car's electronic brain. The good folks at Middleton Motorsports are certain the 2024 model year Mustang GT produces a little over 420 horsepower at the rear wheels in the correct gear. They have a manual-equipped car lined up for dyno testing, whose fourth gear is the 1:1 ratio. Hopefully, the fourth-gear pull of said car will confirm Middleton Motorsports' 420-plus-horsepower estimate at the rear wheels.
They also have a Dark Horse on order, which is quite a bit punchier than the GT. Also equipped with the dual-throttle-body 5.0L Coyote V8 of the GT, the Dark Horse rocks a rebalanced crankshaft, beefier camshafts, and forged conrods from the Shelby GT500's Predator V8. Advertised with 500 horsepower and 418 pound-feet (567 Nm), the Dark Horse slots above the GT with the optional active-valve exhaust system, which is rated at 486 horsepower and similar torque to the Dark Horse.
Wicked numbers for the first year of the S650, and there's a lot more of them in the offing for 2025. The recently unveiled Mustang GTD, for example, is best described as Ford's take on the Porsche 911 GT2 RS. Assembled by Multimatic in Canada in the facility where the GT supercar used to be made, the Mustang GTD promises in excess of 800 horsepower from the aforementioned Predator V8.
Priced at circa $300,000 and estimated to lap the Nurburgring in less than seven minutes, the GT3-inspired GTD uses an eight-speed rear transaxle. It further sweetens the deal with Multimatic DSSV spool valve damping technology for the short long arm suspension up front and integral link pushrod/rocker arm arrangement for the rear axle.
Given the highlights of the GTD, one has to imagine how wild the next GT500 will be. There's even a wild rumor in regard to Mustang Raptor and Mustang Raptor R all-road bruisers, although Ford hasn't confirmed or denied this hearsay thus far.
There is, however, a case to be made for Raptorizing the Mustang. If the Volkswagen Group did it with the Porsche 911 Dakar and Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato, why shouldn't FoMoCo follow suit?
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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