Stock 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse Races Drag Pack GT, It's Over in 11.9 Seconds

StangMode recently took his bone-stock Dark Horse to the drag strip to see what's what. Joined by a drag-prepped GT, the more expensive of the two Mustangs first ran 12.427 seconds at 114.02 miles per hour (183.49 kilometers per hour) in the quarter mile. Not quite 11s material, but super impressive.

The second pass concluded in 12.467 seconds at 114.20 miles per hour (183.78 kilometers per hour). Care to guess how the GT did with its drag-spec wheels and radials? The answer is 11.992 seconds at 119.31 miles per hour (192.01 kilometers per hour) and 12.319 seconds at 119.01 miles per hour (191.52 kilometers per hour), respectively. In addition to said wheels and rubber, the GT had its passenger seat removed to help it crack into the 11-second range.

StangMode and Ana had the cars weighed before hitting the strip, with said pony cars tipping the scales at 4,170 pounds (1,891 kilograms; including driver) and 3,980 pounds (1,805 kilograms; including driver). Even though owners and tuners previously had access to the engine control unit, the Mustang now sports a heavily encrypted module.

This, in turn, limits the go-faster potential of the S650 platform. FoMoCo does collaborate with certain tuners, although the list is kind of short. On the upside, there's no denying companies like Trifecta Performance and HP Tuners will eventually crack it open. After all, they already did it with the Global B electrical architecture of the C8 'Vette.

If peeps like StangMode cannot wait until then, fret not because well-established tuners like Hennessey Performance Engineering already have go-faster upgrades for the seventh-gen Mustang. In Hennessey's case, that would be 850 force-fed ponies with the addition of a supercharger. Torque is advertised at 650 pound-feet (881 Nm), which is a perfect match for the pre-2019 Dodge Hellcat and soon-to-be-discontinued Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

Why is the Camaro getting canned? For starters, the sixth gen is getting on a bit. A poor-selling vehicle even by modern pony car standards, the Camaro simply doesn't make too much sense in Chevy's lineup as GM pivots to electrified performance. It's rumored the Camaro nameplate will return for an electric sedan, although the SS moniker would better suit the purported replacement for the sixth gen.

Stellantis (the colossus resulted from the merger between FCA and PSA) is also getting rid of V8 engines. Both the 5.7- and 6.2-liter HEMIs are going the way of the dodo after 2024, with the 6.4 rumored to soldier on for a few more years. In their place, a twin-turbo I6 by the name of Hurricane will have to make do. In the Jeep Grand Wagoneer, said engine produces more power and torque than the twin-turbocharged I6 of the BMW M3 Competition.

The Charger will return at some point in the near future (most likely as a 2025 model) on the STLA Large platform, and the aforementioned inline-six lump is expected in both standard- and high-output specifications. The Banshee all-electric powertrain, however, will be marketed as the top dog with something like 1,000 horsepower at full chatter.

This being said, the Ford Motor Company is also eyeing an electric makeover for the Mustang. Come 2029, the S650 is reportedly due to be replaced by the S750 at Flat Rock. The eighth generation is believed to be twinned with the second-gen Mustang Mach-E on the automaker's new GE2 platform.