The S650 may feature dual throttle bodies and up to 500 horsepower from the factory without forced induction, but as a drag racing platform, the S550 is a better pick. In addition to generous aftermarket support, the S550 has another advantage over the 2024 Ford Mustang. Care to guess what advantage?
Similar to General Motors with the Corvette, the Dearborn-based automaker has locked most of the aftermarket out of the Mustang's engine control unit. Because the S650 was designed with over-the-air software updates in mind, the Ford Motor Company justifies the locked ECU as a cybersecurity feature.
That's not all, though. If the FNV electrical architecture detects a break in authentication, it can shut down any control unit within the vehicle. Boo and hiss! Given these circumstances, it shouldn't surprise you that S550s are faster than S650s at the drag strip, at least for the time being. The black-painted Mustang GT in the video below, for example, blitzes the quarter mile in 9.872 at 137.46 miles per hour (that would be 221.22 kilometers per hour).
Its challenger – a white-painted Lamborghini Huracan – didn't stand a chance. Be that as it may, the Italian exotic is pretty fast in its own right: 10.823 seconds at 130.64 miles per hour (or 210.24 kilometers per hour if you prefer metric units). Other than a VMS Performance blower and sticky rubber, it's not known what else hides under the skin.
The Huracan doesn't appear to be 100 percent stock either, but based on the elapsed time and trap speed, it's obvious that the 5.2-liter V10 powerplant isn't boosted. Pictured at the Orlando Speed World Dragway, the modified S550 is much obliged to make easy work of a tuned Hellcat as well.
Photo: Drag Racing and Car Stuff on YouTube
The Challenger SRT Hellcat proved faster than the Huracan, clocking 139.59 miles per hour (224.64 kilometers per hour) in 9.827 seconds. The Mustang GT? 139.37 miles per hour (224.29 kilometers per hour) in 9.811 seconds. Ridiculously close, for sure, although the Hellcat can do better. Not this one, though, but the Challenger SRT Demon 170.
Limited to 3,300 examples for the US and Canada, the Demon 170 is listed by Dodge with a quarter-mile time of 8.91 seconds. By comparison, the S550 Mustang Shelby GT500 makes do with 10.6 seconds fully stock. The Ford Motor Company, however, will have the last laugh because the L-platform Challenger has recently ended production.
With the combustion-engined Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro terminated, the S650 is – for the time being – unrivaled. Come late 2024 for the 2025 model year, the Charger will return as a three-door liftback with either twin-turbo I6 or electric muscle. A forced-fed sixer is perfectly fine in the BMW M2, but not so much in a car that previously offered a supercharged V8 with up to 1,025 horsepower.
Lamborghini enthusiasts will also condemn the Raging Bull of Sant'Agata Bolognese in late 2024 for the 2025 model year. Codenamed LB634, the Huracan's long-awaited successor will drop the free-breathing V10 we all know and love for a twin-turbo V8. Closely related to the Revuelto flagship, the Baby Lambo is a plug-in hybrid as well, meaning well over 800 horsepower in hybrid mode at full chatter.
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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