The 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse is the primary of its type. It’s music centered and based on the redesigned V-8–powered GT.
The Dark Horse has an greater Coyote five.0-liter V-eight targeting 500 horsepower and pairing with a Tremec six-pace manual or Ford’s 10-pace automatic.
Along with wonderful styling and myriad preferred performance functions, the Dark Horse is the handiest Mustang that has optionally available carbon-fiber wheels and Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS tires.
The Dark Horse is a completely new breed of Mustang, one that shares no bloodlines with historic fashions. While it is based on the new seventh-generation V-8–powered Ford Mustang GT, the Dark Horse is extra badass out of the box, and it’s bred for racing, with numerous wellknown overall performance capabilities and one of a kind tune-centered alternatives.Think of the 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse as the love child of the outgoing Mach 1 and Shelby variations, neither of which is obtainable for the redesigned Stang’s inaugural model 12 months. Like the Mach 1 before it, the Dark Horse is the maximum track-succesful Mustang that does not have Shelby badging. It additionally inherits elements from the Shelby GT350 and GT500, most notably their light-weight carbon-fiber wheels. It’s the primary time Ford will offer the distinctive rims on a non-Shelby Mustang, and they may possibly nonetheless cost a quite penny after they end up to be had later in the version 12 months.Like the ordinary Mustang GT, the Dark Horse variation is only presented with Ford’s Coyote five.0-liter V-eight. Not handiest is this the present day era of the engine, now providing twin throttle our bodies fed with the aid of dual air intakes, however the version in the Dark Horse is improved even in addition. It functions cast inner components along side connecting rods from the GT500’s 760-hp supercharged five.2-liter Predator V-eight. It produces a projected 500 horsepower, and Ford says the Dark Horse engine is the maximum effective certainly aspirated five.Zero-liter V-eight it has ever built. It pairs with a standard Tremec six-velocity manual (GT fashions use a distinct Getrag gearbox), and the shifter has a special 3D-printed titanium knob. Ford’s 10-velocity automatic is the opposite alternative, and both transmissions power the rear wheels through a Torsen confined-slip diff.
Ed Krenz, Mustang leader nameplate engineer, instructed Car and Driver that Dark Horse as a emblem call were rattling around at Ford for pretty some time before it become picked to christen the 7th-technology Mustang. “With the S650, we knew we were going to come out of the gate with a feature car,” stated Krenz.While history model names such as Bosses, Bullitts, and Mach 1s were taken into consideration, one of the motives Dark Horse changed into selected is because it describes the sudden, which Krenz stated performed into the organisation’s statement that some competition are leaving the section even as Ford—possibly particularly—has delivered a emblem-new Mustang.The Dark Horse call turned into additionally stimulated with the aid of the version’s understated, darkish design that is meant to present off a sleeper-type vibe, according to Krenz. However, we would argue that the Mustang Dark Horse seems too menacing to qualify as a sleeper. Even compared with the ordinary GT model, which already has an competitive mug, the Dark Horse goes a step in addition with a unique front cease offering bigger grille apertures and open nostrils for higher cooling. Its smoked headlights and hind lights additionally promote a racy attitude. Plus, the coupe’s body is adorned with precise aero bits which include a hard and fast rear wing and special Dark Horse badges at the the front fenders and decklid. The rear bumper also boasts a distinguished diffuser and quad-tipped tailpipes. The other way to identify a Dark Horse is with its specific Blue Ember steel paint (pictured right here), and Ford additionally gives implemented or painted graphics in extraordinary colorings and designs.