The Dark Horse Mustang | A Real World Review

[SHIFTYBUSINESS]

Don't really care for the big plastic bulge on the bottom of the rear bumper cover. I think s550 did that better by stopping that trim piece at the top of the diffuser. That second piece looks weird to me.

The spoiler is awesome though. Really dig it, especially on race red and oxford white.

The hood vents also look sweet. I like the sharp edges they have. Goes well with the other sharper edges the s650 has.

Although they would never look right on an s650, I still prefer the gen 3 s550 headlights. They're just a more beautiful shape imo. If the s650 lights work better, that might be problematic for oncoming traffic. My s550 lights can already laser out your corneas. I've been flashed when I'm not even using brights.

Happy to see the 'puter has been unlocked. Time to move forward the correct way now. With FREEDOM.

Funny after reading this yesterday I was at the gas station and a DH pulled in. That rear plastic bumper is ugly. It stuck out more in person than in the pictures. Overall still a pretty cool car.

 

[Roots-type]

Funny after reading this yesterday I was at the gas station and a DH pulled in. That rear plastic bumper is ugly. It stuck out more in person than in the pictures. Overall still a pretty cool car.

It's like what they did in '11-'12. Then for '13 they went, "hey, I think less chunky plastic ass could look better", and then in '13-'14 they fixed it. I guess this leaves that room on the table for a refresh.

Certainly an awesome car though. But I'm no longer a buyer at these prices, so ford probably thinks my opinion can go **** itself.

 

[BlckBox04]

I'd take a Whippled DH

 

[gimmie11s]

Great pics and write up. Solid work, sir.

 

[SID297]

Great pics and write up. Solid work, sir.

I can't wait to get back out there for some dirt racing. Maybe I should build a Crown Vic and slap SVTP decals all over it...

 

[B7BlownSnake]

I'd take a Whippled DH

I'm excited to see what a Whipple S650 can do with proper tuning now available.

 

[jessie_sanders]

For $67-$90K I couldn't care less about this car.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

 

[SHIFTYBUSINESS]

It's like what they did in '11-'12. Then for '13 they went, "hey, I think less chunky plastic ass could look better", and then in '13-'14 they fixed it. I guess this leaves that room on the table for a refresh.

Certainly an awesome car though. But I'm no longer a buyer at these prices, so ford probably thinks my opinion can go **** itself.

Exactly the 13-14 is much cleaner then the 11-12. I guess the body developers think it looks good. In the 70's they had government standards they had to meet so I see why those cars had big bumpers. I would be looking hard at the BMW M2 in that price range.

 

[HudsonFalcon]

It’s way too expensive for its target audience.

 

[andymarkv]

Ultimately, we new found ability to tune the S650 Mustang is what will make or break the Dark Horse. On its own, the car is fantastic but the lack of tuning ability has hampered its adoption in the greater performance Mustang community. Thankfully those days are over, and I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of one of these that has been massaged by a reputable Ford tuner. Lucky for me, I may not have to wait too long.​

Looking forward to the update with a tune. I'm curious how much Ford left on the table. It seems that with every gen, the OEM's are leaving less and less gains to be had with basic bolt-ons.

 

[biminiLX]

Looking forward to the update with a tune. I'm curious how much Ford left on the table. It seems that with every gen, the OEM's are leaving less and less gains to be had with basic bolt-ons.

My friend is also waiting to find out on his ‘24 Whipple stage 2 Darkhorse with the 10R80. E85 and tuning this month hopefully.
-J

 

[SID297]

Looking forward to the update with a tune. I'm curious how much Ford left on the table. It seems that with every gen, the OEM's are leaving less and less gains to be had with basic bolt-ons.

We'll have a video on it next week, probably Monday.

 

[andymarkv]

My friend is also waiting to find out on his ‘24 Whipple stage 2 Darkhorse with the 10R80. E85 and tuning this month hopefully.
-J

Not sure who is tuning your friends car...but I just had a basic tune done by Wengerd using PCMtec. Not cheap, but now I have 4 maps that are switchable real time while the car is running via the cruise control buttons. (PCMtec can also make it possible to tie in a flex fuel sensor into the CANbus system and have "real" flex fuel capability)

 

[JAJ]

Good write up, as usual. I was at a Shelby event a couple years ago when a guest speaker from Ford was touting this car. He was a managing director of something or other within the company and stated this was the fastest street legal track car they had ever made. I think the GT350R would be the competition for that, but on some tracks maybe it's the GT500? I don't know, but it was a bold statement. Has anyone compared them back-to-back(-to-back)?

Yeah, this is "fastest Ford" is clever semantics. The GT350/GT500, FGT etc are all "Ford Performance" cars. "Ford" assembles and ships them on behalf of Ford Performance but they're not genuine "Ford" cars like the Mustang GT.

 

[divernb]

I think the Dark Horse looks great, but an 80k mustang that doesn't really have a unique engine is a tough pill to swallow. Maybe with the Dodge 6 pack coming out they'll do some price adjustment.

 

[bagpipebrigade]

My mind always goes to "what else could I get for $80K." GT350, 2014 GT500, etc with money left over. Hard to justify spending $80K on a Mustang and then spending more to upgrade it.