It’s been a relatively robust yr for automobile fans – particularly those who can’t get sufficient of rumbly, high-displacement engines that shake you to your very core. We have and can proceed to mourn fairly a number of of those fallen American heroes, particularly right here within the States. Well, all apart from one.
Last fall, Ford went forward and did one thing so reverse of what its two Detroit counterparts had accomplished and dedicated to in months prior. The automaker didn’t announce the neutering of the Mustang, nor did it say “this was it” and the Mach-E can be the one Mustang left on Earth. Nope. Instead, Ford stated the Mustang can be returning for a seventh era in its most final of combating types, full with its strongest V8 to this point. This automobile wouldn’t be a swan tune for the nameplate. If it was, it will a minimum of stay on the books for the foreseeable future, lengthy after Dodge retires its Hemi Challengers, the Camaro is lastly put to relaxation, and Corvette goes hybrid, electrical–wherever that’s going. Instead, Mustang established itself as the driver’s automobile, aiming to personal the books in future as the one remaining driver’s [read: also racing] automobile from the Big Three. The solely query now was, will it rise as much as exceed everybody’s expectations in its new function?
Full Disclosure: Ford flew me and a gaggle of journalists out to Charlotte, North Carolina to play with the 2024 Mustang Dark Horse on observe at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and on the country-mountain roads surrounding the observe. I used to be offered flights, a room, and sustenance. Oh, and sufficient pleasant giggles I hope to final me till the subsequent time I’m privileged to drive a V8, if I can discover one in a efficiency automobile that isn’t a truck or SUV.
My esteemed Jalopnik cohort and author, Erin Marquis, had the privilege of driving Ford’s barely less-powerful Mustang choices only a week earlier than I encountered the Dark Horse, so I’ll direct you to her items on the Ecoboost and the GT in your personal perusal and informative studying enjoyment. And from right here on out, this portion of the experience is proscribed to the curious thrill-seekers who additionally occur to have some huge cash dangerously burning of their pocket.
What Is The 2024 Mustang Dark Horse?
The star of this pony present is the Dark Horse’s 5.0-liter V8 Coyote engine, tuned at 500 horsepower at 7,250 rpm. Sure, sure, you may get the 5.0L V8 within the GT, however even optioning the energetic valve exhaust received’t get you an identical type of energy – topping out at 486 hp on the similar 7,250 rpm. Those 500 horses are contained or relatively, managed through a Tremec TR2160 six-speed handbook, or Ford’s 10-speed auto. Power is fed to a Torsen restricted slip rear axle (3.55:1 for the auto, 3.73:1 for the handbook), placing energy to 2 separate units of wheels relying on whether or not you’ve optioned for Dark Horse’s Standard configuration or its Handling package deal. Standard receives summer-only Pirelli Zeros, whereas the Handling pack will sport summer-only Pirelli Trofeos.
Such an aggressive automobile comes with just-as-aggressive equipment. In the Dark Horse’s case, a black-gloss decrease entrance bumper options larger “nostrils” within the grille. You’ll additionally see decrease facet skirts and an ever-so-slightly extra tapered rear (a 0.8-inch distinction in comparison with different seventh-gen Mustang fashions) accented with a hard and fast rear wing.
Special solely to Dark Horse is its very personal Blue Ember metallic paint – the signature deep blue (blue-gray in some lighting) seems virtually amber (or to my shock and delight even a pearly pink) at sure angles and below sure lights – obtainable solely with Ford’s Dark Horse Appearance Package. Inside, the identical look package deal contains Recaro seats that includes black suede paired with Indigo Blue bolsters and accent stitching. The similar contrasted theme seems on each tender contact level all through the cabin. And then, there’s the ultimate piece-de-la-resistance: the sunshine blue titanium handbook shift knob. *Chef’s kiss.*
The 2024 Mustang Dark Horse On Track
Ford offered its visiting journalists with a reasonably respectable playground to unleash the Dark Horse’s totally different setups: Charlotte Motor Speedway. Granted, our playground for the morning was a truncated model of Charlotte’s roval, bringing us across the oval banking by flip 2 and turning into the highway course nicely earlier than the bus cease. But, the shorter setup definitely didn’t take away from the enjoyable of testing this 500-hp monster.
I opted to go large for observe time and begin with a handbook Dark Horse geared up with the Handling Package, which supplies one-inch wider entrance (10.5 inches) and rear (11 inches) wheels in comparison with the Standard Dark Horse package deal. Those wheels are wearing Pirelli Trofeos which might be extra rather more track-friendly [read: stickier, more quickly].
Admittedly, my first run within the handbook is a bit clumsy. It’s my first time on observe at Charlotte, and likewise within the automobile, so I used to be nonetheless attempting to achieve some type of muscle reminiscence, rapidly, of the observe and the place the shifts are within the gate.
On my third run, with what can be the identical automobile (the second run I grabbed one of many automatics), issues have been actually clicking. This is the place I most respect Ford’s buttery clutches as I quickly run by gears across the oval’s banking, laughing as I attempt to redline shifts – the roaring 5.0L echoing off the stands and contained in the cabin.
Here I benefit from Ford’s no-lift shifting, conserving my foot planted on the fuel whereas participating the clutch to aim an up-shift. The trick is you don’t have a lot time to do it earlier than the ‘rev-match’, if you’ll, sends the rpms proper again as much as the place your foot truly is on the pedal. I really feel my instincts combating me as I maintain my proper foot planted and discourage it from lifting as my left foot dances on the clutch. I solely missed the shift window as soon as, and the rpms soared into the stratosphere. I feel it’s there that I make an embarrassing comment that was captured on the in-cabin video. Regardless, I’m grateful for one much less factor to consider once I do efficiently shift with out lifting, which supplies me with somewhat further mind energy to focus on the observe, my pace, and the subsequent nook.
A brief dip in pace across the hairpin, then I’m fast to the accelerator, hovering in third to try to lace myself alongside the racing traces. Despite attempting to push myself round every flip somewhat extra, I notice I’m not wherever close to breaking the rear free. I attempt to push myself somewhat extra, and the automobile stays planted. At this fee, you virtually really feel such as you’re failing the automobile – as a result of the engine needs you to push it. It calls for you push it. But the chassis tuning mixed with bigger rear sway bars, MagneRide dampers and specifically engineered, wider tires, retains you firmly on the observe, virtually tying up your observe expertise with a neat little bow. Here, I notice, you don’t need to be essentially the most expert or skilled driver on the observe, as a result of the automobile supplies pure help. It’s designed that can assist you be a extra assured driver in each observe maneuver, clearly inside limits.
The automated additional proves this very best of a observe assistant. The solely auto I’d tracked earlier than this was Audi’s RS 3, and the Mustang is definitely a far better beast by far. I attempted my hand at handbook shifting, taking part in with Dark Horse’s anodized paddle shifters, however 10 speeds are an terrible lot to shift by and I certainly wasn’t doing in addition to what Ford’s engineers had programmed the Dark Horse to do.
So, after a really brief fumble with that, I surrendered and let the pc do the work. Maybe permitting the transmission to search out its far more effectively to the proper gear and rpm helped, or perhaps it was useful to me not having to consider all of the issues occurring observe, together with my braking zones, turns and downshifts, however I did discover myself hovering by the course within the auto. I even hit my high pace (113 mph) on my second stint with the automated.
Manual or automated, it’s insanely straightforward to get the automobile’s pace nicely into the triple digits, however that glory was additionally so brief lived for this specific journey, because of the sharp hairpin on the finish of the nook that required some quick exhausting braking and finesse to get to the remainder of the highway course with out completely binning it. Luckily, no Mustangs have been harmed on the trickiest of Charlotte’s corners.
Dark Horse On The Open Road
Your greatest downside or fear behind the wheel of a Mustang Dark Horse shall be conserving it throughout the confines of the pace restrict. It’s not that you just wish to deliberately pace. It’s extra that you just’re having fun with the ambiance of the exhaust observe (set to your sound choice from an virtually stealth-quiet to HELLOOO I’M HERE), because it responds to your shifts and throttle enter. Of course, once more, this automobile is consistently pushing you to offer it extra, and also you subconsciously proceed to chase its very tempting carrot till you’re taking a look on the speedometer, see you’re at [redacted] and make an try to decelerate.
At some level, you, the weekend-warrior racer, notice you’re not on a observe, however as a substitute, some quiet nation twisty roads. This is alternative calling, and also you’re behind the wheel of “the most powerful” manufacturing Mustang (exterior of Shelbys) to-date. Your chariot to enjoyable land has arrived, and you’re going to get misplaced within the journey. No one can blame you. Maybe not even Ford. They know what they created.
For a performance-based automobile infused with observe day DNA, this steed (heh) is mighty snug to spend the day in. The Recaro seats are removed from a dealbreaker for long-distance journey on this specific iteration of the Dark Horse. Sure, you could possibly say that I felt that approach as a result of I’m a small-framed particular person, so I naturally match into these seats higher than most. But I’ll argue that I sat in these seats for a stable 4 hours, after a full morning observe session, and didn’t require any aids in extracting my outdated physique out of the seat.
The similar consolation might be stated of the experience, the place the chassis and MagneRide shine vibrant. The similar lovely combo making your observe day really feel extra clean than a Hoonigan video stunt efficiently achieved, is making your work day commute extra tolerable than a efficiency automobile needs to be on the highway. I examined this concept by crossing a number of prepare tracks on our Sunday drive about North Carolina, and whereas we didn’t hit the tracks at blasphemous speeds, we additionally didn’t child the automobile or decelerate to five mph to traverse them both. Nothing about it was jarring or stiff.
Thoughts
With the demise of the V8 Hemi and Challengers and sure, the long-seemingly-dead-already Camaro, there’s not a lot else on the market to select from in terms of having a enjoyable, track-capable horsepower hungry automobile from Detroit. Which makes you ask your self if the Mustang, or its meaner Dark Horse mannequin, are merely extra particular as a result of they is perhaps the final, enjoyable V8 American sports activities automobiles you should purchase.
In some ways, sure. Absolutely that’s the case. But that doesn’t imply it’s best to take a look at Mustang as able to persevering with to fill that engine-shaped gap for under the sake of its rarity. Look at it as one thing particular as a result of it’s, comparatively, one thing particular. It’s a automobile made for drivers, whether or not that’s each day, studying how one can observe, or essentially the most skilled of drivers. The added 500-hp V8 beloved Coyote engine is simply the cake topper to a really scrumptious cake.
And within the meantime, Mustang, and its Dark Horse are completely satisfied to take that well-deserved crown of V8 darling, or a minimum of earn it earlier than its counterparts go extinct. As I came upon on the observe, it is going to definitely be prepared to place up a struggle.
Source: jalopnik.com