The 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse.Jeremy Sinek/The Globe and Mail
Much has happened in V8 muscle-car world since we last spent a week with a Ford Mustang. The Chevrolet Camaro as we know it is in its last model year, while rumour says a future replacement will be electric. Dodge Challenger production ended last December, to be replaced later this year by a battery-electric Charger, followed next year by a six-cylinder gas version.
Ford, meanwhile, already has an electric Mustang, but the Mach-E crossover shares only a name with the iconic pony car. The sports car Mustang still exists, and was just revamped for 2024, so it will be with us for a while yet.
For petrolheads, it’s a marvel that you can still buy a near-500-horsepower V8 rear-wheel-drive sports car at a starting price below $50,000. (Or even less, if you’re not wedded to the whole gotta-be-a-V8 thing; four-cylinder EcoBoost Mustangs start at less than $40,000).
You could also pay a lot more, which brings us to this Ford Mustang Dark Horse, which starts at $74,850 and came to play with an as-tested price north of $90,000. Dark Horse is a new name, but it’s basically a reprise of the Mach-1 we tested three years ago.
Multiple drive modes and settings include four just for the exhaust system.Jeremy Sinek/The Globe and Mail
Reportedly, an even meaner Mustang is coming – cue a supercharged GT500 successor – but this is peak Mustang for now. Like the Mach-1, it prioritizes track-day gymnastics over drag-strip ballistics. Its 500-horsepower output is only 20 more than the standard GT, while the standard chassis credentials begin with all the optional goodies on GT – a quicker axle ratio, the Performance Package (sturdier stabilizer bars, beefier brakes and lower-profile tires on 19-inch rims that are slightly wider still than the GT’s optionals). The GT’s Getrag gearbox is replaced by a stronger, closer-ratioed Tremec (though, yes, an automatic is available).
Our Premium-trim test sample was also garnished with a Dark-Horse-exclusive Handling Package comprising even wider rims and tires, unique suspension tuning, adjustable front-strut top mounts and a Gurney flap in the rear spoiler. The Pirelli P-Zero Trofeo RS tires – described as “for hypercars and supercars to primarily maximize dry performance on track” – are basically slicks with token grooves in the tread to make them street legal.
It all reads like a formula for one wild pony, but let’s rein in that stereotype. Consider ride comfort – the Dark Horse actually has some. Sure, it jolts and jars on badly broken pavement, but on most surfaces the magic of magnetorheological damping ensures a wholly unexpected level of civility in the car-road interaction. Surprisingly plushly padded optional Recaro seats may help, too.
Still, the Dark Horse is no pussycat, especially with the manual gearbox. While clutch effort is quite benign, the shift action is stiff and notchy in routine driving, and upshifts from second can get lost between third and fifth. The harder you accelerate, and the faster you shift, the better the ‘box likes it. Still, after decades of performance-testing stick-shift cars the traditional way, I couldn’t bring myself to try the new-for-2024 no-lift shifting feature, where you can keep your foot on the throttle.
A snap-shifting gearbox can reduce lap times, but not nearly as much as does the Handling Package – or so we assume. Too bad our loan offer specified “you are not allowed to take the vehicle on track, no burnouts, no donuts, no drifting etc.” That left us to endure the downsides of street driving a track tool, with no legal way to enjoy its track talents.
The cockpit may have been invaded by screens but at least the (electric) parking brake still uses a traditional lever, which can also be used as a drift brake.Jeremy Sinek/The Globe and Mail
Yes, the ride is unexpectedly civilized, and the steering is as tautly weighted and scalpel-sharp as you could hope, but there are downsides. On cambered or rutted surfaces, the car’s nose twitches and tugs like a K-9 search dog on Adderall. More surprising, our investigative circumnavigations of rural roundabouts revealed a tendency for the steering to go disconcertingly light at “expressive” speeds.
On dry pavement, intended tail slides are there for the asking (or would be, if they weren’t illegal and in breach of the loan agreement) but unlike on 2021′s Michelin-shod Mach-1, we found the Dark Horse less prone to unintended sideways glides … well, in dry weather. Unlike most summer performance tires, the barely-street-legal Pirellis do not do wet well.
The Coyote V8 engine is a matter of taste. I prefer torquers – V8s that deliver effortless thrust at low revs – while the 5,038-cc Coyote is a screamer. It’s not exactly a low-rpm weakling, but it really hits its stride above 4,000 rpm, and peak power needs 7,250 rpm. Even then, it doesn’t really lunge at the 7,500-rpm red line – this isn’t one of those engines that’s bouncing off the rev limiter the moment you look away from the tachometer.
And as much as I love the rumble of a V8, there’s a certain aggressive frenzy to the Mustang’s vocalizations. The active exhaust system has Quiet, Normal, Sport and Track settings, and even Normal, which seemed to be the default on our test car, is highly vocal. At least Quiet mode works, if you care to stay friendly with your neighbours.
You can see more of the actual engine than in most modern cars, including the dual intakes that were new for 2024 on V8 Mustangs.Jeremy Sinek/The Globe and Mail
Let’s be honest, the Dark Horse as tested here makes little sense unless you’re a track-day regular or a zealot curating your own Mustang museum. On the street, you won’t even feel its extra 20 horsepower over the GT, and you can’t reasonably use its additional cornering grip. And for similar money, a Camaro ZL1 provides a 650-horsepower alternative for those who haven’t already taken sides in the eternal Chevy-versus-Ford Detroit divide.
New Camaros, however, are on the cusp of extinction, while petro-powered Mustangs survive and thrive. The Dark Horse isn’t for everybody, but it’s a reminder for gearheads to be grateful that the car it’s based on – the Mustang GT, with a V8 engine driving the rear wheels through an available manual gearbox – still exists, and for a lot less than $90,000.
Tech specs
2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse
- Base price / as tested: $74,850/$89,505 (plus $2,095 for freight and predelivery inspection)
- Engine: Five-litre naturally aspirated V8
- Transmission / drive: Six-speed manual / rear-wheel drive
- Fuel consumption (litres per 100 kilometres): 17.1 city/10.7 highway
- Alternatives: Audi TT, BMW Z4, Chevrolet Camaro*, Dodge Challenger*, Nissan Z, Porsche 718 Cayman, Toyota GR Supra
*Out of production but limited inventory may remain
The Dark Horse starts at $74,850 and came to play with an as-tested price north of $90,000.Jeremy Sinek/The Globe and Mail
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