Photography by Chris Tropea
When we evaluate cars, we do our best to judge them by what they are, not criticize them for what they aren’t. But in the case of the latest Mustang Dark Horse, our particular sample was noticeably let down by a key omission.
The Dark Horse is–at least until the insane Mustang GTD drops–the gnarliest pony in Ford’s stable, with a 5.0-liter Coyote V8 cranking out 500 horsepower and 418 lb.-ft. of torque through either a Tremec six-speed manual or, as found in our test car, a 10-speed automatic.
[Ford Mustang GTD: 815 horsepower–more per liter than a 911 GTS RS]
The Mustang Dark Horse gets some specific trim both inside and out, but the real excitement is the 500 horsepower under the hood as well as the available Handling Package (not pictured, sadly).
Brakes are also fully up to whatever you can throw at them, with massive 15.3-inch, two-piece rotors up front and 14-inch rotors in the back. Calipers are six- and four-piston Brembos, respectively. It’s a full, track-capable brake package.
The $69,715 Dark Horse also gets Ford’s MagneRide dampers standard, with specific Dark Horse tuning for the shocks as well as Dark Horse-specific springs and anti-roll bars. Supplemental coolers for engine oil, transmission fluid and differential oil are also among the serious, track-focused bits.
Serious, that is, until you get to the wheels and tires. The optional $5495 Handling Package includes a set of 19x10.5- and 19x11-inch wheels wrapped in some deadly serious Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS 180tw tires: 305mm fronts and 315mm rears. That’s a serious statement of intent.
The Handling Package also includes specific suspension settings to take advantage of those meaty tires, tow hooks and a spoiler with a Gurney flap–all ready for your next track day.
Unfortunately, our test car did not come equipped with said Handling Package.
Again, we don’t want to dunk on the Dark Horse for what it isn’t, but at the same time, the base wheel-and-tire package does a true disservice to what is otherwise a very competent chassis. The standard 19x9.5- and 19x10-inch wheels with 255/275 rubber are simply not enough rubber on the ground to tame a 500-horsepower, 3996-pound car.
If we were to read an implication into this situation, we’d say that Ford understands that many of its buyers will be adding their own wheel-and-tire packages, allowing the standard car to serve as the perfect blank canvas. Or it provides an option for owners who never intend to take their Dark Horse to the track but still want to order the baddest Mustang on the menu–and, at the same time, don’t want to drop $2500-plus on tires every 6000 miles.
Regardless, the non-Handling Package Dark Horse is a letdown. Despite inherent chassis goodness and a stout engine, the upsides cannot shine through the weak wheel-and-tire package.
A 2-ton car is never going to feel nimble, but Mustangs since the S197 have been blessed with particularly good steering feedback (yeah, we said what we said and we stick by it), and this raddest of S650s is no exception. The steering and chassis feel good enough to let you know exactly what the tires are doing, which, of course, isn’t much. It makes the car easy and fun to slide around since it’s so controllable, but the lack of grip is just more disappointing because of it.
Brakes are up to the task–Brembo calipers pinch beefy rotors–while the relationship between the seat, pedals and steering wheel has been improved over past Mustangs. The 10-speed automatic, though, is not up for track use.
Likewise, the 10-speed automatic transmission does the car no favors on track. We can see it working well on the drag strip, where it can keep the engine fully on the cam, but at our official test track, the 1.6-mile Florida International Rally & Motorsport Park, the transmission, like the subpar tires, is more of a hindrance than a help.
It simply doesn’t act predictably when driven at the limit. A quick downshift could immediately follow an upshift. Or there could be delay. Or nothing at all.
This made entry into a few corners tricky, as some braking zones quickly followed an upshift. After several attempts, we found the only repeatable way to enter those corners was to simply ride the rev limiter a bit. Otherwise, we ran the highly probable risk of blowing the whole lap while the transmission decided what it was going to do.
It feels like something that could be cured with a different transmission programming strategy that gives more priority to the paddles–or at least makes the delay predictable. Either way, we had to abandon several laps due to shifting weirdness.
The brakes definitely impress, and Ford has done a good job speccing the pad compound as well. The pads came in with just a bit of heat and retained good bite and consistent feel through our test sessions. Hauling down 2 tons from more than 110 mph requires turning a lot of kinetic energy into heat, and the big Dark Horse brakes can easily handle that energy transfer.
1. There’s no substitute for thrust as the 500-horsepower Mustang Dark Horse simply dusts our 300-horsepower BMW 435i in every acceleration zone. Vroom! 2. But the BMW uses its superior grip to spank the Mustang in every corner, eventually gaining such an advantage that it outpaces the Dark Horse by more than a full second per lap. 3. Still, the Dark Horse shows good chassis control, particularly under braking. Those big Brembos initiate quickly and slow the car with authority. With more grip and the available six-speed manual, the Dark Horse should become a lapping stallion.
Our 1:19.90 lap time in the Dark Horse puts it toward the back of the pack of premium sports cars, giving up seconds or more to market competitors like the Supra (1:17.85), BMW M2 (1:16.69) and Corvette Z51 (1:16.16).
The data simply shows that the Dark Horse lost a lot of time due to its subpar handling. While it’s easy to say there’s no substitute for horsepower, a comparison with our 300-horsepower BMW 435i project car illustrates the importance of grip: Our VBox data shows the Mustang winning every single drag race between the corners, with the BMW constantly snatching back that time–and then some.
[Video: Our new go-to data system | VBOX HD Lite review]
The lower-powered BMW makes enough gains in multiple corners that the Mustang can never overcome the deficit, even with some additional 200 horsepower on tap. In the end, the Dark Horse’s best lap of 1:19.90 is just no match for the BMW’s 1:18.81.
The rest of the Mustang’s graph looks about like we’d expect: Strong acceleration off corners, confident brake initiation courtesy of those big Brembos–although the lack of grip shows up in some ABS intervention jitter at times–and steady cornering, albeit at lower-than-ideal limits due to the grip deficiency.
Thanks to relatively narrow tires–just 235mm fronts and 275mm rears–the 4000-pound Dark Horse begs for grip. The S650 silhouette, however, is aging well and retains classic Mustang influences.
We feel that sticky tires and the available six-speed Tremec would easily put the Dark Horse into the low-1:17 second range. That would put it ahead of the Supra and possibly even challenge the M2. The rest of the car is just that good.
Grip is a wonderful thing, and this ultimate Mustang deserves it. The Dark Horse’s Handling Package is worth the upgrade over the truly mediocre alternative. So, either check that box at the Ford dealer or have Tire Rack on speed dial as soon as your Dark Horse hits your driveway.
The Florida International Rally & Motorsport Park in Keystone Heights serves as GRM’s official test track. This 1.6-mile course, managed by Larina Hintze and located half an hour east of Gainesville, Florida, is consistent, accessible and staffed by nice people. Learn more at gorally.com. For details on our FIRM track tests, held on the 1.55-mile configuration on the right, head to grassrootsmotorsports.com/laps.
Still figuring out how all of this GRM+ content works. Will this article be in a hard-copy of the magazine? If so, I look forward to the great write-up and glossy pictures!
It's strange to me that the Ford publicists would give journalists a gelded version of their strongest horse. WTH are they thinking?
confuZion3 said:Still figuring out how all of this GRM+ content works. Will this article be in a hard-copy of the magazine? If so, I look forward to the great write-up and glossy pictures!
Some GRM+ articles will also appear in print, but you can read them all if you link your print subscription in your website account settings. 
Oh! Neat! I'll figure that out tonight when I get home. I didn't realize the print subscription granted me access to GRM+ articles. I'm excited to read this one!
Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:It's strange to me that the Ford publicists would give journalists a gelded version of their strongest horse. WTH are they thinking?
I once brought a turbo Miata to (major automotive magazine). They gave it to a journo who I don't think had ever driven a stick before.
Most journalists are never going to do a track test. They'll drive the car on Angeles Crest or maybe in Spain if Ford flies them there. So putting the car on 180 TW tires with what are undoubtedly stiffer suspension settings will lead to complaints about poor ride quality and tire noise.
Ford never learns. See Shelby GT350 and Performance Pack, Boss 302 and Track Pack, etc, etc
Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:It's strange to me that the Ford publicists would give journalists a gelded version of their strongest horse. WTH are they thinking?
This isn't Edmund's or Consumer Reports, its Grassroots MotorSports!! What a bunch of schmucks / putzes that work at the Ford Media Press core motor pool.
Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:It's strange to me that the Ford publicists would give journalists a gelded version of their strongest horse. WTH are they thinking?
Tom touched on it before in this column, but often we're at the mercy of what's in the pool of test cars:
How do we pick which cars? Well, we’ll make special requests when new cars are announced (think GR Corolla or new Mustang), but in general we take what we’re offered. The cars are specced and loans are planned strategically by the fleet managers, in partnership with the manufacturers’ PR staff.
We’re local to the Miami metro area, for example, which means most of our test cars are luxury-oriented and fully loaded. A fleet in the Northeast would have plenty of AWD cars with heated seats, while a fleet in SoCal would have every flavor of off-road-oriented special truck to play with. Generally, we learn the make and model of a loan a few days before it’s delivered. And after a tour of duty (usually the current model year), press cars are generally sold to the dealer network as run-of-the-mill used cars.
I was actually just reading that column about how you get press cars shortly before I read the dark horse review.
I suppose the thing that I couldn't quite decipher from the story was: does it just need wider/stickier rubber to be great? Or did it seem to be something more fundamental?
It's less than a second faster than a Civic Type R. Which maybe says more about the Type R than the Mustang....
You're better off buying your own wheels and tire than the handling package anyways. If you should want the HP stock wheels for some reason you usually can find them pretty cheap. So unless you're planning on running some class where having the stuff stock on the car matters....
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