The 2026 Mustang Dark Horse SC outputs 795 Horsepower

[BuckeyeBOSS]

@MustangMitch69AWD is something I appreciate. If Ford put out an all-wheel drive Mustang, I might try to figure out a way to get one.

I would have been onboard with an AWD version of Mustang, but after seeing the DHSC pricing, forget it. It's not going to be worth as much as Ford thinks it is.

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[MustangMitch69]

I would have been onboard with an AWD version of Mustang, but after seeing the DHSC pricing, forget it. It's not going to be worth as much as Ford thinks it is.

Dodge did it with their new charger six-pack and as a result it will beat a stock GT (and maybe even a supercharged coyote) to 60 mph and through the 1/8. Only past thst and beyond, when the mustang hooks up in 3rd gear will it pull away.

If Chevy makes their new camaro AWD I don't think Ford will have a choice but to figure out how to adopt the tech for its next gen mustang.

 

[BuckeyeBOSS]

Dodge did it with their new charger six-pack and as a result it will beat a stock GT (and maybe even a supercharged coyote) to 60 mph and through the 1/8. Only past thst and beyond, when the mustang hooks up in 3rd gear will it pull away.

If Chevy makes their new camaro AWD I don't think Ford will have a choice but to figure out how to adopt the tech for its next gen mustang.

I love the idea, I just still have sticker shock about the DHSC pricing and am still salty, LOL. I can't imagine what Ford would charge to add awd, especially if it's a V8 hybrid like the Grand Sport X or ZR1X. I do think with the power these cars make today that awd makes a lot of sense.

 

[MustangMitch69]

I love the idea, I just still have sticker shock about the DHSC pricing and am still salty, LOL. I can't imagine what Ford would charge to add awd, especially if it's a V8 hybrid like the Grand Sport X or ZR1X. I do think with the power these cars make today that awd makes a lot of sense.

It would of course be more expensive, but if history is a guide people will continue to pay more for better tech. Our S650's would become the C7's of the mustang world, but that's not a bad thing if you ask the C7 community. We could claim that the only REAL mustangs are front-engine RWD until we die at which point our opinions won't matter anyway haha.

 

[DeluxeStang]

I’m seeing a lot of frustration today over the official numbers confirming the Dark Horse SC will make 795 HP rather than breaking the 800 HP mark. The reality is that adding more power to this specific platform wouldn't translate to meaningful performance gains from a dig. Here is the physical reality of the SC:

RWD Traction Limits: The Dark Horse SC is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive car. Even utilizing the Track Pack's sticky Michelin Cup 2 tires and advanced MagneRide suspension, asking two rear tires to hook up 795 HP on the street pushes the absolute limits of physics. Pushing past 800 HP wouldn't improve 0-60 times; it would just mean more wheel spin and tire smoke.

The AWD and EV Advantage: The real reason Porsches, BMW M-cars, and EVs hook up better isn't horsepower, it's traction distribution. Mid-engine cars place the engine's weight directly over the drive wheels to pin them down, while All-Wheel Drive splits power across four contact patches instead of two. EVs take it further by vectoring torque at each individual wheel hundreds of times a second to mathematically prevent slip before it happens.

Ford engineered the Dark Horse SC with top-tier aero and suspension to maximize a RWD layout. Squeezing out an extra 5 or 10 horsepower just for the bragging rights of an "800+" badge wouldn't change how the car launches, because traction is our bottleneck, not power.

This is why I approve of the idea of Ford applying some sort of rear biased hybrid AWD system to the mustang moving forward, especially if they can keep weight and cost down. We're hitting the limits of performance for a front engine, RWD platform.

 

[NegativeMultiplier]

...It's 5 horsepower. Should I find myself in possession of an SC, I'm telling everyone I have 800. You wouldn't feel the difference, except in your ego, if it was 800. These are crank numbers anyways...

On the flip side, there are people still trying to sell CFTP GT500s for 110k. In that event I think I personally can begin to justify pricing at 110 for a newer, fresher car with more power and "better"-ish tech and aero, iPad screen be damned.

If I hear one more person say "iT's jUsT a wHiPpLeD 5.0!" I'm going to change my tires to 165/20R16 front and back...

 

[FunkinGoNuts]

The article states the order guide is available; it links to the Ford website but nothing is there... false info?

 

[LouG]

5hp wouldn't stop me buying one. I like the idea of a factory package rather than DIY supercharging.
AWD might though. Having gone back to a RWD platform from AWD, I won't give up the better steering feel for a few tenths to 100kmh. I doubt Ford will go to the lengths Audi and Co have done to get their recent AWD's to handle and not go straight ahead in corners with audisteer.
Don't forget the German rocket ships need launch control to do their times, and that's just cop bait around town.

 

[Luckydog7]

Official numbers are out:

The Mustang Dark Horse SC's supercharged 5.2-liter V-8, Ford has revealed, puts out 795 horsepower and 660 pound-feet of torque, with each motor being built by hand by a single technician at Ford's Dearborn Engine plant in the manner made famous by AMG. Those figures put the new 'Stang at 35 ponies more potent and torques more twisty than its immediate predecessor, the S550-gen Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 that made 760 hp and 625 lb-ft from a previous version of the same powerplant.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a71074536/2026-ford-mustang-dark-horse-sc-795-horsepower/

This is all good, slightly shy of 800HP which I would have hoped for, BUT how does one go about ordering one??? A quick call around to dealers around me says they are not getting allocations and having trouble selling existing Dark Horse models. Any help here?

 

[Sofa King]

This is all good, slightly shy of 800HP which I would have hoped for, BUT how does one go about ordering one??? A quick call around to dealers around me says they are not getting allocations and having trouble selling existing Dark Horse models. Any help here?

I don't think that they "get" any allocations for these... they have to "buy" the allocation... meaning you have to buy the allocation. One of the other DHSC threads around here had the details on this.

 

[Neggytive]

They can't sell what they have on the the lot because at that price point, for a 2 door car there is stiff competition from GM with the C8, and any one of a half dozen Euro options with 4 doors that is more practical for most people.

My local dealer has EIGHT in inventory from 68K to 78K

Take 70K and shop around some Chevy dealers and you are leaving with a 1LT Vett or a Stingray 1LT Vette

A DH can not touch a vette in most comparisons.

A BMW M2 is a nice car, similar price, great performance, it is a better daily driver than a C8 or DH but there are complaints about how the car's feedback is not enjoyable.

Now if GM brings back the Camaro, which is easy enough to do as even the 6th gen Camaro is still out there as a Caddy CT5 , same underpinnings, and the CT5-V although pricey is a lot of car.

The Camaro with a V8 could take some Mustang buyers away from Ford, but IMHO and why I will not buy one is GM's V8's have been absolute garbage for years now, and while Ford's engines with one exception have been a dumpster fire for over 10 years now, the stand out engine for Ford IMHO is the 5.0 Coyote, and for reliability it wins hands down over anything GM except the Vette engines.

But back to my point, IMHO Ford has priced themselves out of the muscle car market.

I am old and like the Mustang, and I wrote the check for mine knowing it was a buy once cry once purchase for me, especially with the extra $5000 for the ragtop, but I would not do it again at current prices ( about $7K more than I paid for mine in 6/24 ) because once you cross over that 60K pain point, the extra 10 grand to get a Vette is an easy argument to make, and you'll never have a problem selling a well cared for Corvette.

I can buy any car I want, and since I am frugal I will limit it to $100K, but I would not buy another Mustang at current prices and configurations as I don't think they are the best value for the dollar once a certain dollar threshold has been exceeded.

And I still have the money I set aside for a Whipple still sitting there if i want to go down that road. With less than 6000 miles on the car it is still an option.

 

[BuckeyeBOSS]

They can't sell what they have on the the lot because at that price point, for a 2 door car there is stiff competition from GM with the C8, and any one of a half dozen Euro options with 4 doors that is more practical for most people.

My local dealer has EIGHT in inventory from 68K to 78K

Take 70K and shop around some Chevy dealers and you are leaving with a 1LT Vett or a Stingray 1LT Vette

A DH can not touch a vette in most comparisons.

A BMW M2 is a nice car, similar price, great performance, it is a better daily driver than a C8 or DH but there are complaints about how the car's feedback is not enjoyable.

Now if GM brings back the Camaro, which is easy enough to do as even the 6th gen Camaro is still out there as a Caddy CT5 , same underpinnings, and the CT5-V although pricey is a lot of car.

The Camaro with a V8 could take some Mustang buyers away from Ford, but IMHO and why I will not buy one is GM's V8's have been absolute garbage for years now, and while Ford's engines with one exception have been a dumpster fire for over 10 years now, the stand out engine for Ford IMHO is the 5.0 Coyote, and for reliability it wins hands down over anything GM except the Vette engines.

But back to my point, IMHO Ford has priced themselves out of the muscle car market.

I am old and like the Mustang, and I wrote the check for mine knowing it was a buy once cry once purchase for me, especially with the extra $5000 for the ragtop, but I would not do it again at current prices ( about $7K more than I paid for mine in 6/24 ) because once you cross over that 60K pain point, the extra 10 grand to get a Vette is an easy argument to make, and you'll never have a problem selling a well cared for Corvette.

I can buy any car I want, and since I am frugal I will limit it to $100K, but I would not buy another Mustang at current prices and configurations as I don't think they are the best value for the dollar once a certain dollar threshold has been exceeded.

And I still have the money I set aside for a Whipple still sitting there if i want to go down that road. With less than 6000 miles on the car it is still an option.

I agree. Just purchased my DH for $7,500 off MSRP with the options I think are best for me and how I plan to use the car (street and occasional drag strip) and I would not have paid anything more than this for the car. I LOVE the looks and plan to have a lot of fun with it, but the pricing is out of line for what Mustang is and what it's supposed to be. You can see some of the cars I have now and have owned in my sig. These type of cars are what I have always loved and have been my passion, but they have to get real with prices.

I had up to $100k ready for a DHSC, but $108k-176k is not what I'm willing to pay for a Mustang. Especially at the top end of that price range, I would try my hand at some real, slightly used exotics.

 

[smurfslayer]

I had up to $100k ready for a DHSC, but $108k-176k is not what I'm willing to pay for a Mustang. Especially at the top end of that price range, I would try my hand at some real, slightly used exotics.

I don't recall what the MSRP was on the last GT500 but I recall one of the locals was selling a blue, striped model at $109k. I don't know if they got it, but that's what they were asking. And just like the Raptor R, stealerships were tacking on anything they could think of to turn a profit, which is why they're in business but $40k over asking price is ridiculous. OTOH, it does reduce the tire kickers.

But here's the thing: Ford monitors these sales and they are fully aware of the stealership shenanigans, sudden price jumps when the car/truck arrives, add ons and of course, what's being asked for over MSRP. Guess what: Ford wants a cut of that ADM profit. Why should Ford only make about 20k on the car when they can make 40k?

So now after previous gens of Shelby models, they know what people are willing to pay over top of the MSRP and they've reacted. So, if you paid over for a previous Mustang model and now you're complaining about the steep MSRP- look in the mirror.

They aren't marketing to poverty buyers, they're marketing to enthusiasts and boomers with big retirement budgets. The base GT is your 'muscle car' buyer model.

 

[BuckeyeBOSS]

I don't recall what the MSRP was on the last GT500 but I recall one of the locals was selling a blue, striped model at $109k. I don't know if they got it, but that's what they were asking. And just like the Raptor R, stealerships were tacking on anything they could think of to turn a profit, which is why they're in business but $40k over asking price is ridiculous. OTOH, it does reduce the tire kickers.

But here's the thing: Ford monitors these sales and they are fully aware of the stealership shenanigans, sudden price jumps when the car/truck arrives, add ons and of course, what's being asked for over MSRP. Guess what: Ford wants a cut of that ADM profit. Why should Ford only make about 20k on the car when they can make 40k?

So now after previous gens of Shelby models, they know what people are willing to pay over top of the MSRP and they've reacted. So, if you paid over for a previous Mustang model and now you're complaining about the steep MSRP- look in the mirror.

They aren't marketing to poverty buyers, they're marketing to enthusiasts and boomers with big retirement budgets. The base GT is your 'muscle car' buyer model.

I absolutely agree with you. I skipped the S550 generation altogether, too Euro looking for my tastes. The GT350 and GT500 are cool though. I ended up with a modded 2015 Z/28 for awhile in the S550 years.

Also, that Boomer money is going to be drying up very soon for new fun cars. They are getting up there in age for trying to drive and get in and out of performance cars. Time to build and market to younger buyers.

 

[Dave2013M3]

Even more confusing is the fact that the Ford Performance blower shows 810hp but only 615tq.

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