Tested Performance Numbers: 2024 Mustang Dark Horse (by Car and Driver)

[Smaaron]

Performance vehicles are all about Performance. The numbers do matter to most people. Competition is human nature and while you personally might be perfectly happy with your Darkhorse possibly not out performing the 21 Mach 1 there will be people who are definitely not happy with that. If numbers and performance didn't matter to anyone we would all be driving minivans

I still wouldn’t drive a minivan…

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[Upacurb]

Reading though this is painful in the extreme.

Test numbers are just that, test numbers. In most cases, they have absolutely no value in the real world. 95% of people will never make use of those capabilities.

You could put 100 people in the same car on the same day with the same conditions and you will get 100 different results.

My last thought about all the comparisons to other cars being better, faster and/or cheaper is, so what?. If that is your opinion, then go buy the competition, because apparently the Mustang is not for you.

Like my Dad has always told me, no matter how good or fast you think you are, there is always someone better and faster.

I have owned a multitude of Mustangs over the years and despite any shortcomings they may have had, I loved them all.

I ordered a Dark Horse for one reason only, I wanted it, period, end of statement!

I understand completely

My car is definitely more of a "feelings/ experience" car then a "numbers" car - I could go trade it on a GT500 or Zl1 tomorrow if I was only after the best numbers (or throw a turbo Coyote in a Fox Body)

Sometimes its about the experience more than the numbers

Its funny many exotic owners agree- my buddy just paid more for a 2WD Huracan Technica then what he could have bough an AWD Huracan for- and the AWD Huracan is faster - but he preferred the feeling of the 2WD cars- even though they are slower

I mean if all you want is numbers- go buy a Tesla Model 3 Performance..... you will pay less and smoke us all stock GT/Mach/DH/350 owners

 

[Evo1986]

I understand that people buy the DH just simply because it is a DH. That is also totally fine.

What bothers me is that the DH ain't worth the price gap to a GT in my opinion. And if we are talking about " new gen", that thing should have at least 550 BHP, let alone more unique recognition values than what is being offered. The difussor for example is just an aftermath of the Mach 1. They could have been more creative imo.

I have talked about interior so I am not going to talk about it again.

 

[Dena]

The thing is, if you have a 2024 DH and you sell it with 85,000 miles on it and a 2024 GT with 20,000 miles on it, and the DH has had one owner, a young person driving it other is one owner and old couple driving it. My guess is the GT will probably get more money.

We had a Dodge Daytona, less than 500 made that has been parked for years. At one point it was worth little more than scrap but it recently sold for enough to buy a house with money left over. We still have a 87 mustang in police trim with 3.1 miles, yes 3.1 miles, never been registered and has the factory plastic protection along with the original window sticker in place. It will be a difficult sale if we can even find anybody interested.
Never buy a car with the intent of making money off it unless it's a small production run and you plan to hold it for a really long time. With both of these cars, life got in the way and they weren't used for their intended purpose so the collection just happened. Now we still have a 70 Road Runner and Super Bee to contend with and again, life got in the way. The last two require some work as both are in parts.

 

[Stratman397]

Omg, love road runners. Post a picture of it. First manual I ever drove was road runner in 1973. I had no clue how to drive one I drove and used the clutch and my friend shifted. She was too young to drive, but knew how to drive them.

 

[Lastoutlaw_21]

I understand that people buy the DH just simply because it is a DH. That is also totally fine.

What bothers me is that the DH ain't worth the price gap to a GT in my opinion. And if we are talking about " new gen", that thing should have at least 550 BHP, let alone more unique recognition values than what is being offered. The difussor for example is just an aftermath of the Mach 1. They could have been more creative imo.

I have talked about interior so I am not going to talk about it again.

The Mach 1 and the bullitt were also overpriced gt cars that were re-branded with an old name. Same thing and no one really complained because ford gave it an old name to make it feel "special". It's the same thing with the Shelby. It's just and overpriced supercharger car. But slap Shelby on it and everyone jumps to their feet. So we been buying the same car for yrs and have always paid for a name. I'm not concerned with it being overpriced in 10 yr we gonna be walking when the electric cars causes the electric grid to crash lol.

 

[Upacurb]

The Mach 1 and the bullitt were also overpriced gt cars that were re-branded with an old name. Same thing and no one really complained because ford gave it an old name to make it feel "special". It's the same thing with the Shelby. It's just and overpriced supercharger car. But slap Shelby on it and everyone jumps to their feet. So we been buying the same car for yrs and have always paid for a name. I'm not concerned with it being overpriced in 10 yr we gonna be walking when the electric cars causes the electric grid to crash lol.

You are telling me you have never driven a Shelby without telling me you have never driven a Shelby .....

So you can add a 5.2L motor/ blower/ DCT/ cooling mods/ aero mods/ suspension exc exc for less than 20K? Dark Horse starts at 60K and GT500 was 76K I believe

 

[IceGamer]

Just found this awesome video regarding HP ratings. It's well made and I just enjoyed watching this.

 

[RebelMan]

I understand that people buy the DH just simply because it is a DH. That is also totally fine.

What bothers me is that the DH ain't worth the price gap to a GT in my opinion.

A fully optioned GT comes within spitting distance of a DH. The price gap at that point becomes more worth while for the extra performance tweaks and aesthetics you get with it.

 

[Baldilocks]

A fully optioned GT comes within spitting distance of a DH. The price gap at that point becomes more worth while for the extra performance tweaks and aesthetics you get with it.

But what's missing from the Dark Horse is all of the personalization options that you get with the GT. Different color interiors, seat-belts, exterior colors, etc..

 

[Dave2013M3]

But what's missing from the Dark Horse is all of the personalization options that you get with the GT. Different color interiors, seat-belts, exterior colors, etc..

Agreed, one of the reasons I don't want a DH.

 

[Ike99]

But what's missing from the Dark Horse is all of the personalization options that you get with the GT. Different color interiors, seat-belts, exterior colors, etc..

Easy remedy. Don't buy, right? Is anyone coercing you to buy a DH? Move on bro.

 

[Baldilocks]

Easy remedy. Don't buy, right? Is anyone coercing you to buy a DH? Move on bro.

First of all, I’m not your “bro”.

Second, I’m not arguing for or against a Dark Horse, I’m just stating the facts.

Third. You can’t move me.

 

[RebelMan]

But what's missing from the Dark Horse is all of the personalization options that you get with the GT. Different color interiors, seat-belts, exterior colors, etc..

You got that right. In fact, if the GT had the Tremec I would have been persuaded to go that route just because of the personalizations. I wish Ford was more flexible with these types of features across trim levels.

 

[Ike99]

First of all, I’m not your “bro”.

Second, I’m not arguing for or against a Dark Horse, I’m just stating the facts.

Third. You can’t move me.

My recommendation stands "bro", don't buy...move on.

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