New Ford Mustang Dark Horse 2024 review: muscle car monster to wake the neigh-bours

Verdict

Although the Ford Mustang Dark Horse has been thoroughly modernised inside and out, and wears a striking new set of clothes, it’s still an old fashioned driver’s car at heart – and one that drives as good as it looks. If this really is to be the mainstream Mustang’s last hurrah, it will be some swansong. No wonder the UK’s allocation is already sold out.

In truth, there isn’t that much to distinguish the Ford Mustang Dark Horse over and above the excellent seventh generation GT model – the car on which it’s unashamedly based. 

You get an uprated version of the same heavily revised Coyote V8, while the GT’s optional MagneRide dampers are standard on the Dark Horse. The suspension and gearbox are beefed up to be more track-orientated, and it wears a set of stickier Pirelli tyres. But we’re not talking about a radically different car here – at least not on paper. 

Yet in reality, and in the flesh especially, the Dark Horse looks and feels like it’s from a different gene pool beside the regular GT – itself a much-improved machine compared with its predecessor. And whoever came up with the name, give that person a cigar.

Fortunately, the rest of the car lives up to its brilliant new title, even though in European specification it only boasts 7bhp more than the regular GT; 447bhp versus 440bhp with the same 540Nm of torque. Thank our more stringent emissions regulations for this; in the US the car doesn’t need a particulate filter, and produces a more meaningful 493bhp. 

No matter, because up to around 5,100rpm the power delivery is exactly the same as it is in the US version. It’s only at the very top of the rev range that the Euro version fades, up to which point it is a bona-fide, tyre shredding, V8-powered hot rod of a car. Make no mistake about that.

Inside, the Dark Horse benefits from the same thoroughly modernised dashboard and instrument display, with fully digitised and adjustable TFT instruments, plus a 13.2-inch central touchscreen to control all of the car’s main interior functions. It looks quite a lot like something from Mercedes inside; Ford’s recent focus groups were met with almost universal approval, so out went the traditional cowled Mustang dials and analogue switchgear in favour of a more contemporary-feeling cabin. One that, according to Ford, has been designed to replicate the feel of being inside a fighter jet.

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At least the driving position remains familiar, as do the fundamental driving dynamics of the car. Despite having much sharper steering, brakes, ride and roll control, plus a brilliantly well tied-down rear end, the Dark Horse still feels like a Mustang on the move. Just a very crisp, well resolved one that also happens to go like stink – and sound absolutely delicious – when you put your foot down.

Ford claims 0-62mph in 4.4 seconds with the 10-speed automatic gearbox, or 5.2 seconds with the uprated Tremec T56 six-speed manual – the latter being the transmission of choice if you intend to take your Dark Horse to a track, because it’s more durable that the auto in extremis, says Ford. And in reality that’s who this car is aimed at; someone who might take their car to the odd track day and drive it far harder than normal on the road. It’s the enthusiasts’ choice, but not a full blown track car, says Ford. That comes later in the form of the £315k Mustang GTD – where D stands for Daytona, not diesel.

It's a role this car plays close to perfection, actually. The dynamics are notably sharper than those of the regular GT; it sounds quite a lot naughtier thanks to a different crankshaft and exhaust, and it goes a little bit harder in all respects. Subjectively, it feels a whole lot more serious as a driver’s car. 

It looks so much fruitier, too, with a square-jawed stance that is enhanced by a raft of menacing styling upgrades – all of which combine to give it a far more purposeful personality on the road.

So, although it costs another £12k over the GT, we’d say the Dark Horse is worth every penny. No wonder they can’t build them fast enough.