Official: 2026 Dark Horse SC makes 790hp

[Torinate]

Amazing running gear.
Such a shame it’s ones of the uglier cars out there. Every time I see the S650 I have to shake my head about how fast it went down hill in the looks department.

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[wingnutt]

Same here, having pushed the GT500 with track pack to its traction limits through corners many times, and having had the car at its Vmax, I'm just saying that an FI GT is a LONG way from replicating that.

ok, hold up…Vmax does not compute (unless you are referencing the Yamaha bike that dominated in the 80s/90s) did you mean;

Va
Vc
Vd
Vdf
Vfc
Vh
Vmo
Vne
or
Vno

…my pilot brain is asking, not me

 

[icecreamtruckz]

Its about time Ford does something different. We've been doing the supercharged v8 halo car for over two decades. I'd love to see them give it a twin turbo v8 with all wheel drive and that DCT.

I'll take a C8 Z06 for the same money as this SC will be.

That is the problem. The Z06 is too good. Im gonna has to get one someday. It’s a monster.

 

[DCShelby]

Lots of the Z06s are having tranny problems.

 

[Tw00sh]

Yeah I figured this was probably where the disagreement arose. Not sure how how much you paid for your Mach 1, but dealers around here were selling them for about 63k fully loaded in 2021. So 12k more would put you about 19k below the VIR spec GT500 CFTP.

If you bought used of course then, its not exactly apples to apples.

But, is 6 seconds worth 19k? I guess it depends on the person. I'm guessing the more the car is tracked the more the answer is "yes" and vice versa.

He is also mentioning a Mach 1, which in of itself is a step up on the track from a regular GT.

I mention this all the time, you can always tell who has not driven a GT350 or GT500, they are the ones that constantly say, "I can just Whipple my GT and have the same thing". Not possible.

No one I have talked to that owns a GT350 or GT500 (and I go to car shows constantly with my two mustangs) has ever said, "Oh, wish I just got the GT and super charged it" If fact, most of them will not even go BACK to a GT now. It's just a completely different driving experience, its therapeutic.

If fact, driving my all original 65 with only 210 HP is more thrilling than driving a standard GT. It has no power steering or brakes, so you get a raw driving experience.

 

[MAGS1]

I like it, but I also seem to be one of the very few around here that likes the DH (and S650 in general). The DH HP is a phenomenal car, I’d put it slightly ahead of the S550 Mach. The Trofeo’s that come with it are super sticky, a little more than the Cup2’s in my experience.

Obviously looks and the additional tech (screens) is subject to personal preference, but the cars themselves are really good.

I can’t wait to see a DHSC in person and would love to drive one if someone was willing to hand me the key fob

 

[loucas-2021]

Its about time Ford does something different. We've been doing the supercharged v8 halo car for over two decades. I'd love to see them give it a twin turbo v8 with all wheel drive and that DCT.

I'll take a C8 Z06 for the same money as this SC will be.

Amen brother. I'd take a C7 Z06 over it too.

 

[Hack]

I like it, but I also seem to be one of the very few around here that likes the DH (and S650 in general). The DH HP is a phenomenal car, I’d put it slightly ahead of the S550 Mach. The Trofeo’s that come with it are super sticky, a little more than the Cup2’s in my experience.

Obviously looks and the additional tech (screens) is subject to personal preference, but the cars themselves are really good.

I can’t wait to see a DHSC in person and would love to drive one if someone was willing to hand me the key fob

I hate when the "improvement" is stickier tires. Yes, I know the DH has some internal engine durability upgrades as well, but I'd like to see improvements like a lighter weight, better front rear weight balance, significantly more power, etc.

 

[9secondko]

I hate when the "improvement" is stickier tires. Yes, I know the DH has some internal engine durability upgrades as well, but I'd like to see improvements like a lighter weight, better front rear weight balance, significantly more power, etc.

Agreed. Anyone can go out and buy better tires. We want integrated improvement into the car itself. Not some consumable wear and tear item that you have to buy again anyway. I'm not paying that much money for tires.

 

[dccz302]

So basically, Ford appears to be following the Apple playbook. Make a product, and release a new product with incremental “upgrades”.

Ford had the Mach 1, and released a Dark Horse with Samsung screens and a more aggressive stock tune (the dual-throttle bottles are basically for looks). And charges $10k-$15 more.

And Ford had the GT500, and now releases the same car with Samsung screens, and a new look for an additional +$15K.

I guess they have to make up for all the EV losses somehow.

 

[G.T.]

I like it, but I also seem to be one of the very few around here that likes the DH (and S650 in general). The DH HP is a phenomenal car, I’d put it slightly ahead of the S550 Mach. The Trofeo’s that come with it are super sticky, a little more than the Cup2’s in my experience.

Obviously looks and the additional tech (screens) is subject to personal preference, but the cars themselves are really good.

I can’t wait to see a DHSC in person and would love to drive one if someone was willing to hand me the key fob

Honestly, this. They look to be very capable, and I'd love to give one a try someday.

 

[TonyNJ]

I hate when the "improvement" is stickier tires. Yes, I know the DH has some internal engine durability upgrades as well, but I'd like to see improvements like a lighter weight, better front rear weight balance, significantly more power, etc.

Those are only second to "revised and retuned suspension and transmission"

 

[G.T.]

He is also mentioning a Mach 1, which in of itself is a step up on the track from a regular GT.

I mention this all the time, you can always tell who has not driven a GT350 or GT500, they are the ones that constantly say, "I can just Whipple my GT and have the same thing". Not possible.

No one I have talked to that owns a GT350 or GT500 (and I go to car shows constantly with my two mustangs) has ever said, "Oh, wish I just got the GT and super charged it" If fact, most of them will not even go BACK to a GT now. It's just a completely different driving experience, its therapeutic.

I do see what you mean.

With a factory car, you are paying for the time, effort, and engineering to integrate and refine everything.

Even with the SC kits, I mean, with sufficient skills and equipment one could get a bare SC unit, think and fab up a pulley drive and intake integration solution, and tune.

An SC kit from VMP or Whipple is a lot more expensive than the sum of the parts because of the R&D into it.

With a GT500, Ford does R&D for the SC motor, R&D to integrate it to the car with an uprated trans, and R&D's the entire car around the powertrain. Then they R&D everything else from brakes, suspension, etc to make the resulting car driveable to a large segement of the population, in cold to hot climes.

Then it has to not break (The entire car and all its parts, not just the supercharger or related motor parts) within the multi year warranty period or longer under a wide variety of driving styles.

All this shows driving a factory uprated car vs a post title modded one (unless you are talking about a full built tuner car like a Shelby American but you will spending much more than an SC kit/suspension kit build).

Yes factory can come up with crap, and some builds can be better than factory. But in general an OE setup will be quite a bit above a post title modded car in a variety of tangibles and intangibles.

Now what to go with depends on your personality, needs, budget, risk averseness, and BS tolerance.

 

[Hack]

He is also mentioning a Mach 1, which in of itself is a step up on the track from a regular GT.

I mention this all the time, you can always tell who has not driven a GT350 or GT500, they are the ones that constantly say, "I can just Whipple my GT and have the same thing". Not possible.

Maybe some people are saying it's the same. I'm definitely not saying that. But I am saying that your lap times in a modded GT can be close to a higher option car. The media will never make this comparison anyway.

The point for nearly all of us is the enjoyment in driving a car more so than lap timing, and my experience is that the Shelbys and higher option cars are a lot more fun to drive than a modded car. I just disagree with the contention that people make - acting like lap times will be night and day different. Yes a car with 200 hp more will be night and day different coming off a corner, but a GT350 vs. an NA modded GT isn't that way.

Possibly a supercharged GT will be vastly inferior to a GT500. I know a lot more cooling is required once you have a power adder and I suspect that traction aids become a lot more important as well. I have no experience with that other than running with older GT500s like S197s that have high power ratings but are slow on the road course.

 

[robvas]

Possibly a supercharged GT will be vastly inferior to a GT500. I know a lot more cooling is required once you have a power adder and I suspect that traction aids become a lot more important as well. I have no experience with that other than running with older GT500s like S197s that have high power ratings but are slow on the road course.

Look at some of the Lightning lap times:

Mustang Shelby GT500 (2020) 2:44.6 #14 (2021)
Mustang Dark Horse (2024) 2:51.2 #17 (2024)
Mustang Mach 1 (2021) 2:51.4 #15 (2022)
Mustang Shelby GT350R (2016) 2:51.8 #10 (2016)
Mustang GT Performance Package Level 2 (2018) 2:53.8 #12 (2018)
Shelby GT500 (2013) 3:00.6 #7 (2013)
Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca (2012) 3:02.8 #6 (2012)
Mustang Ecoboost HiPo (2020) 3:04.4 #14 (2021)
Mustang GT (2015) 3:05.2 #9 (2015)
Mustang GT (2011) 3:08.6 #5 (2011)
Shelby GT500 (2007) 3:11.0 #1 (2006)
Mustang V-6 (2011) 3:12.5 #5 (2011)
Mustang GT (2010) 3:13.3 #4 (2009)
Mustang Ecoboost (2015) 3:15.6 #9 (2015)

The GT500 is almost 7 seconds faster than the Dark Horse/Mach 1.

Look how big the gap is between the 662hp 2013 GT500 and the 460hp 2018 Mustang GT PP2.
Only a 2 second gap between that same GT500 and the 444hp Laguna Seca (same S197 chassis etc). And then only 2 seconds between that car and the 305hp EcoBoost HiPo (different chassis as it's an S550)

And look how much of an improvement the Magneride suspension and Sport Cup 2 tires make the 2018 GT PP2 than the 2015 Mustang GT (same S550 chassis), almost a 12 second improvement (the gen 3 does have a little more hp than gen 2). It's also the reason the EcoBoost HiPo is 11 seconds faster than the 2015 base model Ecoboost.

The extra 150 power of the PP2 GT makes it almost 10 seconds faster than the Ecoboost HiPo with the same chasssis and similar suspension/tire setup.

And that 2011 Mustang V6 beat the 2010 GT and 2015 EcoBoost because it was a performance pack car, those other cars were on crappy base tires and suspension.

Don't forget Edmund's had all kinds of problems with their supercharged Dark Horse when they took it to the track

https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/ford-mustang-dark-horse-track-day-problems-long-term-update.html

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