GT350 vs Mach 1 vs Dark Horse (Same Price Now?) – Real Drive Comparison

[Bob Lob Law]

Spoke to Ford exec last weekend. He rolled his eyes at these opinions. They have simular failure rates

That must be why they discontinued the voodoo and not the coyote.

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[svttim]

That must be why they discontinued the voodoo and not the coyote.

From the start it was said the Voodo was only for the GT350. Many times it was said that once the car was gone, the engine was gone. The GT350 production was supposed to end in 2019. It was extended to 2020 so that the GT350 and the GT500 would be in showrooms together for 1 year.

 

[FMC_M1]

Spoke to Ford exec last weekend. He rolled his eyes at these opinions. They have simular failure rates

Several of us who worked on Voodoo are on here. Sounds like this exec wasn't close to the project...

 

[Hack]

Several of us who worked on Voodoo are on here. Sounds like this exec wasn't close to the project...

Can you give us a ballpark comparison of failure rates since you are intimately familiar?

 

[FMC_M1]

I still work at the company, so no numbers. Regardless of the stats, Voodoo is a hell of an engine, and owners should just enjoy it.

 

[DCShelby]

we won't rat you out......snitches get blown motors.

 

[Hack]

I still work at the company, so no numbers. Regardless of the stats, Voodoo is a hell of an engine, and owners should just enjoy it.

I get it. You are saying that your job is more important than my NEEDS. It's ok. I understand. Really I do.

Anyway, seriously - I was thinking that there are a lot of factors that add variability to the comparison making it not a great one to even do.
1. Manual transmission cars like the GT350 will have more potential issues due to user error/usage vs. automatic.
2. GT350 arguably will see more track use than the other cars due to its market positioning.
3. There were some issues in manufacturing of the Voodoo that are different in my opinion vs. outright failure due to the engine's design.

For a real comparison of reliability between engines I would want to see what happened with Ford's internal durability studies, which I would assume reduce the uncontrolled variables by a large amount.

 

[DCShelby]

To be fair there seems to be a number of failures in the GM 6.2 liter motors in the trucks, Escalades and CT5 BWs…..think it’s rod bearings taking a vacation. We will see the full unredacted Epstein files before Ford ever shows the number of failures and reasons for in the Voodoo engine.

 

[Ninjak]

The GT350 was a great car. I loved my 17GT350 when I had it. I hated it when my Engine went boom. I really hated it when I had to fight with my dealer about why it went boom. It took Ford sending an engineer to prove that it was not my fault, it went boom.

So with all that in mind, that is the reason I started to seek another vehicle after I mistakenly sold my GT500, I looked at a GT350R, but then decided against it. Yes, you can get an extended warranty and go send it. Yes, you should not have to worry about the engine going boom, but for those of us that has experienced this first hand, it's not something I want to volunteer to do over.

My goal was to row gears again, so the GT500 was out when I started to look. GT350 was eliminated because I could not find a GEN2, and the ones I did, I was not going to pay the cost people/dealers were asking for. So I settled on looking at Mach1's or the DH S650. The Mach 1 was nice. Getting a lot of good vibes for the vehicle. The DH, well, after some investigation, was basically built to be the 350 modern replacement. Is it as raw as a GT350? No. I honestly believe nothing could replace the feeling the GT350 gives. Is it a fun vehicle? Yes. very much so with the tremic in it.

So in the end, I settled on a 2024 DH. Had some bits added, and now I have the rowing of a GT350, the handling of R, and the power of a GT500. My Dark Horse is now my WarHorse, and I am loving it.

If you want to see what makes it my WarHorse, go on over to 7G and look at the Dark Horse build:WarHorse thread.

 

[Mikepol2]

The GT350 was a great car. I loved my 17GT350 when I had it. I hated it when my Engine went boom. I really hated it when I had to fight with my dealer about why it went boom. It took Ford sending an engineer to prove that it was not my fault, it went boom.

So with all that in mind, that is the reason I started to seek another vehicle after I mistakenly sold my GT500, I looked at a GT350R, but then decided against it. Yes, you can get an extended warranty and go send it. Yes, you should not have to worry about the engine going boom, but for those of us that has experienced this first hand, it's not something I want to volunteer to do over.

My goal was to row gears again, so the GT500 was out when I started to look. GT350 was eliminated because I could not find a GEN2, and the ones I did, I was not going to pay the cost people/dealers were asking for. So I settled on looking at Mach1's or the DH S650. The Mach 1 was nice. Getting a lot of good vibes for the vehicle. The DH, well, after some investigation, was basically built to be the 350 modern replacement. Is it as raw as a GT350? No. I honestly believe nothing could replace the feeling the GT350 gives. Is it a fun vehicle? Yes. very much so with the tremic in it.

So in the end, I settled on a 2024 DH. Had some bits added, and now I have the rowing of a GT350, the handling of R, and the power of a GT500. My Dark Horse is now my WarHorse, and I am loving it.

If you want to see what makes it my WarHorse, go on over to 7G and look at the Dark Horse build:WarHorse thread.

I had the same mindset… 350 handling and transmission + 500 power = ESS Mach 1.

 

[wingnutt]

I had the same mindset… 350 handling and transmission + 500 power

ermahgerd, same!

…so I just added a ProCharger to a 350R

 

[Mach 307]

I went and saw a 2020 350 HEP yesterday, and after being around that car, and my own M1 HP, I don’t see any reason to argue about any car being better than the other. I have not been around a DH HP, so I cannot speak on that, but that is not my flavor. My overall conclusion is the cars are within tenths of a second on the track, and have some different characteristics depending which one you drive. Pick your flavor, and enjoy all three. We are so lucky to even have these three options. At the end of the day too, they’re all speciality Mustangs. There’s some things I’ve said in the past about the 350 and DH HP I regret because I’ve been too hard on both those cars. They’re all three, great cars, with their own pros and cons, none are perfect, but all are absolutely amazing.

 

[Grintch]

Isn't the biggest problem with the Darkhorse/650 a lack of feedback? Seems like it gets a lot of complaints about zero (or negative) steering feel. And occasional complaints about the brake by wire not having good feel.

Sure it puts up good numbers, but how much of that is due to the super sticky Super Trofeos being sticker than Cup 2's? If I recall they have about half the treadware rating.

 

[BreadBurner]

To be fair there seems to be a number of failures in the GM 6.2 liter motors in the trucks, Escalades and CT5 BWs…..think it’s rod bearings taking a vacation. We will see the full unredacted Epstein files before Ford ever shows the number of failures and reasons for in the Voodoo engine.

They were dropping lifters due to the AFM/DOD system in order to "increase" efficiency of their fuel ratings with the EPA. Even the manuals had the same lifters as the auto, but did not share the same tune to activate due to the difference in transmission operations. The failures were mostly noted in the COVID production iterations of the 6.2 despite having earlier reporting on the trucks with the same engine. My main reason why I no longer sought the 1LEs.

My reply to the 6.2 Issues. Not sure if I quoted it right, but here is the additional context.

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