2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Forbes Story: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kbrauer/...

Here we are, we’re driving the all new 2024 Mustang Dark horse, which is a pretty cool name and it’s pretty cool that Ford came out with an all new performance model for the first time in over 20 years.

The last one was the Bullitt Mustang. I actually had one of those 2001 Bullitt Mustangs, but this is the Mustang Dark Horse.It's got the 5.0-liter Coyote engine that makes 500 hp and 418 pound feet of torque in a very rich and wide torque band that makes it very fun on roads like this.

Ford says the Dark Horse will hit 60 miles an hour in 4 seconds or less and do the quarter mile in about 12 and 1/2 seconds. it comes standard with things like larger sway bars, Brembo brakes, and 19-inch wheels with Perelli PZero tires. The Dark Horse name may be all new but keep in mind this car is sitting on about a 10-year-old platform. This car was last redesigned in 2015.

It received substantial updates and I think the exterior looks pretty good, though the rear quarter panels have a lot of Camaro in them. Maybe Ford figured that car wouldn’t need them anymore.

On this new Mustang Dark Horse I think that chiseled design they’ve got on the rear end, where the tail lights look like flying Vs as they go down the road, is quite cool.

The front end still has the same design essentially that it had with the 2015 car, and the 2015 car represents what I like to refer to as the drunk pedestrian styling that all cars suffer from today. What I mean by that is that every car sold in Europe had to have its hood height elevated because of all the contact, as they used to say, between cars and pedestrians in Europe I think there were a fair amount of drunk pedestrians in plazas wandering out into roadways and getting hit by cars and so they realized a lot of people were dying because of the rapid deceleration as their head hit the hood and then the hood stopped because it hit the top of the engine. So all the cars starting in the mid 2000s in Europe, had to have a higher hood height to allow for more absorption of pedestrians who were getting hit in all these places.

We know the Mustang went Internationale in 2015 and started to be sold everywhere, including in Europe. That was the year you got this raised hood affect, so you can see how the hood kind of bumps up here and it’s higher because it had to be sold in Europe and had to follow that rule. And I always feel like sports cars do much better and certainly look much better when they have a compact short, lowered hood that looks like it’s meant to cut through air. But all the front engine sports cars sold in Europe have to have a high hood. By the way, this is why you see the massive billboard-shaped grills on almost every modern car. Because car companies can’t afford to build one vehicle for one market. They have to build vehicles for all the global markets so they all have to pass the European drunk pedestrian rule. So they all have massive grills now, including the Mustang. The Mustang actually tried to cut down the size of the grill by having the hood curve down here, but at the end of the day it still has to slope way up and it just looks higher than I think it should, and that's why.

Too high hood aside, the Mustang maintains it long hood short deck proportions that it has had for over 60 years. What’s different about the Dark Horse is this is the first one that’s ever had this head-on emblem instead of a profile like every previous Mustang. it’s also got treatments like this darkened hood, roof, and trunk. And it’s got these dark accents underneath the headlights.

The new Mustang has seen substantial changes to its exterior, but it’s really the interior where I think the most important updates have been made. Everything from the standard 12.4 inch digital gauge cluster to the optional, or standard in the Dark Horse, 13.2-inch central touchscreen. It’s interesting how the two flow together -- very Mercedes-Benz like.

This new central touchscreen houses dedicated climate controls along the bottom, plus access Sync4 infotainment system. It’s also got a wide range of vehicle adjustment and personalization options.

Another cool improvement for the new Mustang Is this easy-to-grab emergency break that synchronizes with a drift mode, making it very easy to drift the back around.

Ford admits this Mustang is meant to draw in a younger crowd. That’s why it’s got updates related to digital interfaces and controls. Thankfully the most important control a modern car can have survived that change.

The unfortunate part of the new Mustang, like so many modern sports cars and performance cars, is it’s drifting toward, if not outright busting through, the 2 ton curb weight barrier. I hope there’s a Mustang in the works on a brand new platform that loses at least 500 pounds