REVIEW | Ford Mustang Dark Horse is a sinister-looking performer

That you can rev the engine from outside using the key tells you all you need to know about the new Ford Mustang and how it blends the car’s time-honoured brash character with hi-tech.

Shortly after the Mustang 5.0 GT went on sale in South Africa late in 2024, Ford launched the more exotic Mustang Dark Horse with chassis and engine tweaks and more standout styling. It sells for R1.5m which includes a four-year/120,000km warranty, six-year/90,000km service plan and four-year/unlimited distance roadside assistance.

Priced at a R200,000 premium over the 5.0 GT, it is the most powerful naturally aspirated Mustang to date and is flagship of the seventh-generation American pony car range.

The Dark Horse flexes visual muscles with a more Gothic vibe featuring darkened tri-bar LED headlamps, open nostrils in a gloss black grille to improve breathing, dark 19” alloy wheels, a redesigned front bumper with high gloss “fangs” and lower side skirts. A fixed rear wing, race-inspired diffuser and darkened quad exhaust tips complete the car’s darker, track-focused persona.

The Mustang Dark Horse has bonnet graphics, blue Brembo brake calipers, blue accents on the seats and a black badge on the steering instead of the regular silver horse. Each car features an individual chassis number and it is available in a unique blue ember metallic colour with a black roof.

To better harness the power, the car has powerful Brembo brakes, enhanced engine and brake cooling and the chassis is tweaked with larger rear sway bars and heavy-duty front shocks. Steering response and grip are enhanced by a lightened strut tower brace and K-brace designed by the Ford Performance division.

MagneRide active suspension optimises the ride based on driving surface and driving mode.

Power in the normally aspirated 5l V8 petrol engine is slightly boosted to 334kW — a 6kW improvement over the standard Mustang 5.0 GT — with an unchanged 540Nm of torque. The rear-wheel drive car has a 10-speed automatic transmission with sport paddle shifters, a traction-enhancing Torsen rear differential and Pirelli P Zero high performance tyres with staggered sizes.

Using our V Box equipment at the Gerotek test circuit, the Dark Horse completed the 0-100km/h dash in 5.22 seconds — slower than the 4.4-second sea-level figure claimed by Ford but a respectable performance for a normally aspirated car at Joburg’s high altitude.

Whatever the stopwatch says, the Mustang Dark Horse bolts from the line with satisfying vigour and acoustic fury. There’s nothing like the sound of a normally aspirated V8 and the Dark Horse’s none-too-subtle growl turned heads wherever we drove. Reactions to the car are incredible — everyone seems to like a Mustang.

It has a quiet start function so you don’t wake the neighbours, but even in this mode it sounds grumpy.

The Dark Horse feels fast and visceral, especially in Drag Race mode, which has more aggressive gear changes that punch you into the seat. It was in this setting that we achieved the best 0-100km/h time.

There are six drive modes: Normal, Sport, Slippery, Drag, Track and a customisable setting with up to six individual profiles which affect the throttle and gearshift responses, steering sensitivity, suspension firmness and the stability control, giving you a car that switches character to suit your mood and the driving conditions.

With a 267km/h top speed, the sporty Ford gallops with good directional stability, with the sides of the enormous bonnet flexing when driving at higher speeds.

It isn’t easy to see the end of that long bonnet when parking and the absence of a front parking camera or sensor in the R1.5m car is impolite, to say the least.

Fuel economy is unlikely to be one of the main considerations for buying a Mustang, but for all its speed and bluster the Dark Horse consumed a semirespectable fuel average of 12.4l in regular driving and about 14.4l with the high-performance testing at Gerotek included.

The chassis tweaks don’t turn the Mustang Dark Horse into a Porsche 911. It’s a heavy car at just more than 1.8 tonnes, making it a grand tourer rather than a lithe sports car. That said, it is the best handling Mustang to date and hurtles through a twisty road with better agility than its forebears.

You can always feel it’s heavy but the Mustang has excellent grip and a satisfyingly pinned-down feel, with well-weighted steering. It is well-mannered in fast corners with no nasty surprises to catch unwary drivers, but leery powerslides are on call if you switch off the traction control — and have a healthy tyre budget.

The ride is firm without being spine-jarring and it makes a comfortable enough daily driver.

The Mustang’s a relatively practical sports car with the ability to carry children in the back seat and a respectable 381l in the boot. Unlike in the previous-generation Mustang, the rear seats can’t be flipped down to create extra loading space.

The cabin has a fighter jet-inspired cockpit with two curved displays that can be customised to show different information with video game-style interfaces. The Sync 4 touchscreen infotainment system has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and the gadgets include electric front seats with heating and cooling, a wireless charger, a 12-speaker B&O sound system with subwoofer and driver-assist systems including adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist.

The interior mixes upmarket and sporting vibes with metallic garnishes, contrasting blue stitching, blue seat belts and soft-touch surfaces.

In all, it’s a well-kitted and relatively practical sports coupé but the modern conveniences don’t detract from the Mustang tradition of being brash, loud and lewd. The Dark Horse execution adds a more sinister character.