What Is The Mustang Dark Horse's Top Speed & How Fast Can It Run The Quarter Mile?

Putting aside the supercar-slaying, $300,000 Mustang GTD, the current flagship of the Ford Mustang lineup is the Mustang Dark Horse. The Dark Horse nameplate made its debut for the 2024 model year as the Mustang entered its new S650 generation, representing a more powerful and more race track-focused variant of the standard issue of the Mustang GT. 

Though the name is new, the Dark Horse effectively picks up where the previous generation Shelby GT350 and Mach 1 left off. If you are familiar with those two cars' position in the Mustang hierarchy, you will know that the Dark Horse is not meant to be the fastest Mustang in a straight line. That honor will go to the heavily-rumored and highly anticipated next-gen Shelby GT500 whenever it returns to the lineup.

However, just because the Mustang Dark Horse is aimed more at delivering cornering grip and track day hot laps than it is dyno competitions or quarter mile runs doesn't mean the car is a slouch when it comes to drag racing or top speed. So how fast is it? Depending on transmission choice, the Dark Horse has been clocked as quickly as 12 seconds flat in the quarter mile, with a claimed top speed of 166 miles per hour.

Among the differences between the Dark Horse and the Mustang GT,  the Dark Horse uses an upgraded version of the GT's 5.0-liter Coyote V8 that makes 500 horsepower and 418 lb-ft of torque. Now 500 horsepower in any car — especially naturally aspirated — is nothing to scoff at. However, compared to supercharged modern muscle cars like the Challenger Hellcat, Camaro ZL1 or Shelby GT500, 500 horsepower is actually a fairly modest number.  

Yet, for a Mustang that isn't supposed to be a drag racing star, the Dark Horse more than holds its own at the strip, especially if it's equipped with the optional ten-speed automatic transmission. Motor Trend was able to get a 12.0-second quarter-mile out of an automatic-equipped Dark Horse, with a trap speed of 118.4 mph. Amazingly, that car's 3.7-second 0-60 time is the same figure that Motor Trend got from the much more powerful, previous-generation Shelby GT500.

As with most modern performance cars, the Mustang Dark Horse isn't quite as quick when optioned with a stick shift. When equipped with the Tremec six-speed manual, Car & Driver got a 12.5-second quarter-mile at 115 miles per hour, while Motor Trend got a similar 12.6-second ET at 113.5 miles per hour. Yet given the fun-factor of the stick shift, that's a trade-off many enthusiasts will be happy to make.

What about the top speed? Given how much pavement you need to test this in the real world, it's a little harder to get an independently verified figure here. Ford's official specs show the Dark Horse as having a top speed of 166 miles per hour, which is over 10 mph faster than the Mustang GT's 155 mph top speed rating. For comparison's sake, the previous generation Shelby GT500 with its much more powerful, 760 horsepower supercharged V8, has a manufacturer-claimed top speed of 180 miles per hour.

Despite being targeted more at track day junkies than horsepower-crazed bench racers, the Mustang Dark Horse delivers excellent performance figures, especially when you consider that at its core, this car is still just a Mustang GT that's been honed for track use. 

Needless to say, the Mustang Dark Horse has set expectations sky high for the potential next iteration of the Shelby GT500, which, even if we don't know if Ford will make one for 2025, continues to be the subject of endless rumors and speculation.