Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC is Detroit's answer to the Porsche 911 GT3
A supercharged heart transplant and numerous choice upgrades should make for the most thrilling Mustang under the £315,000 GTD
Ford’s Mustang Dark Horse SC has arrived as an answer to Porsche’s 911 GTS and GT3, filling the gulf between the Carrera-rivalling Dark Horse and the outrageous GT3 RS-baiting, Nürburgring-munching Mustang GTD, proudly ‘designed, engineered and manufactured in-house’.
You can also think of it as a spiritual successor to both the GT350 and GT500, with the handling and track focus of the former and the supercharged V8 punch of the latter. Here are all the details we know, reported directly from its debut at the new Ford World Headquarters in Detroit.
The SC swaps out the base Dark Horse’s 5-litre naturally-asipirated 500bhp V8 for a 5.2-litre supercharged lump more alike (but not identical to) that seen in the race-inspired GTD. No official numbers have been disclosed as fine tuning is still taking place, but we’re told it falls closer to the 815bhp GTD than it does the normal Dark Horse.
For reference, the last Mustang GT500, which the Dark Horse SC all but replaces and from which the Mustang GTD’s engine was evolved, was good for 760bhp. No performance figures are known, though Ford’s claim of 280kg of downforce at 180mph for the Track Pack car suggests a healthy top speed in itself.
The Dark Horse SC gets what Ford calls ‘a soundtrack that rival sports car makers have largely abandoned’ – surely a poke at Dodge and Chevrolet and retiring their V8 pony cars, and possibly Corvette because of the more European-sounding Z06. That's not to mention the Europeans themselves, which Ford claims this car can step to. We can confirm this thing can rattle the vast exterior glazing of Ford’s new World Headquarters even from a studio nestled deep within, so it’s a good thing the multi-mode exhaust features a neighbour-friendly setting.
Unique to the SC in the current Mustang lineup is a Tremec seven-speed dual-clutch transmission very similar to that fitted to the previous GT500, sending power to the rear wheels via a carbon propshaft and limited-slip differential. It's not the GTD's transaxle eight-speed but it should be a step up over the gear-juggling ten-speed auto in the standard Dark Horse. In that car you can of course opt for the Tremec six-speed manual but in the SC, Ford’s only offering a dual-clutch, citing its increased focus on track performance and lap times.
Indeed the Dark Horse SC shouldn’t be a one-trick pony. The aerodynamics, cooling, braking, suspension, electronics and steering have all been fettled to that end as well as improving feel. Donated from the GTD and handy for controlling the extra glob of supercharged twist will be five-stage variable traction control, configurable through the car’s track mode.
The standard MagneRide dampers feature upgraded hardware and software while there are also updated front and rear knuckles and front control arms. Between the magnesium strut brace and lighter, stiffer forged suspension links and a revised steering rack, steering gear and tie rods, steering feel and response are said to be improved – much needed if the Dark Horse SC is to take on the 911 GT3.
As standard the Dark Horse SC has a 13mm wider track at the front than the Dark Horse, with cast alloy wheels shod in Pirelli P Zero R tyres. A new Track Pack reduces weight by 68kg (overall weights aren’t known), 54kg of that thanks to ceramic brakes borrowed from the GTD. The standard SC’s steel discs are still bigger than those of the original Dark Horse, clamped by six-piston callipers at the front.
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Track Pack cars will feature lighter carbonfibre wheels that are wider still and wrapped in bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tyres, spanning a 305 section at the front and a 315 section at the rear. The Track Pack also adds a specific calibration to the dampers and more aggressive aero – that lip on the boot improves the aerodynamic performance of the larger carbonfibre wing, while the front splitter is extended.
Indeed the Dark Horse SC is significantly visually enhanced compared to the standard Dark Horse. There’s a new front bumper that features cooling apparatus at its flanks and is slathered in honeycomb vents and big nostrils adding up to a 60 per cent increase in open area compared to the Dark Horse.
At the back, there's a more aggressive bumper, tall boxy exhausts and of course the larger wing. The new aluminium bonnet is heavily ventilated with five times more open area when you remove the rain tray, contributing towards a 2.5-times increase in downforce over the standard Dark Horse. It even comes with race-style pins. The underfloor too is shaped to smooth out and speed up airflow and aid cooling of the brakes and rear axle.
Inside, the GTD donates its flat-bottom stripe-topped carbon and Alcantara steering wheel, while sporty Recaro seats are included with the track pack. It’s also vastly more customisable than a standard Dark Horse, with distinctive accent packages with touches across the badging, brake calipers and seatbelts – the most distinctive being the Teal, inspired by the original Boss 429’s ‘Grabber Green’.
What do we think of the name? Mustang nomenclature is normally a bit more evocative – even Dark Horse has a certain something about it – so to headline the new car, with its supercharged power boost, with two letters at the end of the existing name? Feels a bit flat, like you’d have to extensively explain it to whoever asked. To car nerds it’s certainly not ‘Shelby GT500’, ‘Boss’ or ‘Cobra’.
But this is a new era for the Mustang and Dark Horse is a fresh performance sub brand that Ford says resonates with a young and diverse audience. It’s also the product of the reorganised and reunified Ford Racing division, that now sees the Mustang GT3 and cars like the Dark Horse SC being conceived in the same building.
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There are no prices as yet for the Dark Horse SC or the Track Pack and there are no official plans to bring it to Europe. You can blame noise regulations among other things. That said, whispers have it that a handful of cars could make their way across the Atlantic should there be enough demand, via the same special dispensation that allows the GTD regulatory passage. The order book opens in the US this spring with deliveries beginning in the summer.
