The Ford Mustang Dark Horse Impresses, Yet The GT Offers More Value

The 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse I just tested ran $74,500. It starts at a more sane $57,970. Still, the tab for a 2026 Mustang GT starts at $46,460, so the natural question should be: pony up (get it?!) for the Dark Horse at a minimum $10,000 premium, or stick with the GT?

My argument is in the headline of this story, but here are the pros and cons of going with either.

Updated November 2025:

The Ford Mustang is an iconic model and one of the last American muscle cars offered with a good-old V-8, while its competitors have shifted to electric powertrains. Currently, Ford offers the V-8 engine in the Mustang GT and Dark Horse trims, both of which offer excellent value when it comes to performance and the thrill of driving. However, there are subtle differences between the models. We have updated this article with detailed information regarding the features, tech, and engine specifications on the two models to help you make a better choice.

The 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse Is An Attention Grabber

If you could restrain yourself to only getting the “base” Dark Horse, for $60,000, you’re buying a 500-horsepower beast that turns heads all day and 17 times on any Saturday. I couldn’t park near any coffee shop, hardware store, or even in my own driveway without finding myself in a discussion about the Dark Horse. Even a Tesla Model 3 driver said, “Nice car!” at the supermarket lot. If you want a conversation starter, even a BMW M2 won’t grab as much attention.

An Optional Appearance Package Makes The Mustang Dark Horse Look Even More Special

Apart from the Race Red shade you see in the pictures, Ford offers eight more color options for the 2024 Dark Horse. Among all the paint options, the Blue Amber shade stands out thanks to its ability to shift color to dark purple when light hits it at a different angle. The optional appearance package is arguably the best-looking spec for the Mustang Dark Horse.

Dark Horse Appearance Package

• Choice of Blue Ember Metallic, Vapor Blue Metallic, or Shadow Black Exterior Paint
• Black Painted Roof
• Unique Brake Calipers – Notorious Blue with Grabber Blue Logo
• Unique Hood Graphic

Mandatory Upgrades That You Should Consider On Your Mustang Dark Horse Or GT

The Dark Horse comes stock with adaptive dampers. You can have these on the GT, but you’ll pay extra for them as part of the $4,500 Performance Pack. By the way, I’d argue you want these on either car. This is an unforgiving Ford built for speed. It’s almost civilized with the adaptive suspension, but just barely. If your mission is to slay every Toyota Supra you see, it’s the right tool for the job, but your molars will thank you for choosing this suspension option.

Also, the Performance Pack includes:

• Strut tower bracing
• Brembo brakes
• 3.73 Torsen differential
• GT: 19 in. x 9.0 in. 255/40R front; 19 in. x 9.5 in. 275/40R rear tires
• Dark Horse: 19 in. x 10.5 in. 305/30R front; 19 in. x 11 in. 315/30R rear tires

No Matter Which Mustang You Choose, It Comes Feature-Loaded

Whether you opt for the GT or the Dark Horse, both get fun features any pony-car fan is going to want. These include multiple drive modes that range from normal and sport, to track, drag strip, and custom. The latter setting is key. It lets you, for instance, dial down the meanness of the exhaust, but retain the quickness of the steering.

There are also custom indicators you can pull up, should you find yourself on an actual racetrack or drag strip. These include:

• Acceleration timer
• Lap timer
• Performance shift indicator
• Launch control (manual only)
• Rev match downshift (manual only)

Other Notable Features On The Ford Mustang GT And Dark Horse

The overall layout of the cabin in both cars is almost identical, with a few differences here and there. For starters, both trims get a 12.4-inch cluster display and a 13.2-inch infotainment screen. The GT comes with a six-speaker sound system with an option to upgrade to a 12-speaker B&O sound system. On the other hand, the Dark Horse comes with the latter as standard. Plus, the Dark Horse comes with an instrument panel with a unique chassis number imprinted on it. The GT has to make do with manual seats, while the Dark Horse comes with power-adjustable seats for both the driver and passenger.

Driving Around In The Ford Mustang Dark Horse

This is the flip side of the hot date factor. Just as there was nowhere I could drive the Dark Horse Mustang and remain incognito, the local constabulary also paid heightened attention to this car. Driving at night helped—slightly.

Perhaps that’s because I found myself hitting triple digits without trying, and scraping 70 MPH at redline in second gear. There wasn’t much need to engage a special drift mode, either. Some enthusiastic (!) motor press members had clearly had their fun with this Mustang, and even though the ODO showed barely 7,000 miles, the formerly sticky Pirellis had been ridden hard and put away wet.

Speaking of dampness, when this rubber wasn’t well warmed, or after recent showers, I could bust the back end loose in almost any gear.

That meant this Mustang was a hysterical riot of sideways oversteer. That was with stability control enabled. With it off, a neighboring lot at a half-dead mall provided more entertainment than anything playing at the megaplex. Not that I ripped off all the remaining rubber, but you catch my drift, right?

Ford Mustang GT vs. Dark Horse

Both the Ford Mustang GT and Dark Horse use the latest generation of Ford’s 5.0-liter V8 naturally-aspirated Coyote engine. That said, Ford has made a host of performance improvements to the engine featured on the Dark Horse Mustang. For starters, it features a dual-throttle body intake design. Moreover, it uses more powerful cooling fans, a lighter radiator and an auxiliary engine oil cooler. As a result, the 2024 Dark Horse’s engine has a slight edge in terms of outright power and torque outputs compared to the Mustang GT.

Ford Mustang GT vs. Dark Horse Engine Specs

If that spec seems close, it is. Testing the Dark Horse, Car & Driver only shaved one-tenth of a second off the 4.2-second 0-60 MPH time of the GT. That’s not surprising. Adding 20 horses to the dark pony is barely a five-percent difference. But, straight speed isn’t the sole metric you should consider. The Dark Horse’s 1.5-inch-wider rubber is going to stick to a tighter track—my test car’s worn tires notwithstanding. (Press cars get flogged hard, especially sporty ones.)

That said, the Performance Pack Pirellis on the Dark Horse led to a bunch of dog-tracking, even when its hoops were fully warmed. That’s just the nature of the nearly foot-wide gum designed for hot laps.

The 2026 Ford Mustang GT Is A Steal For A Starting Price Of $46,560

There’s another Mustang I’ve jilted during this exercise, the 2.3-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost Mustang with 315 horsepower. For $33,515, you’re getting a lot more muscle than something like a more expensive, 271-horsepower WRX, but there’s a big catch: You can only get an EcoBoost Mustang with a 10-speed automatic.

The price spread up to the GT is over $20,000 if you include performance upgrades, but doing so suddenly makes the Mustang GT an all-too-rare V-8 in a field of base-level Audis and BMWs, and it’s still meeting or besting would-be competition like the Toyota Supra.

The Cabin Space In The Mustang Dark Horse Is Tight But “Kinda” Practical

I threw a taller buddy behind the wheel of the Dark Horse, just to see if my smaller, 5’ 7 frame could sit behind a six-footer. Nope.

But because the rear seats tumble forward, creating a trunk pass-through, this is a more pragmatic sports car than any two-seat alternative. I also think Ford’s technology and Ford’s SYNC4 system work pretty well—though I do miss real gauges rather than the brace of optional screens you can sub in behind the wheel. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, and there’s Amazon Alexa, and some settings can be adjusted via voice.

Plus, Ford’s intuited what a Mustang driver wants to adjust quickly, so killing or amplifying the bellow of the exhaust, for instance, is never more than a few taps away on the overlarge central screen.

TopSpeed’s Take On The 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse And The GT

I would happily thumb-wrestle the other side of this ledger.

The Dark Horse is thrilling, and for all its bombast, it’s also extraordinarily capable. You’ll find limits on some apexes that are very hard to touch, driving anything this side of a Corvette, and at a cost that’s still, relatively speaking, cheap.

Then again, here’s the rub:

• The GT w/Performance Pack costs $52K and change.
• The Dark Horse w/Performance Pack: $63K
• That’s getting close to a BMW M2 or Audi RS3.

Those German cars are no less serious, and their own blistered fenders and race-lite-themed cabins are trimmed in a Teutonic style that Ford cannot touch. So don’t go there at all.

Buy the GT. You’ll have 9.5/10ths of the fun of the Dark Horse/M2/RS3. And you’ll have spent less than your neighbors on their German toys. Not to mention the accountant down the block who bought that really rational, and totally fine, but totally #notinteresting luxury crossover that you’ll get to eventually. When you have a second kid. Maybe.

Sources: Ford, Car & Driver