Legal Race: Dark Horae vs Camaro vs Challenger
 

Why wouldn't they test the SS 1LE vs the Darkhorse instead of a base level LT1? I never understood these sorts of tests where they clearly want a specific car to win. Albeit not buy much lol.

Ford simply recreated the SS 1LE and called it the ‘Dark Horse’.. albeit, 7 years later..

Probably because they couldn't find one. Shoot - if I recall - they came here asking for a ZL1 way back when, for the 3-way with the GT500/Red Eye. BUT - they referenced prior SSE results, so I don't think they were trying to make a direct comparison, because that LT1 would not have been. I'm not sure they were looking for the DH to win either, necessarily. I support my statement with them putting the same tires on the SSE that came on the PP2 test, years ago, to eliminate a tire advantage (even though, in a more recent test, the OEM SSE tires yielded nearly the same track times as the SC2), if I recall. I see your points, but I think that LT1 was just a stand in for Camaro.

That 1:10 was a great time though. It took Ford long enough to catch up, lol.

They drag raced a Dark Horse that cost almost twice as much as the LT1 and it was only marginally better in a drag race. The Dark Horse even had a huge tire advantage as well as a rear seat delete.

I want to see it go head to head against an equally optioned ZL1 1LE on their track with the same tires.

The Dark Horse is great, don't get me wrong, but Ford saying its a competitor to the 1LE that starts 10k cheaper, and not even including the 5k handling package the Dark Horse needs, that is absurd. That isn't a 1LE competitor if you could buy a 1LE AND a whole other car with the same money of a Dark Horse.

They probably felt the LT1 would do better in the drag race.

And people said I was crazy when I said the Gen 7 Camaro was developed by Ford.

A stock lt1 with square tires would only be faster from a roll…

I think they have another video with 2024 GT vs SS 1le and Mustang still won
The difference wasn't that big considering SS is 7 years old now and Mustang is "new"
Either way team Camaro wins for me lol

These comparisons are bad lol. They did test the 1LE with a GT and the 1LE was hands down the winner on a track, but for the drag race the 1LE is not the car you would pick, and it was still very close despite being set up for a track and down 30 horsepower and like you said 7 years older.

And now this drag race with a bare bones LT1 half the price of the dark horse that just barley lost, when an equal priced ZL1 would have smoked it. They even said the dark horse wasn't as fun as the 1LE around the track, which is still way cheaper.

2024 zl1 is 74k now but I agree it’s closer to the dark horse price wise than the SS 1le.

I now think the dark horses price is justified. It was quite a bit faster than the SS 1le with cup 2 tires they tested a few years ago. I really wish the Mach 1 they tested was bone stock (no rear seat delete and no aftermarket spoiler) but man it was VERY close to the 1le’s time with cup 2 tires.

Remember the 2 Fords that beat the SS 1le come with stickier tires from the factory and their front tire sizes start with a 3! I think if Chevy had given the 1le a front tire that started with a 3 it would be faster than the Mach1 but it still wouldn’t have caught the dark horse. That dark horse was super quick. I will say I don’t know if the trofeo’s are stickier than the cup 2’s. The dark horse comes with some decent arrow which I think contributed to its fast lap time.

Yeah I agree with most of that. Its not hard to make a Dark Horse over 80k MSRP with just a few options though. I am certainly not hating on the Dark Horse, its very fast, and a overall very nice car. I just don't think you get what you pay for in the performance department, but it does have its advantages over the Camaro as well. Its just not a great look for the Dark Horse when a bare bones Camaro at half the price and 45 less horsepower is right on its tail, and with a few bolt ons would have the LT1 in the lead.

Again, great car, I just don't think the price tag is justified for any of the Mustang models currently.

Mine is a 17' Super Sport manual, I am waiting for the 2025 Camaro when they up the HP to 505.

uhhhh:facepalm: