[m6-lt1]

Was surprised by the M2’s time but then I saw what tires were on it.

[ZPirate]

Originally Posted by crysalis_01

2024 Lightning Lap results are in : 2:51.2

"As fans of lightweight things, we looked like cartoon characters with eyeballs popping out of their skulls when the Ford Mustang Dark Horse rolled onto the scales. Weighing in at 4024 pounds—just 43 fewer than the 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500—the Dark Horse has spent too much time grazing."

"The Dark Horse's biggest letdown is its 10-speed automatic. It doesn't take many laps before the gauge warns of rising fluid temperatures. And with the heat come gear indecisiveness and untimely downshifts. It's very likely the six-speed manual could knock a little time off. Nevertheless, the Dark Horse's 2:51.2 lap is good enough to dethrone the Mach 1 to become the new king of the LL2 segment."

Dark Horse Specific
https://www.caranddriver.com/feature...ning-lap-2024/

Entire LL
https://www.caranddriver.com/feature...ning-lap-2024/

The standard Dark Horse comes with 255/275 tires on 19-inch wheels. To get the 305/315 combo is another 5k. The car C&D tested is 75k. That's a lot of jack compared to the cost of a 1LE or Zl1.

[JamesNoBrakes]

lb/hp works out to almost exactly the same.

[ZPirate]

In the most recent Car and Driver there was a comparison of a manual M2 and a manual Darkhorse. The Darkhorse had the $5,400 track package, but still lost the comparison. And the M2 as tested was cheaper at 75k while the Darkhorse was more expensive at almost 79k. That's crazy expensive.

[m6-lt1]

Originally Posted by ZPirate

In the most recent Car and Driver there was a comparison of a manual M2 and a manual Darkhorse. The Darkhorse had the $5,400 track package, but still lost the comparison. And the M2 as tested was cheaper at 75k while the Darkhorse was more expensive at almost 79k. That's crazy expensive.

Just read the article. Looks like it was a real close matchup and they liked both cars. Honestly the more I see what these new mustangs do with some mods/just a blower the more likely it is I move into one in the next few years.

[oldman]

I'm on the opposite side of this thinking, seeing the C8 at MSRP, I'd be a fool to buy a Mustang or Dark Horse and even bigger fool to put money into it like a blower. The C8 is better in every way possible and the C8 is NOT my favorite Vette. 70K for a Mustang is just crazy...

[m6-lt1]

Originally Posted by oldman

I'm on the opposite side of this thinking, seeing the C8 at MSRP, I'd be a fool to buy a Mustang or Dark Horse and even bigger fool to put money into it like a blower. The C8 is better in every way possible and the C8 is NOT my favorite Vette. 70K for a Mustang is just crazy...

Not if you want a manual. The C8 has been dead to me since its inception because of this. If someone wants a new car with a V8 + stick sports coupe there’s only 1 option now unfortunately. Also I’m not even sure a positive displacement blower can fit under the rear hatch of the C8. One other thing I’ll add is pricing on EVERY car today is high/terrible. 30k for a freakin Camry I think is bad. 70k for a base corvette is high as well. 70k for a Mustang is actually inline with all the BS price increases of all vehicles the past few years. Everything is expensive.

[ZPirate]

Originally Posted by m6-lt1

Not if you want a manual. The C8 has been dead to me since its inception because of this. If someone wants a new car with a V8 + stick sports coupe there’s only 1 option now unfortunately. Also I’m not even sure a positive displacement blower can fit under the rear hatch of the C8. One other thing I’ll add is pricing on EVERY car today is high/terrible. 30k for a freakin Camry I think is bad. 70k for a base corvette is high as well. 70k for a Mustang is actually inline with all the BS price increases of all vehicles the past few years. Everything is expensive.

The Darkhorse is way overpriced for what it is, especially if you go with the track package. I'd rather have a ZL1 or a Corvette. As the article stated, the Darkhorse isn't much faster than the GT, which costs significantly less. The downside with the GT is you can't get some of the upgrades that the Darkhorse has. For example, if you want a manual transmission you are stuck with the Getrag in the GT rather than a Tremec that the Darkhorse comes with.

Adding a blower to the Mustang will certainly add power, but you would still have to spend another 10k to do that right.

[m6-lt1]

Originally Posted by ZPirate

The Darkhorse is way overpriced for what it is, especially if you go with the track package. I'd rather have a ZL1 or a Corvette. As the article stated, the Darkhorse isn't much faster than the GT, which costs significantly less. The downside with the GT is you can't get some of the upgrades that the Darkhorse has. For example, if you want a manual transmission you are stuck with the Getrag in the GT rather than a Tremec that the Darkhorse comes with.

Adding a blower to the Mustang will certainly add power, but you would still have to spend another 10k to do that right.

I’d rather have a zl1 as well but we can’t get that anymore brand new. The Dark horse was never supposed to be faster than a GT in a straight line. It only has 14HP more. It’s faster than a GT around corners and it’s not only faster but it’s significantly faster than a GT around corners.

I agree that adding a blower will be 10k (I’d even say more like 12k) but from what I have been seeing these new Gen iv cars are making crazy power with just a blower swap. The dark horse has forged rods. i won’t be surprised at all seeing dark horses living at 900whp on sbe. If I decide I want a physically newer car than what I have GT/Darkhorse are literally the only option for me because I refuse to give up a manual transmission.

[6spdhyperblue]

Go look on gen14f150 forums. they are tearing up bottom ends with blowers on the conservative warranty tunes. Seems like things aren’t so bullet proof on the latest gen coyote

[Joshinator99]

Originally Posted by 6spdhyperblue

Go look on gen14f150 forums. they are tearing up bottom ends with blowers on the conservative warranty tunes. Seems like things aren’t so bullet proof on the latest gen coyote

The Gen3 Coyote shortblock is roughly 50% stronger than the LT1, and on par with the LT4 for $20K less… My brother is currently at 903 WHP with his stock-shortblock ‘23 GT…that’s not happening on an LT1. Ford certainly has its faults and as the owner of both a Mustang and a Camaro, I can say that with confidence lol. But the Coyote is a great engine, especially in Gen 3 guise. And FWIW, most of the Coyote guys having issues are trying to run boost with 12:1 compression and 91 octane LMAO. That’s a problem for any engine.

[m6-lt1]

Originally Posted by 6spdhyperblue

Go look on gen14f150 forums. they are tearing up bottom ends with blowers on the conservative warranty tunes. Seems like things aren’t so bullet proof on the latest gen coyote

Maybe the truck ones are a little different than the Mustang ones. I’m not as well versed anymore on the truck vs mustang coyote differences but I know on prior generations things like compression, cams and intake manifolds were different. Could also just be first year gremlins. The Gen 3 coyote had issues in year 1 as did the Gen 1 coyote and the LT1 initially in the C7. I can’t see Ford having gone backwards with this new generation of Coyote.

[N Camarolina]

If you are entertaining thoughts of getting mustang and adding a blower to increase power (and torque!) you might want to consider the limitations of the Tremec M6.

If my memory serves correctly, the DH doesn't use the TR6060, but rather the somewhat less stout Tremec (3160? can't remember the model number). Anyway, presumably Ford did that to save money and because they could get away with it given that the OEM coyote makes considerably less torque than the LT1. But if you significantly raise torque in the coyote....... Maybe experience has proven otherwise, but just thought I'd raise some food for thought so you don't wind up regretting future choices.

[m6-lt1]

Originally Posted by N Camarolina

If you are entertaining thoughts of getting mustang and adding a blower to increase power (and torque!) you might want to consider the limitations of the Tremec M6.

If my memory serves correctly, the DH doesn't use the TR6060, but rather the somewhat less stout Tremec (3160? can't remember the model number). Anyway, presumably Ford did that to save money and because they could get away with it given that the OEM coyote makes considerably less torque than the LT1. But if you significantly raise torque in the coyote....... Maybe experience has proven otherwise, but just thought I'd raise some food for thought so you don't wind up regretting future choices.

Good point. I’m not one to add big sticky tires and do a high rpm clutch dump on a high HP car. I know that’s how driveline parts break. I more so just like to do pulls on wide open highways. That being said I’m sure the transmission would need some refreshing eventually which I’m fine with. What I’m not fine with is putting a hole in my LT1 because it doesn’t handle boost as well as coyotes do haha.