THE WORLD'S BEST WRITERS IN THE NEW CARS THAT MATTER
Horse with shouting
The raucous Dark Horse version of the new Mustang is swimming against the tide by coming to the UK. We get an early taste in California
MUSTANG DARK HORSE
Honestly, I didn’t expect this new UK-bound Mustang to drive so well. Sixty years since it kickstarted America’s boom in pony cars – the muscle car’s more affordable, compact and sporting cousin – it’s back for more. It long-time rivals, the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger, have thrown in the towel, and regulatory headwinds say three-pin sockets not eight-pot engines are the way to go, but the Mustang is back for one last petrol-fuelled waltz, and it comes in a variety of versions.
It must’ve been tempting for Ford to simply stick the old one in the microwave for 30 seconds, not least because the 2014 Mustang was the first to get right-hand drive and a multi-link rear, helping it become the world’s best-selling sports car over the last decade. Ping! Ready!
A glance at the design and spec sheet suggests this seventh generation is indeed lightly reheated, but we’ve speared off Highway 1 north of San Francisco onto Panoramic Highway’s never-ending switchbacks and I’m struck by how much more nimble and together it feels as I climb up and east (if also down and north, south and west a bit, given this tortuous topography).
The seat of my pants says it’s more compact and lighter than before, no matter if cold hard stats beg to differ: it measures 4818mm from nose to tail and weighs 1811kg, which are both slight increases. After miles of cruise-control straights up from LA, where the brawny V8 at least sounded like it could tear this chassis to bits on the rare occasions we’d gunned it, I’m now digging into the power on a coarse, dry surface, finding traction and balance and a finesse I just didn’t expect.
No doubt it helps that we’re pedalling not the base model but the (current) range-topping Dark Horse here. It’s the first new Mustang performance name plate since the 2001 Bullitt, and spiritual successor the Mach 1 we rated so highly on our long-term test fleet recently. It’s also the inspiration for a new generation of racing Mustangs (see the panel on page 33).
Visual telltales include mascara that turns the LED headlights and front grille into a mean letterbox strip, a unique front bumper, lower side skirts, new rear wing and, inside, optional Recaro seats, indigo stitching and fake if convincing carbonfibre ‘grain’. It all introduces a purposeful feel to a cabin that’s clearly built to a price yet is perfectly serviceable.
