The Ford Mustang Dark Horse Can Out-Brake Supercars. Here's How

I dive into the Mustang Dark Horse's engineering secrets, doing many burnouts in the process.

Photo by: Motor1.com

Chris Rosales

By: Chris Rosales

Jan 11, 2025 at 10:00am ET

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Muscle car, pony car, sports car–Any of these terms are functionally meaningless when it comes to the Ford Mustang Dark Horse. When I found out that the Dark Horse Performance Pack had not only the most powerful Coyote 5.0-liter V-8 Ford has made to date, but also one of the shortest stopping distances ever recorded at 60 mph and a similarly impressive skid pad g-force number, I needed to know how. So I tossed a Dark Horse on the lift and drove it on some canyon roads to figure out its secret–all in the newest Motor1 YouTube video.

Without giving away too much, there’s some cleverness beneath the top-tier non-Shelby Mustang. Not only are the underbody aerodynamics extremely refined, with flicks and fins to help extract turbulent airflow, but the suspension and brakes are accordingly capable.

The 15.3-inch brakes up front and 13.9-inch brakes at the rear represent some of the largest rotors in any production car, all controlled by a brake-by-wire system. Behind the enormous brakes, magnetic dampers control the 3,991-pound body over bumps and through corners alike.

Yet the secret remains. Watch me dive deeper, and close in on how the Dark Horse produces world-beating performance. It all centers around the most basic (yet most complex) part of any car: The tires.