blacksheep-1
Epic Contributor
- 7,096
- 9,550
Good for them... ' murica!
The Mustang Forum for Track & Racing Enthusiasts
Taking your Mustang to an open track/HPDE event for the first time? Do you race competitively? This forum is for you! Log in to remove most ads.
- Welcome to the Ford Mustang forum built for owners of the Mustang GT350, BOSS 302, GT500, and all other S550, S197, SN95, Fox Body and older Mustangs set up for open track days, road racing, and/or autocross. Join our forum, interact with others, share your build, and help us strengthen this community!
S650 Dark Horse build team,leaving notes
- Thread starterblacksheep-1
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Very cool!
Looks like there’s one more reveal coming next Monday. Has to be the Dark Horse “S” - haven’t heard it mentioned since the original news last year and the only model that hasn’t been officially revealed since.
Bill Pemberton
0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
Solid marketing tool and though it is inexpensive new owners will like to know their passion is equally shared by the individuals who built their dream.
JDee
Ancient Racer
I dunno, call me a curmudgeon, but I'm finding the whole dark horse thing to be more than a bit over the top. Selling the sizzle? I dunno, but from the very beginning of this thing it has smelled like marketing and not much more. Whatever.
I just got the sense that the car was bloated and heavy and that's death to me in a track car. And releasing video of a GT3/GT4 car whistling around a track isn't going to change anything for me either.
I just got the sense that the car was bloated and heavy and that's death to me in a track car. And releasing video of a GT3/GT4 car whistling around a track isn't going to change anything for me either.
This is the best stopping car in the world you know that right ? 60-0 in 86 ft it stops faster than a Turbo S. The Dark Horse is actually very capable out of the showroom floor at least judging by the few track tests that Terry Fair is doing with his car. Overall it's impressive besides the digital displays (though if they can show tire pressures and CHT at the same time it will be magic) and price tag as 70k+ for a Mustang that is not a GT500 sounds like a lot of money.
Bill Pemberton
0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
The car is impressive and yet the digital displays on the regular Mustang and Darkhorse are so hideous I could not see myself moving into one. Surprisingly such a little thing affects some buyers but the look of analog dials and gauges is key for my personal esthetics. I have hated the buttugly computer style upright screens seemingly bright designers decided to mirror the blah Tesla dash ( on so many cars ). I was very pleased Mustang kept the look with the GT 350 and then the Mach 1, but the never ending screen in the Darkhorse was my achilles heel ---- just can't stand it. I really love the outside, but one lives inside a car and that was the death knell for me. Now all the excitement and cool news for the track versions , who knows , the old dog may get over it and adjust. The Classic look inside was always a draw for me , nostalgia, and purposeful as so many cars I owned or grew up with.
Last edited:
JDee
Ancient Racer
And that's just one of the many reasons I bought the 23 Mach 1 instead of waiting for this new car.
I also find the Dark Horse name a bit goofy. Well, actually a lot goofy. What the hell is a Dark Horse anyway?
Race horse terminology. Surprised so many haven't heard of the phrase 'a dark horse in the race'. It's used when talking about a newcomer to the grid that hasn't established their performance yet, but usually reserved for when the person speaking thinks they have a solid chance of doing well.
But the Mach 1 also has a digital dash ?
Bill Pemberton
0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
I should be more succinct, bnight, as are correct, I personally can't stand that IMAX screen that practically covers the dash from door to door. Sorry I was not more specific about my dislike --- it is essentially a design flaw in my personal opinion.
This is likely an old man dislike, and though quite open to change, automotive design often instills a passion and desire and I simply find the dash area sterile , boring and lacking in any artistic form!
PS - so I love the look of your dash, ha!
This is likely an old man dislike, and though quite open to change, automotive design often instills a passion and desire and I simply find the dash area sterile , boring and lacking in any artistic form!
PS - so I love the look of your dash, ha!
JDee
Ancient Racer
Yes, it's a digital dash in the Mach 1 but you can make it look like several different styles of dash just by cycling through the options. I like the old school speedo/tach look and that's mostly what I use, it's just more familiar to me. I've tried all of them and I still like the round speedo/tach look best.
I learned to drive on my mom's car which was a 1964 Valiant with 273 V8, 4 speed manual and positrac diff. It had a tach and speedo so I've been looking at that layout for a very very long time. My Dad owned a 1961 Austin Healey 3000 with the Ruddspeed conversion motor (3 carbs) and overdrive on 3rd and 4th. And of course a tach and speedo front and center.
Speedo and tach just works for me. As always, YMMV.
And I still want to know what the hell a Dark Horse is? I grew up in farm country, made cash as a kid stacking hay bales for the local dairy farmers. Never heard of a Dark Horse before.
I'm an old guy, I guess I don't take to new stuff like this very willingly. Which brings me back to why I bought the Mach 1.
I learned to drive on my mom's car which was a 1964 Valiant with 273 V8, 4 speed manual and positrac diff. It had a tach and speedo so I've been looking at that layout for a very very long time. My Dad owned a 1961 Austin Healey 3000 with the Ruddspeed conversion motor (3 carbs) and overdrive on 3rd and 4th. And of course a tach and speedo front and center.
Speedo and tach just works for me. As always, YMMV.
And I still want to know what the hell a Dark Horse is? I grew up in farm country, made cash as a kid stacking hay bales for the local dairy farmers. Never heard of a Dark Horse before.
I'm an old guy, I guess I don't take to new stuff like this very willingly. Which brings me back to why I bought the Mach 1.
Bill Pemberton
0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
In the US a Darkhorse is considered a " Surprise contender, not one initially thought to be the best or the fastest, for instance. Since more and more folks are realizing what a potent Pony the Mustang is a better name would have probably been something like , Stallion or Thoroughbred .
Honestly , with the track prowess the Mustang has shown over the past decade, especially, why they did not go with a name like GT4 is beyond me , as it would give the car plenty of cache. Oh well , Dorkhorse it is, ha!
Honestly , with the track prowess the Mustang has shown over the past decade, especially, why they did not go with a name like GT4 is beyond me , as it would give the car plenty of cache. Oh well , Dorkhorse it is, ha!
- Thread starter
- #13
blacksheep-1
Epic Contributor
- 7,096
- 9,550
Ford pretty much said the star wars dash was for the kids, the same ones that live on their phones
Bill Pemberton
0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
Thanks for the correction, I thought it was based more on the early Star Trek computer consoles, ha!
I like how the mach1 digital dash changes the look in the different drive modes. I prefer the “track” mode with large upper rpm band & mph in large font as it’s easy to peek at that during sessions.
I’m not much of a fan of the new 2024 interior nor the exterior.
Ya’ll see the dark horse R pamphlete. @Vettel-ish texted it to me
Does the R have the big ass center screen ?
Plus, isn’t the DH R a car completely different than the base DH ? I think I saw some photos of the R’s awesome fenders that are different
but you can make the DH dash to look like a Fox body so that argument I guess is the same as Mach 1 digital dash.
I'm also on team analog gauges to be fair but from all commenting on the topic I think I'm one of the few with a real analog dashboard here. So really don't get your uproar while you use a digital dash. But yeah the design of the 2 china made screens that are put in every new performance car is annoying.
It has a digital dash but a Motec or something like that. DH R is what you can consider a real Club Sport Dark Horse but it's a race car not a street one.
Bill Pemberton
0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
I don't mind the digital dash on the Mach 1 and years back, I just absolutely dislike the giant computer screen dash that belongs more in an office than inside a car. bnight is quite correct and since we have owners all over the World I apologize for not being more explicit -- sorry.
TMO Supporting Vendors
