When we evaluate cars, we do our best to judge them by what they are, not criticize them for what they aren’t. But in the case of the latest Mustang Dark Horse, our particular sample was noticeably let down by a key omission.
The Dark Horse is–at least until the insane Mustang GTD drops–the gnarliest pony in Ford’s stable, with …
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Still figuring out how all of this GRM+ content works. Will this article be in a hard-copy of the magazine? If so, I look forward to the great write-up and glossy pictures!
It's strange to me that the Ford publicists would give journalists a gelded version of their strongest horse. WTH are they thinking?
confuZion3 said:
Still figuring out how all of this GRM+ content works. Will this article be in a hard-copy of the magazine? If so, I look forward to the great write-up and glossy pictures!
Some GRM+ articles will also appear in print, but you can read them all if you link your print subscription in your website account settings. 
Oh! Neat! I'll figure that out tonight when I get home. I didn't realize the print subscription granted me access to GRM+ articles. I'm excited to read this one!
Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:
It's strange to me that the Ford publicists would give journalists a gelded version of their strongest horse. WTH are they thinking?
I once brought a turbo Miata to (major automotive magazine). They gave it to a journo who I don't think had ever driven a stick before.
Most journalists are never going to do a track test. They'll drive the car on Angeles Crest or maybe in Spain if Ford flies them there. So putting the car on 180 TW tires with what are undoubtedly stiffer suspension settings will lead to complaints about poor ride quality and tire noise.
Ford never learns. See Shelby GT350 and Performance Pack, Boss 302 and Track Pack, etc, etc
Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:
It's strange to me that the Ford publicists would give journalists a gelded version of their strongest horse. WTH are they thinking?
This isn't Edmund's or Consumer Reports, its Grassroots MotorSports!! What a bunch of schmucks / putzes that work at the Ford Media Press core motor pool.
Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:
It's strange to me that the Ford publicists would give journalists a gelded version of their strongest horse. WTH are they thinking?
Tom touched on it before in this column, but often we're at the mercy of what's in the pool of test cars:
How do we pick which cars? Well, we’ll make special requests when new cars are announced (think GR Corolla or new Mustang), but in general we take what we’re offered. The cars are specced and loans are planned strategically by the fleet managers, in partnership with the manufacturers’ PR staff.
We’re local to the Miami metro area, for example, which means most of our test cars are luxury-oriented and fully loaded. A fleet in the Northeast would have plenty of AWD cars with heated seats, while a fleet in SoCal would have every flavor of off-road-oriented special truck to play with. Generally, we learn the make and model of a loan a few days before it’s delivered. And after a tour of duty (usually the current model year), press cars are generally sold to the dealer network as run-of-the-mill used cars.
I was actually just reading that column about how you get press cars shortly before I read the dark horse review.
I suppose the thing that I couldn't quite decipher from the story was: does it just need wider/stickier rubber to be great? Or did it seem to be something more fundamental?
It's less than a second faster than a Civic Type R. Which maybe says more about the Type R than the Mustang....
You're better off buying your own wheels and tire than the handling package anyways. If you should want the HP stock wheels for some reason you usually can find them pretty cheap. So unless you're planning on running some class where having the stuff stock on the car matters....
I do not appreciate articles about the Dark Horse because I want one and cannot afford one. Whah. That said, it was interesting to read about the automatic, some say it is telepathic and others say it is hit-or-miss. Wish they would put a proper DCT in there.
johndej
UltraDork
11/7/24 8:14 a.m.
The pic there looks more like a cramit to me at first glance.
johndej said:
The pic there looks more like a cramit to me at first glance.
My biggest issue with the S650 is that they made the front end look too much like a Cramit.
BA5 said:
I suppose the thing that I couldn't quite decipher from the story was: does it just need wider/stickier rubber to be great? Or did it seem to be something more fundamental?
The wheel/tire package is the biggest thing holding it back. The transmission does it no favors, but that could be solved with the six speed. Although even that is kind of a bummer because in a world where we have so many good paddleboxes now this kind of transmission performance is frankly inexcusable.
JG Pasterjak said:
Also, WTF is a Cramit?
it's some kind of hillbillification of the mustang's Bitchin' competitor
johndej
UltraDork
11/7/24 9:31 a.m.
In reply to JG Pasterjak :
This may have been the origin or at least the earliest I could find in a 30 sec search https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/stang-or-cramit/111601/page1/
JG, clearly you spend too much time actually doing your job and not lurking on the forum like some of us.
.2 slower than a 180hp Miata with a few suspension bits. Tsk, tsk.
johndej said:
In reply to JG Pasterjak :
This may have been the origin or at least the earliest I could find in a 30 sec search https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/stang-or-cramit/111601/page1/
Do not know how this important piece of GRM lore escaped me. Thanks for getting me back on track.
Cramit is the final boss of Camaro misspellings.
My question about the transmission is: do you think it was tuned with the good tires/handling package, and the quirky shifting you experienced was due to the stability control trying to work with it to keep you "safe"? Would it work better if you had more grip do you think?
WonkoTheSane said:
My question about the transmission is: do you think it was tuned with the good tires/handling package, and the quirky shifting you experienced was due to the stability control trying to work with it to keep you "safe"? Would it work better if you had more grip do you think?
That's an excelent question to which my answer would be "I don't think so?"
Most of the transmission weirdness was at the top of the rev range, either delaying upshifts or downshifts. It felt way more like a torque mitigation strategy than a chassis stability strategy. Now, maybe the special tuning of the HP MagneRide system also comes with special tuning for the trans controller? I'd like to hope so, because I'm an unapologetic fan of a good paddle-shifted transmission on track (ZF 8HP folks know, amirite?).
JG Pasterjak said:
WonkoTheSane said:
My question about the transmission is: do you think it was tuned with the good tires/handling package, and the quirky shifting you experienced was due to the stability control trying to work with it to keep you "safe"? Would it work better if you had more grip do you think?
That's an excelent question to which my answer would be "I don't think so?"
Most of the transmission weirdness was at the top of the rev range, either delaying upshifts or downshifts. It felt way more like a torque mitigation strategy than a chassis stability strategy. Now, maybe the special tuning of the HP MagneRide system also comes with special tuning for the trans controller? I'd like to hope so, because I'm an unapologetic fan of a good paddle-shifted transmission on track (ZF 8HP folks know, amirite?).
Eh, okay.. I was just trying to be generous and come up with an excuse for 'em :) I'm lucky that I get to drive a lot of very high-dollar sports cars on the track with regularity (XX Team Represent!), and I also love me a good DSG/Auto/PaddleShift setup.
Alfa - Know anyone on the transmission tuning team?
