Darkish Horse to steer 2024 Ford Mustang cost in Australia

The brand new Mustang is not less than 12 months from hitting our shores, however Ford has already confirmed a track-oriented Darkish Horse is being added to the Australian steady.

“With the introduction of the seventh-generation Mustang, Ford Australia will add an thrilling new particular version nameplate to the Mustang steady, Darkish Horse,” Ford Australia mentioned in a press release.

“Darkish Horse is a road and track-capable efficiency Mustang with placing visible cues and the entire functionality sports activities automotive lovers anticipate.”

“With sinister appears to be like and a specifically modified 5.0-litre V8, Darkish Horse will set a brand new benchmark for Australian road and monitor efficiency.”

The automotive pictured contains a distinctive bonnet graphic, entrance splitter, and what appear like extra track-focused wheels than the inventory items. Brembo brakes are additionally current, whereas the rear is house to a racy spoiler. The grille is new, as is the Blue Ember paintwork.

Beneath the pores and skin, it contains a Torsen limited-slip differential and an even bigger sway bar on the rear, together with a extra severe strut tower brace and new dampers on the entrance.

The specification sheet for the Darkish Horse within the USA seems aligned with what was meant to come back Down Beneath within the outgoing Mustang Mach 1.

It was pitched as a track-oriented tackle the GT earlier than Ford Australia watered down its specs, apologised to prospects and offered incentives to these maintaining their orders, and paid a wonderful from the ACCC for deceptive conduct.

Ford hasn’t detailed how a lot energy the Darkish Horse could have from its 5.0-litre V8 engine, however says it’s concentrating on not less than 373kW. Count on a selection of a 10-speed automated or six-speed guide transmission.

Outputs and gasoline financial system figures are nonetheless being licensed throughout the vary, and subsequently haven’t been introduced – however Ford says the Mustang could have extra energy, higher effectivity and faster 0-100km/h dash instances throughout the board than the present automotive.

The outgoing mannequin’s V8 produces 339kW of energy and 556Nm of torque in GT guise, and 345kW of energy in Mach 1 guise.

MORE: All the details on the 2024 Ford Mustang

The 2024 Mustang vary is underpinned by a model of the outgoing sixth-generation’s platform, which Ford says was the “finest match” for the automotive.

There’s carryover suspension structure, although there have been some updates, together with new aluminium decrease management arms and new rear linkages. The Magneride adaptive damping system stays elective.

Ford says there’s a brand new steering rack and a quicker steering ratio throughout the vary, together with a brand new technology of security tools together with adaptive cruise management, lane centring, evasive steering help, and reverse brake help.

Maybe the best stylistic departure comes contained in the Mustang, with the dual-cowl – double-brow in Ford parlance – dashboard changed with a extra linear unit.

Premium fashions and up characteristic a 13.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system and a 12.3-inch instrumentation show a single wraparound housing, whereas base fashions characteristic standalone shows. The touchscreen runs Ford’s newest Sync 4 working system.

Bodily local weather controls are gone, changed with shortcuts on the base of the central touchscreen. There’s a single row of bodily switches, together with the hazard lights, whereas beneath these there’s lastly a storage shelf, which additionally features a wi-fi charging pad.

All fashions characteristic a flat-bottomed steering wheel, a primary for the Mustang. Computerized fashions characteristic paddle shifters with a silver end. Just like the outgoing automotive, the digital instrument cluster options totally different layouts for various drive modes.

Ford says it appeared on the outgoing automotive’s graphics, in addition to these of the GT and Mustang Mach-E, for inspiration, and there are extra angular, trendy components with copper-coloured highlights.

In a retro contact, Ford has additionally developed a Nineteen Eighties-inspired theme for the digital instrument cluster that simulates the devices from the long-running 1979-93 Mustang that rode the Fox platform. The numbers even glow inexperienced at night time in true Nineteen Eighties Ford trend.

MORE: Everything Ford Mustang