Next-gen Ford Mustang – The competitors at R1.5 million

The seventh-generation Ford Mustang GT will touch down in South Africa in early 2024, with the flagship Dark Horse version hot on its heels in the second quarter of the year.

While pricing for the GT has yet to be announced, industry sources have managed to uncover that the Dark Horse will retail for R1.5 million when it hits the proverbial shelves, staying true to its original ethos of being a competitively-priced sports car that competes with rivals far above its paygrade.

The Dark Horse is the “first new Mustang performance series in 21 years,” setting a benchmark for street and track abilities for the legendary muscle car.

Flying in the face of electrification, the ‘Stang employs the legendary 5.0-litre, Coyote V8 engine which has been enhanced with piston connecting rods and a dual throttle-body intake design to generate 372kW and 567Nm – 10kW more than the GT – making the Dark Horse the most powerful production Mustang ever.

We anticipate that the next-gen model will only be offered with a 10-speed automatic transmission in South Africa. Other markets will have access to a six-speed manual, but in the current iteration of the Mustang, this gearbox was abandoned in the local market a few years after its introduction likely due to low customer uptake.

The official performance figures of the Dark Horse have yet to be made public knowledge, however, testing by US-based Car and Driver has the 0-97km/h (60mph) time pegged at 4.1 seconds and the top speed at 267km/h.

To sharpen the Mustang’s on-track performance, Ford further equipped the Dark Horse with unique chassis tuning, larger rear sway bars, heavy-duty front shocks, a Torsen rear differential, and a lightweight strut tower brace and K-brace.

Stopping power comes courtesy of 19-inch Brembo brakes in the front with 13.9-inch rotors, and the 19-inch wheels are shod with standard Pirelli P Zero (PZ4) tyres.

The two-door also gets the MagneRide suspension system capable of monitoring wheel and tyre movement up to 1,000 times per second for optimal grip.

High-performance rivals

The high-performance rivals to the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse are detailed below.

Click on the underlined prices for more information.

BMW M440i xDrive Coupe

• Starting price – R1,457,599
• Power – 285kW/500Nm
• 0-100km/h – 4.5 seconds
• Top speed – 250km/h

Toyota GR Supra 3.0T Auto

• Starting price – R1,524,400
• Power – 285kW/500Nm
• 0-100km/h – 4.1 seconds
• Top speed – 250km/h

Audi RS5 Coupe Quattro

• Starting price – R1,614,900
• Power – 331kW/600Nm
• 0-100km/h – 3.9 seconds
• Top speed – 250km/h

Mercedes-AMG C43

• Starting price – R1,673,641
• Power – 310kW/500Nm
• 0-100km/h – 4.6 seconds
• Top speed – 250km/h

Lexus RC F

• Starting price – R1,713,400
• Power – 351kW/500Nm
• 0-100km/h – 4.3 seconds
• Top speed – 270km/h

Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0

• Starting price – R1,758,000
• Power – 294kW/420Nm
• 0-100km/h – 4.5 seconds
• Top speed – 293km/h