The Magic of the BMW M2: A Comprehensive Review

It's no secret that the BMW M2 is a phenomenal driver's car, but what really sets it apart from its competitors? In this article, we'll delve into the details of the M2 and explore the magic behind its evolution. The suspension, in particular, has undergone significant changes to create a truly exceptional driving experience.

The M2's suspension is where you'll notice the most significant improvements over its predecessor. Gone are the days of a stiff, unyielding ride that was only suitable for the track. Instead, BMW has taken steps to make the M2 feel more compliant and refined on both pavement and in everyday driving conditions. This new approach ensures that even the most enthusiastic drivers can enjoy a comfortable and engaging experience without worrying about being punished by the car.

One of the key areas where the M2 shines is in its ability to provide a sense of connection between the driver and the road. The steering, too, has undergone significant improvements, offering a level of precision and feel that's hard to match in other performance cars. Whether you're carving through twisty roads or cruising down the highway, the M2's handling is remarkably responsive and engaging.

Now, let's talk about the Supra – a rival in the high-performance car market that's also vying for attention with its impressive specs and agile handling. While the Supra is undoubtedly an exciting driving experience, there are some areas where it falls short of the M2. For one, the price point is significantly lower than what you'd pay for a well-equipped M2 – around $60,000 compared to the latter's sticker shock.

But how do these two cars compare in terms of dynamics? While both offer exceptional performance and handling, there are some key differences that set them apart. The Supra's dynamic nature is undeniable, but it also has its drawbacks – particularly when it comes to everyday usability. The M2, on the other hand, offers a more practical approach to driving, with a softer suspension that makes it feel surprisingly comfortable and refined in both daily and track contexts.

Of course, there are some limitations to the M2's handling prowess. One of the biggest drawbacks is its weight – nearly 4,000 pounds when fully loaded, which can make it feel sluggish at times. However, this is a trade-off for the car's impressive performance capabilities, and most enthusiasts won't mind sacrificing a bit of agility in exchange for the sheer thrill of driving.

Ford Mustang Dark Horse: A Track-Ready Beast

It's time to shift gears and take a look at the Ford Mustang Dark Horse – a high-performance variant that's sure to capture your attention with its aggressive styling and impressive specs. In this article, we'll explore the pros and cons of owning the Dark Horse, as well as our final thoughts on this exceptional vehicle.

One of the biggest advantages of the Dark Horse is its upgraded suspension tuning – a major improvement over previous models that provides a more nuanced and responsive driving experience. This new setup allows for better articulation between the front and rear ends of the car, making it feel more agile and connected to the road.

Another area where the Dark Horse shines is in its steering – now more precise and engaging than ever before. Whether you're cruising down the highway or carving through twisty roads, the Dark Horse's handling is remarkably responsive and enjoyable.

However, there are some significant drawbacks to owning a Dark Horse. The most obvious con is its exorbitant price point – over $70,000 with optional upgrades, making it significantly more expensive than some of its rivals. This means that if you're looking for a high-performance car on a budget, the Dark Horse might not be the best option.

Another area where the Dark Horse falls short is in its dynamic capabilities. While it's undoubtedly an exceptional driving experience, there are times when the weight of the car can make it feel sluggish – particularly when compared to some of its rivals like the BMW M2. However, this is a trade-off for the car's impressive performance and handling capabilities.

Final Thoughts

As we wrap up our article on the Ford Mustang Dark Horse, we want to take a moment to express our gratitude to our Ford reps and the Mustang team themselves – without their support, this project wouldn't have been possible. We also want to thank Autobahn Country Club for providing us with a home base to film these videos.

For drivers looking to improve their skills or simply enjoy a fun driving experience, we recommend checking out the Mustang's performance driving school and track day rentals. And if you're interested in becoming a member of this exclusive club, be sure to hit them up – it's an amazing opportunity to hone your skills behind the wheel.

In conclusion, both the BMW M2 and Ford Mustang Dark Horse offer exceptional driving experiences that are hard to match in their respective categories. While there may be some drawbacks to owning either car, these differences pale in comparison to the sheer joy of driving either vehicle. Whether you're a seasoned enthusiast or just starting out on your driving journey, we hope this article has provided you with valuable insights into the magic behind these two incredible machines.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enforeign we live in a world where the naturally aspirated V8 and manual transmission is disappearing and then Ford comes along and releases the Seventh Generation Mustang including a brand new moniker the Dark Horse in this video we're going to talk to the chief engineer the designers and Executives about why and how this car was created and the challenges of keeping this brand going all right I'm Lori transu I am currently the Mustang Chief program engineer to me this job is a dream job I absolutely love Mustang R6 in our family all work at Ford so I love Ford I mentioned before my dog's name is Shelby so I you know they say bleeds Ford blue that'd be me for sure um and to get the opportunity to lead the team on such an iconic product it is just an amazing honor so I grew up driving a VA I learned to drive on a Mustang GT 5-liter back in the day when I was 16 years old I personally have been a Mustang Enthusiast my whole life I think there's nothing like a naturally aspirated V8 the the exhaust note on it is unique in particular on Mustang I always say when I close my eyes the Mustang Drives By I know immediately that's a Mustang and so yeah there's a lot of shift in the industry right as we're we're moving into electrification I personally am excited that we're leaning into the V8 we've been very intentional about how we manage our CO2 we have a Bev Mustang we also offer a 2.3 liter Mustang and a 5 liter V8 Mustang so we've got a complete Mustang family that kind of satisfies what anybody might want in a Mustang uh I'm Jim Owens and I'm the Mustang brand manager I've been doing this since about been around Mustang since about 2000 I started in SVT and Team Ford Racing aspect of it uh spent four years working for Carol Shelby um left Ford went to work for Carol and then came back to launch the Boss 302 gen 6. the Seventh Generation has a new name plate in it and it's the first new one in 21 years right 2001 the bullet now the bullet you know we've gone through three generations of it I can't believe that was the last new one but in the Seventh Generation it was about taking that foundational element the thing that resonated and then projecting it to the Future so if you look up Dark Horse right the definition of it it was the horse you didn't see coming how pertinent to the launch of the Seventh Generation Mustang now the badging itself I mean that's the first time we've done a forward-facing horse right if you think about it we've done the left to right ponies in the grills we've done the GTS we've done the snakes from the projecting lamps that's the first time we've done a full-facing horse now that front-facing horse you can see the design on it and that like the nostrils flaring like and if you think of a performance like a horse that is racing when they're coming in they're actually like breathing in that air and taking that air in to make that performance better and what better way to tie it to the dual air box induction on that five liter I think it's cool and it's just a story that we can tell going into the future that'll help build those names like Mach 1 like bullet you know like Boss 302 it'll help create those stories for people in the future to talk about hi my name is Chris Walter and I Am A Creative Design manager at Ford I've been working in the exterior design realm for a couple decades I've had the opportunity to work on pretty much every Fusion on the road also the 2015 sixth generation Mustang the Mustang 2021 Mustang Machi and the Mustang Maki GT and of course the Seventh Generation 2024 Mustang so for the 7th gen we wanted it to be a modern interpretation of the Mustang design icon of the Heritage the sixth generation car was introduced to the global market and it had more of an international Flair and uh it was the first time that the car was sold in Europe and Asia so it was really intended to be accessible to more of a broad International audience for the Seventh Generation car we went into Infuse again with more modern cues fresh in the car the bones of the car are are there right you have the proportion of the car so the Timeless proportion remained we wanted to lower the roof we wanted to lower the Belt Line significantly but that would have just meant millions of dollars of investment um and again like I said prior the bones of the car are great we wanted to lean into the the more edgy sheer look at the car we just felt it was a little bit more modern um interesting sidebar story when we were developing this car we had two themes that we were designing one would have been a very nice Evolution to the sixth generation Mustang but we had another theme that was really leaning into this more of this very chiseled edge-like design we we assembled about 30 Millennials and gen Z's within the company from marketing and Design to take a look at both of these designs and the the more Progressive modern design was the one that was favored by far we did have to work within certain constraints of carryover parts from the sixth generation however the seventh generation is completely reworked as far as the chassis improvements but from an exterior design standpoint all new sheet metal um carryover roof uh carryover front glass and rear glass but other than that the car is a clean sheet we found ourselves talking about the Heritage we we talked about you know do we make this thing do we lean into uh to the Retro do we lean into the Retro really hard or do we go on the other side of the spectrum and make it a make it a science project and obviously we didn't want to do either one of those when it comes to designing a Mustang and a company like Ford you know everyone has an opinion so I'll share with you my opinions so so um I was inspired by a couple Watershed Mustangs throughout the years the 67 the 2005 in in the 2010 as well but what I liked about those cars specifically the 2005 car was the fact that it basically got back to its roots and it it got back to um a surface language that was a little bit more straightforward and pure simple it's not too gimmicky there's not a lot of hashes and slashes on on the surfacing you'll notice on the seventh generation Mustang we don't really have any uh prominent undercuts in the vehicle we wanted to keep again I'm going back to those words sheer chiseled uh and edgy so those are some of my personal thoughts on design Inspirations I think I think we ended up with a nice blend of both old and new with the car um you know the dark horse that sits behind us you know possibly to some of the more purists and the Mustang owners that have been with us for many many years are probably wondering what the Dark Horse is they're probably trying to understand what this is they're probably wondering why isn't this the new Mach 1 or why isn't this the latest Shelby but we are trying to generate some excitement and capture a new younger audience with a dark horse and when we start talking about some of the styling elements or whether rather what I would like to say planned design elements is you know we have those dark out accents all over the vehicle the dark tarnish accents on underneath the headlamps the mirror caps along with the graphics and that that really plays into that kind of sinister kind of dark dark story that we're trying to uh you know push on the Dark Horse well the cool thing is is that Josh and I we work together um Josh actually at one point in time helped us develop some exterior bits and pieces yeah it was bound to be a good collaboration because we did all of our meetings together it was always into your index here a lot a lot of times the cars developed to our siled and separate and not our team we were always at the same table critiquing in tears and exteriors together talking about what we thought was too sheer or not sheer enough or you know not driver-centric enough and we constantly gave each other feedback our two teams and it was we were bound to have a cohesive product because we all designed it together there was interior helping with exterior or or us taking inspiration from you guys it was well the thing is they they had the interior locked up early in the game so I was like hey guys I need some help so I had a couple Hot Shot designers working with me and they were phenomenal but we just had the workload was was so heavy so a lot of the Interior folks in Joaquin yourself um Aiden came came over and helped um yeah Aiden Aiden did the tail ends you could tell that we helped too because like so we've been doing this big digital screen that's you know customizable and and people can alter it depending when they want to be retro and look like a fox body cluster or make it feel like it's space age or from the Aerospace industry and one of the designers that helped us with that helped make the tail lights feel super digital you know there's no light bulbs or little you know twinkly lights it's they're flush and and really really clean and you can tell someone with experience being digital and an interior worked on the tail lights as well foreign hours with the designers and the people behind this car and one of the things we heard over and over again is that the budget and the allocation of time and effort on the interior space in terms of Technology Unreal Engine was mentioned so many times the screens were mentioned over and over and one of the big things was it was more than just sticking screens in a car they knew customers wanted this they want big screens everybody is obsessed in this market but how do you take that how do you put the technology in a car like the Mustang and make it all work yeah so what should be physical versus what should be touched that that's been a pretty big kind of debate especially with you know larger screens you don't have as much room for physical buttons um and so that's the challenge of what actually goes into the digital versus the physical we did clinics especially around climate to see if how do people like the digital versus the physical or if there should be a mix and our studies did show us our test data did show us that people don't like the mix they prefer either all physical or odd digital but they also prefer bigger screens so that was one of the driving forces okay if they like the bigger screens and they prefer physical or sources are digital the compromise is going to be to put the things like climate into the digital space it has been complex and especially since we've been bringing in a lot of larger displays like the Mustang it has a 13.2 inch Center stack and a 12.3 inch cluster so it doesn't leave a lot of room for physical buttons but with that we have to try and balance what do we put into the digital first surface so like in the Mustang we put first surface the climate of climate strip that's on the bottom it's always present even if you're in Reverse or if you're in apple carplay and on that button bar we've used we've added the most frequently used climate functions it has a favorites button so if there is a favorite feature that you want to quickly get access to you can set that up so still just trying to balance what we put primary on the touch screen and then still make use of the physical buttons that we have so that people still can easily be able to use the digital experience I mean it's it's tough because doing an interior design like if the screens take over the entire interior then your digital experience better be amazing the whole point better be you're you're not driving the car you're watching entertainment you're interfacing with the car um you know somehow the screens are getting back to you but this is a driver's car the screens are only enabling you to play with your traction control and play with your your GPS or whatever but the the digital experience for a driver's car it just needs to enforce that you know the driver is a tool for you and you should be driving it and so approaching the hard points and touch points of the car was a huge undertaking so we realized yeah you could stick almost all the functionality of a car's interior into the screens but that's not very exhilarating there's not a lot of connection between you and a car it feels disingenuous at times so we put as much functionality as we needed to in the screen where there's you know not a lot of menus we've we've got these these Mustang hotkeys that you can change the traction control and all your settings and they're dimensional their dimensional buttons and we took a little bit of inspiration from the old toggles that the Mustangs had previously so there's still a dimensional quality to those and then we realize that the touch points that really matter are the shifter and the handbrake so you know moving away from are not following competitors and doing a handbrake button was a huge choice for us to make a real handbrake and then the performance handbrake you know that really leans into the drift culture that Mustangs are synonymous with and really you know gave a little respect to the enthusiasts that want a real handbrake and a real shifter and that's the touch points that we really focused on we needed a clean slate to to make it a pure idea and I think that's why it wouldn't really work to just follow a trend or find what other cars are doing and try to do the same because it won't be executed the same way the devil's in the details so us trying to do this architecture based around the driver and everything's just cockpit feeling that is what led to us doing a screen where the entire Center stack and Center screen are all canted 10 degrees towards the driver and I'm sure other cars have done that but everybody having a piano screen is different than us having a wrap around screen so for us making a cockpit and turning everything towards the driver gave us better Ergo better visibility better touch points and then it just happened to bolster this aesthetic of having the car's interior wrap around you so the screen bending in the middle is definitely a part of embracing that cockpit feeling and us chasing our vision not just the competitors the boomers are still here I'm a boomer and we're still going to be around for a while enjoying the cars especially a performance vehicle like Mustang but for this Seventh Generation Mustang it is about you know growing into the future and a lot of the time that we spent on it was basically two things that I think really will help attract that new generation first is that edgy sexy design that is unmistakably Mustang but it looks fast standing still and gives that edgy look that we think would appeal to the younger audience as well as the historical Mustang customers the second is the interior and you know I've worked on gen four five six and now seven you know generally speaking we don't talk a lot about the interior from that Mustang standpoint yeah you need performance close at hand you need the pedal feel in your manual transmission and you know the seating like from the base seating to the recaros but in this case if you think about the younger Generations they've grown up personalizing their technology right laying out their cell phones their video games and personalizing it that way I normally turn on the car within the first 50 seconds right I want to hear that Rumble I want to feel that throaty exhaust I want to you know feel that engine kind of shake I sat in there for 50 minutes playing with the screens to kind of figure out setting it up for the drift mode and changing my exhaust settings and changing the the calibration like when we do the mode switching I literally had so much fun in there I didn't think to start the car and what we do believe is that that is going to resonate with that younger generation and help bring folks in to the Mustang in the sports car segment you know what kind of stewards of an icon like this so when we're trying to figure out how much Heritage to bring into the car people have opinions on whether it should be completely Heritage completely retro you know a nod to everything we've done in the past and then the younger audience where they want something new and fresh so you know we don't want to design a car from the 60s again we've done that it was great it was fresh then what's fresh now so when we went to research early in the program we talked to younger buyers that wanted something new and exciting uh Die Hard enthusiasts that just wanted three pedals didn't really care about the rest and everybody gave us the same resounding opinion that they wanted something that was immersive and made the Driving Experience elevated and feel more special and tailored so for the design side it was pretty uh clear-cut decision to step away from Heritage and address the drivers and make them feel a little more special and a little more sought after so that you know when they're driving the car they feel more connection to the car so for us I'm proud of Ford making a decision to walk away from Heritage and do something new and exciting to make drivers feel like they're in a driver's car I'm at the Ford Lair outside of Dearborn Michigan underneath the 2024 Mustang Dark Horse and I'm with this gentleman please introduce yourself to our audience hi my name is Tim Smith I'm a vehicle integration engineer at Ford Motor Company I've been working on the Mustang program for the last couple years so let's start with the exterior Arrow clearly this car is fairly aerodynamic and as we talked to the exterior designer the shape itself has some natural benefits but versus the outgoing generation Mustang what did you do to the star course yeah the error story on this it was really all about balance we um we always we you know we continuously work on getting the good Arrow numbers the good downforce numbers obviously drag's important to us because we've got other requirements that we need to meet so the big story here was we were able to reduce the drag and then on the Arrow we really focused on the balance from front to rear to get it right and that involved a lot of tuning a lot of new parts as well obviously the rear wing profiles are different on the front end we did some different things with the fascia and then we did add you can see the strikes on the bottom these are a new part specifically for the s650 that the 550 didn't have that also helps just cleaning up the air under the car and getting some downforce on the nose the car naturally has quite a bit on the back actually the 650 does so we did a lot of work on getting what we could out of the front and then trimming the rear to match speaking about the front so obviously you have to balance the arrow with the suspension and one of the big stories that is carried across multiple iterations of this mustang is the new steering rack can you walk me through what you guys have done yeah so this is an E-Pass car so electronic power assist um the big deal between 559 now was we were able to increase the or decrease actually the steering ratio went down to 15 and a half to one so it's a bit quicker and then probably the thing you'll feel the most is that we previously had an isolator in the steering shaft system we were able to get rid of that so you have a lot more direct feel um the vehicle's a lot more responsive especially on Center and you're really between that and the rack ratio you really feel when you're driving the car and that's a change that affects all this generation Mustang correct correct wow that's a huge difference yeah it's a huge benefit dampers and springs and sway bars I know this is a non-handling pack we're underneath for the Dark Horse you guys have a handling pack true versus the outgoing Mach One can you walk me through some of the technological differences and tuning differences yeah so from a tuning point of view philosophically the um the springs and the bars it's all about getting the mechanical balance right and everything so there's some tuning in the margins there um just refinements that we you know over the years we've got a lot of experience with the general platform um so the team was able to just fine tune and tweak on the dampers the dark horses all have magnari it's the latest generation software which is a step up from what we had on the Mach 1 and that really um the benefit there was we were able to be a lot more precise with the tuning and we're able to manage the uh the control but also the ride quality a lot more effectively than we could previously and that and that's just down to the evolution of the system and the tools that we had to work with moving to the handling package car you get far wider wheels and tires you're running a much stickier Pirelli Tire than the outgoing cup too right what did you do from the base car to the handling package to meet the handling targets when it comes to suspension yeah so the tires went from a 255 275 package to a 305 315 and then the move to the to fail from the P0 um and then it's just tuning around and making that tire work we did lower the ride height a little bit on the handling pack um and then it's again it's the same kind of thing tune the dampers to match the tire and to match the uh extra arrow that we put on the handling pack car we've got the bigger splitter in the front different wing on the back with the gurney that the customer can put in if they're doing track days so it's really the tuning of the dampers and then the tweaks to the hard Parts it's all about making that tire Aero package work as effectively as it can you said the rear bushing change in the back yep stiffer rear bar stiffer Springs that's to get a little bit more rotation on the car as well the character of the cars are the same as you move up through the progression it's it's just about more mechanical yeah and where do you where do you put the where do you put the response obviously you know a dark horse handling pack is going to be on one end of the Spectrum in a you know entry level two three car is going to be on the other but it's the character is kind of the same throughout and it's just refining the package still a torsion or differential still Torsen 373 on the manual um 355s on the auto final drive when it comes to the braking system of this car yep obviously you have enormous six piston brembos in front is it still a traditional hydraulic brake setup or did you move the Brick by wire uh it's still well it's um it's electronic brake boost but it's still it you know traditional brake by wire like only a wire between the pedal and and the rest of the car we don't have that yet it's still it's still mechanically connected thank you for that you did however change the e-brakes in these cars correct you went away from a cable to a more electronic setup um if you get a performance pack GT or a dark horse you'll also get the uh what looks like it presents itself like a traditional park brake you've got the handle that you've always seen and that also enables the drift brake feature that's only on the performance packs and the dark horses how does that work so normally um the park brake behaves it actually actuates all four um and there's no modulation no nothing if you go in and we have my Mustang screen I think you've probably seen it you can go in and you can turn the drift brake on when you do that the handle only actuates the rear brakes and the neat thing about it is instead of using a cable that can stretch or you need to you know be Hulk Hogan to pull it is using the ABS pump so you're getting I think 140 bar line pressure at the rear when it comes to drivetrain obviously big story this is the latest generation of coyote it has twin throttle bodies it makes more horsepower at least on the Dark Horse walk me through why you made the change I know emissions was a big part of that yeah I mean we've always got regulations we need to keep up with right and then there's obviously the dual throttle body is Big very obvious open the hood it looks great also allows us to get the power there are some changes to the cam profiling duration on the exhaust cam I think cylinder head modifications uh oil pan steel oil pan some control from windage and then a lot of little durability and it's and that's here and there the dark horses get a unique Rod again just for greater durability um and you have base you have real cooling solutions you have an oil cooler you have a trans cooler in this thing yeah and a big part of what we do is first for the dark horses we do have a track durability cycle that's pretty stringent and so we go out and we rail the thing um to make sure that all the temperatures stay down we don't have starvation issues um the tires you know to get an understanding how long the tires hold up uh make sure the brake fade performance is good so it's a very comprehensive I'll say full vehicle event that you know we test everything on it so theoretically as a customer you could buy this thing and immediately after you perform your brake and take it to a track day and beat the hell out of it yeah the dark the dark horse is specifically we we rate them for we did track durability testing and trans is the last thing we haven't touched on and thank you for walking through this entire car you have a either a 10-speed automatic your in-house Ford gearbox decodeveloped and your Tremec you've moved away from the mt82 just for the Dark Horse correct yeah so the the mta2 saw as a home in the GT but the Dark Horse we went with similar to The Mach 1. so we know that you know the gear ratios work out for this usage we know the customers like this transmission it's a great piece so we we persisted with that you know there's Advantage it's exciting to do an all-new all new um but every you know and a lot of us have been involved with all news and you know even one two three five years after like oh I wish we had known this I wish we had known that I wish we had known and then you'll see the next ones are better um this car is similar to that this is a culmination of and a lot of the people who worked on this car have been working on Mustangs for a long time so there's just there's a rolling rolling knowledge base of I'll I'd like to make this better I'd like to make this better I'd like to make this better and uh you just refine refine refine and it's it's pretty satisfying when you get it to a point where you're like oh yeah this is this is what I was imagining however many years ago and you know you just didn't have time or you didn't there's things you didn't know there's things you found out late in development or you know after a couple years and then hey we're going to do a new one a lot of it's the same or similar it's like oh that there's a lot of good about that so perfect took advantage well with that I think it's time for us to go take this for a quick drive around the track sounds good foreign Mustangs and dark horses Mark there's a Mustang checklist that I have to make sure that this car can accomplish this is the first one V8 does burnouts God oh this is the car that created Silverback Jack I'm a former S550 GT owner performance pack 7 000 track miles on that poor car we're about to experience laughs he's got a torson dip you're back into track mode everything's off it does drift it's got a drift stick you can throw it sideways but tell me Mark what does this car actually drive like if you're a well-behaved member of society I'll tell you what it drives like it drives super easy I came out here with a I was lighting the loafers on the throttle and I was like super smooth on the steering and you realize there's so much Tire under you and the way they have the suspension set up you can just be ham-fisted and the scar doesn't go nuts it doesn't you don't lose control you can really really do stupid stuff and I think the biggest surprise for me is just how easy it is for anybody to get into this car and put their foot to the floor you don't have to have the wheel turned and be like Oh should I breathe on the throttle like I'm kissing a new lover you can just put your foot into it and the car just grips the suspension settles in it does feel like a big car it does feel heavy but the way that they have the the weight managed in this thing is great it really is super super fun and easy to drive it's very approachable so versus the last car as someone who owned an S550 the steering in this car is remarkably better while it is not rich with feel it's no longer totally disconnected from the front end of the car the front and the rear with the latest calibration of Mr dampers do a better job talking to one another I think the other thing you'll notice and something that you really appreciate Mark is the way the brake Cal works is they work with how they dealt with the brake pressure to get this car to turn in better under Trail braking this car has a con sort of initial push and then if you want to get it to rotate in the rear you need to lift more with a throttle get the rear to come around or a big boot full of gas it's a very balanced car and that's sort of surprising remember like the GT500 which is a total handful oh yeah oopsie so Mark what do you think about really one of my favorite Parts about this vehicle the five liter and the gearbox um to me it doesn't sound as good as I thought it would I mean it's definitely more of a brat like a it's a less musical sounding V8 and you know what I mean it's naturally aspirated it makes a shitload of power the tuning feels really really solid in here and I I mean it is it pulls and pulls it's super super strong um it's less about the engine as it is the manual transmission I'll be honest I think the manual transmission is what sets this car apart from so many of the other cars that we do we deal with it's such a joy to not only just ramrod but it's super super easy to use and get it into gear it has a strong mechanical feel to it that a lot of the manual transmissions don't anymore so many of them are just like feels like a toy yeah like a video game it just it's all plastic this feels like you're actually doing something like it's connected to something and that's something we talked about with the Dynamics engineer about you know if you're going to have a fun car and you're gonna have a driver's car at least have you feel like you're driving it where not everything's doing everything for you not everything is easy and this car is very easy to drive but I do like the fact that the pedal box and the gearbox make you feel very very involved yes I think all of the inputs whether it be the steering the throttle calibration the shifter feel the brake feel all match one another certain cars when you get into the steering's too fast the throttle pedal is too light the shifter feels like set of a different vehicle all of the inputs in this car I feel like a really well matched if you combine that with a at least in the the handling pack that we're in a rear that isn't constantly trying to kill you yeah and if you've come out of a regular Mustang or a less powerful performance car this is your first sort of track capable High horsepower car you can get into this and go flying and not die and then if you are a good driver or a driver who is willing to push the car and get it to rotate it doesn't just push and understeer everywhere it's a it's a it's a very good non-ford performance Mustang right this isn't a GT350 it's not a GT500 this is a replacement to something like the Mach One and if you like what the Mach 1 did blending the street with high track capability and minimal compromise in both departments particularly for you know realizing that this isn't some like mid-engine Supercar I think you'll really like it what do you think yeah I would mirror that I really would mirror that I do like the fact that when you do try to drive this fast like I'm not somebody that had I'm not choppy at the wheel I'm not choppy at the throttle I do like the fact that there is that balance of making it accessible to somebody that is just getting into a rear wheel High rear-wheel drive high performance car like this it's easy to drive but when you really do drive it at the Ragged Edge it doesn't get super safe on you to your point it doesn't wash out with understeer unless you do something stupid it's a really well connected car despite its weight despite the platform they're working with here I think it's the magic of them evolving the suspension the the way they've made these subtle changes to the suspension the dampers and all that that makes this such a really really fun car to drive and you can tell out here that not only is it going to be good out here is it super super compliant the suspension feels great where you could drive this ever great day and have almost no penalties for and that's really hard to do on a car like this that can go track and Street where you would have no problem taking this out and be like oh man this is too stiff you're never going to question whether the fact that this car is going to beat you up on the road because it's just not my question then you know I know we can go back and forth on the M2 but the Supra you can get the Supra with a manual it costs less than this honestly it's in let's say low 60s high 50s for a good one how does that car compare dynamically to this one the Supra is just it's really hard man because we're talking about a big difference in money is this car twenty thousand dollars better than a subra I would say it's no better than a Supra in a lot of regards but it this feels like a more usable car than the Supra this doesn't feel like as much of a toy even though it is a toy you but you could drive this every day and still feel like you're in a regular car whereas the Subaru is just like yeah you know you're limited in terms of trunk capacity you know it's a two you know two-seater the front and the rear of those cars feel like they come from a two different vehicles car does not have the problem the BMW problem and having a front and a back end that don't talk to each other although it is a softer feel in this you do feel like the car and it's it's not a delay but there's a the body control here it's definitely on the softer side and it's by Design it's still A Streetcar that that might be the only thing that would set somebody off and be like oh it doesn't feel as Twitchy or connected the BMWs do a great job at making it feel quick and responsive but it's very synthetic compared to this all right Mark with that though I think it's time for us to wrap up this very long video when heading to our final thoughts hit me with something foreign thoughts on the Ford Mustang Dark Horse and I wanted to say this first huge thanks to our Ford reps without Sam and Mike this project would not have been possible they spent a lot of time logistically working with us to make sure we could get all the necessary pieces it was a huge thanks to the Mustang team themselves they clearly really do care about this car and also Autobahn country club without them we would not have a home to do these videos so if you're looking to become a better driver hit them up for their performance Driving School track day rentals or if you want to become a member so what about the car well let's start with the pros yes this is not an all-new Mustang from the ground up it's really a improved variation on an existing theme so if you like the old car you'll definitely like the new vehicle and the two biggest areas of improvement other than arguable interior and exterior styling is the steering and the suspension tuning the steering is far more precise than the S550 generation there's better feel through the rack the suspension tuning the front and the rear of the car talk to them talk to each other far better and those two factors alone go a long way in improving the Dynamics of the vehicle what are the cons well it's really expensive our Dark Horse with optional handling package was more than seventy thousand dollars and while yes muscle cars are dying the Camaro dies this year in August the Hemi goes away from the Challenger lineup this is really the only two plus two V8 manual car you can buy it still costs as much as something like a BMW M2 it costs more money than a Supra a Nissan Z and hell it's more than the base price of a Corvette C8 which does mean if you're gonna buy the Dark Horse you absolutely have to love Mustangs the other con is the dynamic element of this car while it is very easy to drive you're no longer chasing the rear you can't get away from the fact that it's heavy it's nearly four thousand pounds when we weighed this car without really any gas in this vehicle it was on E it was more than 3 900 pounds so with gas if you're at that four thousand pound Mark and you can feel it in the Dynamics it's still a great car to drive however and with that thanks for watching and thank you for all the pay rounds that made this video possible\n"