The Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC Joins These 700+ HP Club Members

What Car Shoppers Need to Know

• The new 2026 Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC generates 795 horsepower and 660 pounds-feet of torque.
• That’s just 20 hp less than the $300,000-plus Mustang GTD.
• Pricing is to be announced, but it will likely be more than $200,000 cheaper than GTD.

Ford opened up a conspicuously yawning void in the Mustang lineup when it launched the GTD. With the Shelby GT500 gone, there was a gap of 315 hp and some $300,000 between the Mustang Dark Horse and the carbon-fiber-bodied track-special GTD.

Revealed in January, the Mustang Dark Horse SC steps into that void with a version of the supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 engine shared with the last GT500 and the GTD. Tuned to produce a whopping 795 hp and 660 pounds-feet of torque, it’s just 20 hp and 4 pounds-feet shy of the GTD’s output. That puts it in rarified air with a select group of modern cars that make more than 700 hp. Check out the table below to see how the Mustang Dark Horse SC stacks up against the most powerful gasoline-powered or hybrid cars available today. All prices include destination.

Related: 2026 Ford Mustang 5.0, 2 Ways: Dark Horse and GT Convertible Review

Power-Per-Dollar Bargain

As the GTD is skinned almost entirely in carbon fiber, it sports some major mechanical differences from the standard Mustang family — notably a rear-mounted transaxle and an expensive inboard rear coilover suspension — and is being produced in limited numbers. Ford charges dearly for the privilege of owning one; its base price is well in excess of $300,000.

The Dark Horse SC will cost but a fraction of that. Final pricing isn’t known just yet, but we can confidently say the Dark Horse will cost some $200,000 less — hardly a compromise for giving up 20 hp. Assuming an estimated $100,000 starting price, it works out to about $126 per horsepower on the Dark Horse SC versus nearly $370 for the GTD. The only cheaper entry into the 700-hp club is the Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, at $115 per hp. From the SC, it’s a big step up to the 1,250-hp Corvette ZR1X’s $168 per hp and the 1,064-hp ZR1’s $173.

Read More Ford Mustang News on Cars.com:

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• 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse Quick Spin: Impressive Capability, Surprising Civility
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