2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse First Ride Review: Digital But Still Visceral

We've just had a spin in The Last Muscle Car Standing, the soon to technically be peerless 2024 Ford Mustang—and it was a six-speed Dark Horse with the full $4,500 Handling package and the $1,650 Recaro racing buckets. It was a one-hour spin around downtown Detroit that never came close to maxing out the infotainment screen's g-meter scale in any direction, but it gave us a taste of what this top-shelf non-Shelby steed will be like to live with: Reasonably comfy for long cruises in Normal mode and, as expected, plenty firm for weekend track days in more aggressive settings. And with a thorough read of the manual, owners will be able to personalize this 'Stang like never before.

Drive Mode Differentiation

Normal, Sport, Track, Slippery and Drag Strip modes are nothing new (the Drag Strip mode is somewhat novel), but not every vehicle that offers those first three options differentiates them clearly. While repeating several passes over the same lumpy stretch of pavement for our photographer, we toggled up through the modes and noticed a clear differentiation in both the aural intensity of the Coyote V-8's bark and the clarity with which we could perceive each road imperfection. Normal struck us as plush for a sporty car, Sport felt acceptable for a reasonably twisty road, while Track suggested owners might want to program a custom mode with a comfy suspension for bumpy tracks like Sebring. It should be noted that for this ride our steed was shod in full-tilt-boogie Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS tires, not the standard PZ4 all seasons. Our driver assured us the difference in steering feel is equally perceptible between the modes.

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And you won't have to rely on your hearing or perceived gut-jiggle to recall what mode you're in—the graphics in the 12.4-inch instrument cluster assigned to each mode are very different, ranging from traditional round gauges (Normal), to curved tach and speedometer gauges arrayed at the lower corners of the cluster (Sport), to a bold ribbon tachometer across the top above a digital speed and gear-selection reading in Track mode (unless you prefer to mix and match screens or select the Fox-body Mustang gauge look, or a simplified "Calm" screen). Naturally the 13.2-inch center screen offers a zillion pages, too, including several choices of auxiliary info gauges for track outings. Even the primary and secondary coloring of said gauges and screen can be programmed along with the ambient lighting. Anyone who complains of being bored with their '24 Mustang just isn't trying.

Mode Memory

We verified that when you shut down your Dark Horse in Track mode, lock, and return, it'll retain that mode (or any other). Your neighbors may thank you for overriding that Track-mode restart with a feature that ensures restarts place the variable exhaust in Quiet mode. The screen to access much of this programming is easily opened by pressing the lower center-console button marked with the Mustang logo pony.

Waking the Neighbors

Our driver was kind enough to rev the engine a few times with the exhaust in Track mode down in one of central Detroit's concrete canyons, and it drew quite a bit of attention, and probably brought a few office workers to their windows. Note that doing this with our six-speed manual requires that someone goose the actual accelerator, but with the automatic you'll be able to rev the engine from the key fob.

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Highly Animated

Simply walking up to the car sets off a Disney-grade light show with the three elements of each headlamp and taillamp cluster executing a choreographed series of sequential and simultaneous flashes. Likewise, when you climb aboard, the screens light up with a zoomed in flight over and through a Dark Horse emblem that only ends when you key the ignition. This touches off additional video-game magic, courtesy of Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3D graphics (as found in myriad video games). Toggling through the drive modes makes the main cluster briefly depict a Mustang driving in the type of environment suggested by each mode. And any time you see an image of the car on the center screen you can touch to rotate the image.

Comfort and Convenience

We can report the Recaro buckets felt plenty comfortable for an hour, and even the rear seat provided ample space and comfort for our sub-6-foot social-media photo/videographer, although climbing back there is somewhat complicated by the lack of a one-touch fold-and-slide mechanism on either Recaro bucket seat.

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Build and Price Open Now

We're just over a month away from our first chance to take the wheel ourselves, but you can build and price a 2024 Mustang in any trim now, with order banks opening on the Mustang's April 17 birthday (59 years young!) for delivery this summer. Speaking of birthday presents, we're told to expect birthday-present Easter egg features to be made available via over-the-air update. And speaking of Easter eggs, we spotted two on our ride along: the bottom center "frit line" on the rear window (the black band to which the adhesive bonds the window to the car) includes a little silhouette of each Mustang generation, and there's a bigger silhouette of this generation visible above each taillamp when the trunk lid is open. Stay tuned for more when we drive it in a few weeks.