We’ve all had a bit of Mustang overload the past few days or so, but Ford had another salvo in its queue aimed squarely at the thinning pony car segment in the North American market. With the all-new S655 shorn of its camo yesterday, it’s time to meet the king-of-the-hill Mustang lineup, the Dark Horse. The first new performance Mustang series in 24 years with unique interior and exterior trim and a howling 5.0L Coyote V8 with a projected 500hp.

Unique to Mustang Dark Horse is Blue Ember metallic paint.

With the available Handling Package, the Dark Horse is the quickest 5.0-liter V8 Mustang ever. In addition to the mega power, the big kahuna S650 will come with improved aerodynamics, upgraded hardware, new software, and tuning with an available six-speed manual transmission.

This is the first time for Mustang that it’s had a forward-facing horse.

The Dark Horse features larger rear sway bars, heavy-duty front shocks, and 19-inch Brembo front 6-piston brakes with 13.9-inch rotors. Steering response and grip are further enhanced with a new lightweight Ford Performance-designed strut tower brace and K-brace for even better handling and feedback. The big ‘Stang puts the torque down through a Torsen rear differential and standard Pirelli P ZERO tires with staggered 19-inch-by-9.5-inch front and 19-inch-by-10-inch rear wheels.

The exterior features a bold front fascia with shadow graphics surrounding the darkened LED headlamps, a gloss black grille with trapezoidal nostrils, and Mustang Dark Horse-unique lower front bumper with high gloss ‘fangs.’ The fixed rear wing, new race-inspired diffuser, and darkened quad exhaust tips are cool, but a bit of overkill.

Inside, the refreshed interior has a new flat-bottom steering wheel, two big screens on the dash, and revised materials. Bright Indigo Blue accent stitching incorporates anodized silver paddle shifters on models with a 10-speed automatic transmission and a dedicated drive mode button is a touch away to tailer suspension modes. Rumor has it that the Dark Horse will go on sale in mid- 2023. Go here for more info.