In a slick new video, Hennessey has demonstrated its Ford Mustang Dark Horse upgrade, making a Dodge SRT Challenger Hellcat look slow at the drag strip. Hennessey’s $24,950 H850 Package upgrade claims to take the naturally aspirated Mustang to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds, then on to a quarter-mile time of 10.9 seconds at 133 mph.
- Base Trim Engine
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5L V8 ICE
- Base Trim Transmission
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TREMEC 6-speed manual
- Base Trim Drivetrain
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Rear-Wheel Drive
As much fun as it is to hear supercharged V8’s thrashing away in head-to-head pony car action, the video is a little redundant. Independent testing has shown the SRT Challenger Hellcat running 11.8-second quarter mile times at 125 mph. With a big supercharger and bigger horsepower advantage for the Ford, the hellkitty was never going to keep up.
The Ultimate Mustang
Hennessey Performance’s upgrade to the already filthy-quick Mustang Dark Horse takes the power output from 500 hp to 850 using a bunch of engine upgrades, including a high-flow air induction system, Hennessey’s in-house engine management system, enhanced fuel injectors, a new fuel pump, and nice big supercharger. Frankly, it leaves the Challenger Hellcat for dead, not just making it look like it’s slow off the line, but also like it has no legs. It’s not as simple as that, though.
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But the Mustang story is far from over.
“Our supercharged H850 Mustang Dark Horse builds on Ford’s commitment to provide automotive enthusiasts with passion products like the snarling V8-powered S650 Mustang. We’re excited to unleash Hennessey’s passion for performance on America’s most iconic muscle car with all the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations that get our blood pumping!”
– John Hennessey, founder and CEO of Hennessey Performance.
The Dodge Challenger ended production in 2023. It was a muscle car built for the drag strip that cost $71,895 when it bowed out. A Mustang Dark Horse starts at $58,935, built for any track, and with the Hennessey update it has a final cost of $83,885. It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, but the Hennessey upgrade does fill the gap left by the Shelby GT 500. It went out of production in 2022, taking its supercharged 760 hp with it. The Shelby Code Red version, with its 1,300 hp, also ended its production run in 2022.
Dodge Has A New Weapon Of Choice
Dodge’s electric replacement for the Charger and Challenger, the Charger Daytona, acknowledges that electric power is making internal combustion muscle cars redundant. Although it hasn’t been received well, the Charger Daytona Scat Pack delivers 670 electric horsepower and 627 lb-ft of instant torque. Its 0-60 mph time of 3.3 seconds is pretty much a dead match for the Hennessey-upgraded Dark Horse, though the electric Charger is a bit slower in the quarter at 11.5 seconds. However, if the Charger Daytona doesn’t fail due to sales, you can bet that Dodge will only keep working its way up to silly amounts of power while figuring out how to get it down to the road better.
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Mirror on the wall, which is the fastest of them all? There is a new quarter mile king on the block. And it is not the Challenger Demon 170.
There are already a slew of silly-fast EVs out there. But with emissions regulations pretty much toothless at this point, now could be the time for Ford to up its V8 game while Dodge plays catch-up with electric power and twin-turbocharged six-cylinder engines.
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