Steeda Autosport just couldn’t resist the Ford Mustang Dark Horse. The Ford-focused aftermarket performance parts company acquired its own Mustang Dark Horse last year and so far seems to be having an excellent time with the high-performance pony, even turning it loose at Sebring to see what it could do. Now, Steeda has done what it does best, upgrading its Mustang Dark Horse to make it even more of a threat on track.
The first time Steeda’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse hit Sebring, it was bone stock, but the crew took it back to their shop and saddled it with all manner of upgrades. This includes its “Stop the Hop” starter, dual-rate MagneRide springs, adjustable front sway bar, competition rear sway bar, cold air intake, and a short-throw shifter. Steeda’s goal is to beat the 2:27.17 lap thrown down when the Mustang was fully stock.
During its first turn on track under gray skies, the Ford Mustang Dark Horse takes a minute to warm up, but eventually, it does manage to break its own record, but just barely, clocking a 2:27.13 time. The second session goes a lot better, as the clouds dissipate and the weather improves, and the Mustang Dark Horse settles in for some blistering lap times.
This time – dodging a C8 Corvette that went completely sideways just in front of it – the high-performance pony wraps up the session with a best time of 2:23.99, although it runs into a problem when it abruptly loses power and reverts to limp mode in the middle of a hot track.
Turns out, the incident was the fault of the fuel system. Though it was reading just shy of half full, the Ford Mustang Dark Horse acted like it was running out of gas before limp mode engaged, signaling a fuel starvation issue. After filling it back up to full – which Steeda said took about 15 gallons – they head back out for a third run.
As the sun beat down on the track, the racing surface became slicker, meaning the Mustang Dark Horse’s second session was its best, but Steeda got its wish and outperformed the bone-stock high-performance pony at Sebring.
Comment
“about 15 gallons”
So it was running with 1 gallon? Gee wonder why it was having starvation problems.