Two of Uncle Sam’s newest sports cars are compared and contrasted to see what the Land of Stars and Stripes has been up to
You wouldn’t put the two together in the traditional sense. The Mustang’s main wranglers are the Camaro and the Challenger, not the sports car oriented Corvette. Yet these two automakers can’t seem to escape the public’s mind. Two oldheads going at it like 9 AM on a Sunday, these two can’t shake each other.
American Pride
The two are uniquely American, in the same sense a southern twang or the hamburger is to the stars and stripes. The Corvette is all but a dragon slayer, the fire breathing demons being supercars twice its price. The Mustang doesn’t wipe any car off the books but still is Ford’s master plan for the new S650 platform. These are the two most patriotic cars we could imagine, doing what the USA does best… win.
The Corvette Z06 is the highest trim of the current ‘Vette family sans the production of the ZR1. On paper, the numbers are off the charts. Sporting a 5.5 liter naturally-aspirated V8 that churns out 660 horsepower is no easy feat. Being the highest horsepower production V8 is most certainly harder. Pit that against the not even available Dark Horse Mustang. Ford’s project child meant to tear down the track walls and mesh together the grid life and street culture. Yet the stallion plays from behind. Pitching the same ol’ 5.0 liter Coyote V8 it’s helmed from 2011, Ford can only muster up 500 horsepower.
Uttering “muster” and “500 horsepower” in the same sentence feels illegal. But thus, the world we live in today where a Toyota Corolla can pull 100 horsepower out of a singular cylinder. The pair are America’s finest, the top trims of both of the United States’ beloved sports cars. However, it’s important to note that these two aren’t exactly apples to apples. The Corvette we’d argue is a bargain supercar at an MSRP of $109,195. Consistently going up against and beating up flagships in its segment that cost a left kidney with a markup of an actual human heart, the Corvette Z06 is the American heavyweight.
The Dark Horse is the opener, facing competition within the same country. The Camaro and the Challenger all have set out to dethrone the Mustang name from the head honcho title of the pony car world. The ZL1 and the Hellcat are formidable opposition, yet Ford still puts out another project child with the Dark Horse. With no pricing figures we can only take a shot in the dark with saying that the Horse will hit somewhere in the $60,000 ballpark. Nearly half of what the Z06 would run.
Innovation vs Invention
The Z06 is one of a kind, something the automotive world has never seen before. A sports car completely reconfiguring its engine layout and keeping the same principle is an unprecedented omen. The Dark Horse on the other hand is a peculiar figure. Certainly, the mouthpiece of the Mustang lineup, the Dark Horse isn’t revolutionary. To us, it’s simply an expansion of the S650 generation’s assortment of ‘Stangs.
While yes, it has 500 horsepower and is the track-oriented Mustang, isn’t that what the Mach 1 or the Bullitt was in years prior? With the Dark Horse’s rather modest 30 horsepower bump over the Mach 1 we can’t mark the Stallion under the “something new” category.
It’s especially harder to categorize the Dark Horse under invention when you see the very car we’re pitting it against, the Corvette Z06. The Z picks up 170 horses (no pun intended) over the base C8 in order to put vehicles like the Ferrari 488 Pista and the Audi R8. A lot of 8’s… we counted up 4 right in that very sentence. The differences between the C7 and the C8 ‘Vettes are astronomical, the two being lightyears apart yet sharing the same appellation. A new platform, engine, layout, you name it, nearly nothing carried over between generations.
Look at the Mustang however and you’ll get the same conservative and traditional setup found since 1964. We will applaud the horse for staying true to its segment, one of which many manufacturers are leaving. While other automakers are getting out of Dodge, Ford leaned into the sports car and pony car market giving new updates and refreshes to the Mustang, after rumors swirled that the beloved machine could be going hybrid.
A Look Ahead at the Numbers
We can talk about the two’s philosophical differences all we want. And we believe people will. Talk shows, TV broadcasts, podcasts, and news articles all over the world will babble on about which one is the true American automobile, and which one represents a bald eagle screeching the best. With all that, we lose track of what really makes a car… its performance.
The two are meant to be on the tarmac. Between the red and white tinge of a racetrack’s curbs. God forbid we say “kerb”, the US Military might send us a cease and desist. So much so that GM took the Z to one of the most mythical tracks of all- the Nurburgring. Posting an estimated 7:12:64 at the Nordschleife, the time puts it on par with track legends like the Dodge Viper ACR.
The Dark Horse inherits the parts bucket from its big brothers, the GT350 and the GT500. With that being said, we don’t know too much about the Dark Horse’s times and numbers. Like its moniker, the Dark Horse is very much a mystique when it comes to information, and we’d speculate it runs similar times to the Mach 1 in the Deutschland at 7:58:29.
The new Z06 revs itself to a European-style 8,600 RPMs, staying in the Mustang’s realm of utilizing a DOHC scheme in lieu of a standard American pushrod V8 like the Camaros and Challengers. With this, you get a burning 0-60 time of 2.6 seconds and dashing through the 1/4 mile at 131 mph in just 10.6 seconds. As blazing hot as that is, we couldn’t help but simply be thrown back in our seat and close our eyes as the timer went off.
‘Stangs & ‘Vettes: An American Tale
The new Mustang is expected to run its sprint to 60 mph somewhere in the 3.8 second mark, trailing the Z06 by a full second. Now, that’s no track demon… but it is half the price.
Looks Mean Everything, You Know
Both machines have some of the most aggressive design cues known to the automotive universe. The Dark Horse was originally styled after a sleeper car, and we can say with confidence that this is no car to nap on, especially we it hits front fascia. Large nostrils with blocky headlights carried over from the base S650 make the stallion look like a car fit for the Headless Horseman. Dark “fangs” integrated into the front grille add to the menacing appearance. Overall, the Dark Horse looks like a Mustang, nothing out of the ordinary nor anything controversial, just a Mustang at heart.
Peering at the Z06 you see a world changed. Instead of the classic sports car look of the Corvette, we see the C8 that drew so much controversy back in 2020. Mid-engine, the Z06 shapeshifts from its American heritage and takes the form of a supercar. The Z06 adds a fancy wing with the Z07 package that the Dark Horse has a much more toned-down version of.
So Close, Yet So Far Apart
The two cars are worlds apart, yet so similar in semantics. Each one fills a necessary void within the American sports car segment, one which so many are running away from. As vehicles turn more and more to the hybrid viewpoint and even fully electric, it’s good to see the US still has what it originally came with.
