2026 Ford Mustang Dark Horse

As we dive into the Mustang's seventh decade, the old formula remains: big engine, small car, rear-wheel drive. Well, sort of. Certainly that's still there. But there's also a highly capable small engine — a turbocharged four-cylinder good for 315 horsepower. And of course there's a V8 with multiple outputs culminating in the 500-horsepower Dark Horse trim. Every Mustang is rear-wheel-drive and every version conforms to 21st-century muscle car standards, which means well-behaved handling and proper braking to go with the ample power.

American muscle cars? What American muscle cars? The Mustang is truly the last one standing at the moment, though there are some other fantastic, powerful front-engine rear-drive coupes available — like Toyota's GR Supra, Nissan's Z and our personal favorite, the 473-horsepower BMW M2. Check out our Expert Rating to see all the details about how the Mustang stacks up.

Ford makes almost no meaningful changes to the Mustang for 2026. Sure, there's a new FX package that jazzes things up with white wheels and trim and a few new colors, including Adriatic Blue Metallic, which looks stunning with those white wheels. But this is basically the same Mustang that was rolled out for the 2024 "redesign," which was modest at best. Perhaps the most significant change this year is that the 10-speed automatic is standard on the Dark Horse, while it remains a pay-extra option on the GT. Last year, it cost an extra $1,595 to get the 10-speed gearbox with the Dark Horse. But the flagship Mustang's base price is bumped only $465 for 2026. Maybe Ford realized it needs to make its quickest version a better value after watching a few of our U-Drags episodes.

Edmunds' test team purchased a Ford Mustang Dark Horse and have been testing it as part of their One Year Road Test program. (Yes, it's a tough job, but somebody has to do it, right?). The most interesting thing we've done so far is add an aftermarket supercharger kit that promises to increase output to 810 hp. How has that gone? Well, let's just say it seemed like a good idea at the time. Check out our Ford Mustang One-Year Road Test page for complete coverage. Note that our Dark Horse is a 2024 car but most of our observations apply to the 2026 Mustang as well.