S550 Ford Mustang GT Drags 12-Second S650 Dark Horse, Someone Stayed in Reverse!

Over the years, each subsequent generation had a thing of its own. The original is, well, the original. The second iteration is ugly by many standards, but it did what it had to survive during harsh times, and we are thankful for its sacrifices. The third, aka the Fox Body Mustang, is an absolute legend on its own, and nobody is surprised to see models from that age still rocking the local quarter-mile dragstrip with modern power under the body.

The fourth-gen debuted a complete overhaul of the design and then reinvented itself in New Edge style during the refresh – so there were two revolutions in one. The S197 and S197-II Mustangs are known for their 'retro-futuristic' callback to fastbacks of the 1960s – and the Camaro and Challenger quickly mirrored them. The sixth generation lived for an entire decade and had ample time to show that Ford knew how to mix the pony, muscle, and sports car styles into a single package.

The latest Mustang now veers even more toward the classic style of a veritable sports car with the EcoBoost, GT, and Dark Horse, plus the GTD and the numerous track derivatives. However, do not think for a second that it's incapable of glorious feats at the aforementioned local quarter-mile dragstrip. And there is no need to take our word for granted, as we have an eloquent example from Cecil County Dragway in Rising Sun, MD.

StangMode's latest additions to his Blue Oval garage are a 'Papa Smurf' S650 Mustang GT and a darker Dark Horse - the latter goes to the track again. After last time this Youtuber battled fellow socialite Street Speed 717 and narrowly beat his upgraded S650 Ford Mustang GT thanks solely to a better reaction time, now it's time for a clash with the S550 Ford Mustang GT.

You know how we always expect the unexpected at the racetrack? Well, the S650 Dark Horse came prepared with one simple trick – it has better wheels and tires than OEM, giving it that extra edge when it comes to taking full advantage of the prepped surface. As it turns out, it didn't need it because the Mustang GT driver in the other lane was either a rookie or a stumbler – after performing the initial start line adjustments, he or she left the transmission in reverse!

Anyway, the S550 probably would not have won the race anyway because the S650 Ford Mustang Dark Horse driven by StangMode is inching closer and closer to the magic eleven-second threshold – this pass was a 12.032s effort! That's not bad considering that a Dark Horse has 500 horsepower from the Coyote V8, and we have seen lots and lots of Hellcats and Redeyes with more than 700 horsepower botch things up and perform in the low 12s.

In fact, may I remind you that a previous race involving StangMode's 'Papa Smurf' ended with a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat eating dust from the Coyote's exhaust… twice. If that skirmish had been done with the Dark Horse, the gap would probably have been observable from the Moon. So, how do you feel about the S650 going below the 12-second threshold – yay or nay?