Handing over the keys to a heavily modified car to its owner is an exciting moment, even for an experienced driver. However, sliding behind the wheel of an 867-horsepower Mustang Dark Horse creates an entirely different level of adrenaline. Richard Hammond of DRIVETRIBE enjoyed this exact scenario when he finally climbed back into his personal Dark Horse after sending it away for a supercharger upgrade and custom dyno tuning.
Right before pressing the start button, the television presenter grabbed the official paperwork to read the completely hidden numbers for the first time. He immediately realized the massive scale of the upgrade.
“Peak power is 867.2 horsepower,” Hammond exclaimed. “That’s enormous.”
Then it was time to put that power to the test. Rolling onto the tarmac for his initial acceleration pull, the sheer brute force of the supercharger pinned him firmly back into his driver’s seat. He quickly realized this aggressive machine demanded immediate respect and careful application of his right foot to keep the tires from spinning.
Despite the impressive performance figures, the engineering team at Motorsport and Performance managed to retain the smooth driving characteristics of the substantial American muscle car.
“It doesn’t feel like we’ve squeezed more power out of a car than it really should give, and it’s all a bit chaotic and hairy-chested and fun,” Hammond noted. “Right now, it’s tight. It’s together. It works.”
To truly measure the difference this upgrade delivered to his Dark Horse, Hammond lined up against a completely stock Dark Horse for a traditional drag race. After hilariously stalling the manual transmission right on the starting line, he eventually managed a perfectly clean launch. The supercharged Coyote 5.0-liter V8 easily left the factory version in the dust as the speedometer aggressively climbed past 140 mph.
Taking a brilliant factory platform, like the modern Mustang Dark Horse, and adding boost creates an entertaining daily driver. Bolting a Whipple twin-screw supercharger onto the modern Coyote engine unlocks its true potential without ruining the comfortable ride. Even the cautious mechanic who originally wrenched on the heavy engine components managed to take it for a gentle spin around the famous Top Gear test track.
If you want to see exactly how this wild project started, make sure to check out the original drop-off video below…
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