In the blink of an eye, the rumble turns into a whir. The fortified Gen 4 Coyote 5.0-liter spins to 8,500 rpm. A Whipple Gen 6x 3.0-liter delivers undisclosed boost as the power curve swells to uncharted territory. Evolution Performance is used to pushing the latest Mustangs into the record books on the drag strip, but the arrival of custom tuning from HP Tuners has changed the game again.

Evolution Performance is building its own serialized Dx1400S Dark Horse Mustangs, and this 2024 example is the first of its kind, and already proving a potent combination. The aftermarket is off to the races on the S650 Mustangs and other modern performance Fords, thanks to HP Tuners’ recent support for custom calibrations.

Having already pushed a built Mustang Dark Horse into the 8-second zone on the drag strip without custom tuning, Evolution Performance unleashed one of its builds with HP Tuners custom tuning and E85-R fuel. The results were impressive. (Image Credit: Evolution Performance)

Motivated by a built Gen 4 Coyote 5.0-liter engine topped by a Whipple 3.0-liter GEN 6x Supercharger — fully optimized with a 10-rib belt drive, 120mm throttle body, Competition airboxes, and dual intercooler pumps — this combination was a caged animal ready to be unleashed by custom tuning.

Howling on the Hubs

Having already pushed Dark Horse Mustangs into the 8-second zone without tuning support, the tantalizing possibility of what is next for these cars is coming into focus. Evolution partnered with Lund Racing for a custom HP Tuners calibration to optimize this car’s robust hardware (see sidebar below), and then they bolted it to the shop’s in-house hub dyno to see what it could do.

The answer is nearly 1,400 horsepower at the rear wheels. The companies are using the robust Dx1400S platform to develop custom calibrations for supercharged and other forced-induction combinations, so we suspect this isn’t the last big number this car will pump out.

The results of a full-tilt Dark Horse build and custom tuning from Lund Racing resulted in an eye-watering 1,369 horsepower at 8,500 RPM and 927 lb-ft of torque at 5,500 RPM at the rear wheels on the Evolution Performance hub dyno. (Image Credit: Evolution Performance)

However, the idea of streetable four-digit S650s is now a reality, and we can’t wait to see how quickly these Whipple-boosted machines run at the drag strip. As the saying goes, we live in interesting times.