Why the European Ford Mustang lacks more than 10 percent power

Last Thursday we announced the Dutch price of the Ford Mustang. When we looked at the American’s price list, something was wrong. The most powerful Mustang has less horsepower than we initially thought.

When we introduced the eighth-generation Ford Mustang, we told Autovisie readers that the 5.0-liter V8 in the Dark Horse (the most powerful variant) is good for 500 hp and 567 Nm of torque. However, this turns out to be false.

Ford Mustang in Europe

At least for Europe. The most powerful version of the current generation Ford Mustang 500 is being delivered in America Horsepower. The Dutch price list states that the Muscle car has 453 hp. We also see a difference to the GT. This model produces 446 hp in our country and 480 hp outside Europe. Where does this difference come from?

Ford Netherlands tells Autovisie that this performance difference in the price list is actually correct. It’s even bigger than you first think. The 500 hp stated in the magazine in America are converted to 507 hp (with performance exhaust) for the Dark Horse. So the difference is 54 hp.

Why?

This difference of more than 50 hp on the Ford Mustang Dark Horse is only due to particulate filters. “In Europe, an additional particulate filter must be installed to meet Euro 6.2 requirements. Unfortunately, this has an impact on performance,” Ford Netherlands told Autovisie.

Previous Ford Mustang

Although 54 horsepower less is a significant loss in performance, the Dark Horse still has enough left to be a real success Muscle car be mentioned. Autovisie drove the Ford Mustang Mach 1 and the Shelby GT500 in 2021. You can see how much fun you can have with the Americans in the video below.