Dark Horse Mustang Ordered

[Pegasi]

Very excited that I had an allocation for a Dark Horse and submitted an order yesterday! No delivery date but I expect this year.

My spec was Blue Ember, 6 Speed, Recaro Seats, Handling Package. Therefore I am now hoping my Emira slows down a little. Would like the Emira of Q1 2025. These will likely be the last new ICE cars I buy. With expected handling as good as the GT350R (my opinion) it should be a real fun car. Naturally aspired V8s are my favorite engines.

Here is my spec

 

[Chobfreak]

I feel you, that's the exact reason why I got myself a Camaro SS back in january with my Emira being scheduled for july.😅

 

[Art1faqt]

Very excited that I had an allocation for a Dark Horse and submitted an order yesterday! No delivery date but I expect this year.

My spec was Blue Ember, 6 Speed, Recaro Seats, Handling Package. Therefore I am now hoping my Emira slows down a little. Would like the Emira of Q1 2025. These will likely be the last new ICE cars I buy. With expected handling as good as the GT350R (my opinion) it should be a real fun car. Naturally aspired V8s are my favorite engines.

Here is my spec

View attachment 24524

Did they try charging you way over sticker? I tried looking for an allocation for one but a dealership in chicago asked for $10k over and so I just kinda gave it up

 

[Pegasi]

Did they try charging you way over sticker? I tried looking for an allocation for one but a dealership in chicago asked for $10k over and so I just kinda gave it up

I did pay over sticker. I heard everything from 5k to 25K over sticker.

 

[Art1faqt]

I did pay over sticker. I heard everything from 5k to 25K over sticker.

Fair enough, that thing looks like a beast man enjoy it!

 

[Pegasi]

Fair enough, that thing looks like a beast man enjoy it!

I know you probably are, but keep your eyes open. Some of the salespeople spoke of an increased production number and subsequent models over the next few years. Since the R and S models are yet to come, they think that Ford will run this platform for a number of years. Mustang was my first favorite car as a kid.

 

[Art1faqt]

Definitely will be keeping an eye out. If this base Emira surpasses $120k with options, may need to reconsider some of these other options

 

[Pegasi]

Definitely will be keeping an eye out. If this base Emira surpasses $120k with options, may need to reconsider some of these other options

Unfortunately I have to agree with you. Once I didn't make the FE cut I knew everything would be on the table. The problem is when will we get the BASE configurator with pricing and options? Here are the things that made it easier to pull the trigger on the Dark Horse that quite frankly puts my Emira in some jeopardy. I would have rather had the Emira first and then stretch to try and get the Dark Horse, not the other way around.

1. Recent Porsche price increase. That may embolden Lotus to make further increases because they still might be priced OK comparatively to other makes.
2. My Porsche GT4 allocation was cancelled due to discontinued production. New options are reducing not increasing.
3. More delays by Lotus. The latest USA delay and the price of the FE V6 2.0 which as you said makes a $120K base with options a real possibility.

So I went for it.

 

[LotusB]

Unfortunately I have to agree with you. Once I didn't make the FE cut I knew everything would be on the table. The problem is when will we get the BASE configurator with pricing and options? Here are the things that made it easier to pull the trigger on the Dark Horse that quite frankly puts my Emira in some jeopardy. I would have rather had the Emira first and then stretch to try and get the Dark Horse, not the other way around.

1. Recent Porsche price increase. That may embolden Lotus to make further increases because they still might be priced OK comparatively to other makes.
2. My Porsche GT4 allocation was cancelled due to discontinued production. New options are reducing not increasing.
3. More delays by Lotus. The latest USA delay and the price of the FE V6 2.0 which as you said makes a $120K base with options a real possibility.

So I went for it.

I HIGHLY doubt a base with options will be $120k. Remember, the initial base price point for Emira was $75k for the I4 and around $83k for V6 (going from memory, don't shoot me) . We don't yet know the pricing effects across the range, we just know that the fully loaded FE 2.0 will be $105k, which is $11k higher than the $94k they told us before. This still represents a good value (albeit with a sour taste in ones mouth) compared to the Cayman alternatives, who've also raised prices. This car is fully loaded, let's not forget.

 

[Pegasi]

I HIGHLY doubt a base with options will be $120k. Remember, the initial base price point for Emira was $75k for the I4 and around $83k for V6 (going from memory, don't shoot me) . We don't yet know the pricing effects across the range, we just know that the fully loaded FE 2.0 will be $105k, which is $11k higher than the $94k they told us before. This still represents a good value (albeit with a sour taste in ones mouth) compared to the Cayman alternatives, who've also raised prices. This car is fully loaded, let's not forget.

My understanding that a BASE model with all the FE options would be a decent amount more expensive than the FE. So I guess if the 2.0 FE V6 is $105K than a BASE could easily be over $110K I assume. I know this is speculation but if I don't order until summer of 2024, I expect additional price increases.

 

[LotusB]

My understanding that a BASE model with all the FE options would be a decent amount more expensive than the FE. So I guess if the 2.0 FE V6 is $105K than a BASE could easily be over $110K I assume. I know this is speculation but if I don't order until summer of 2024, I expect additional price increases.

I mean anything is possible, let's see!

 

[VL3X]

My understanding that a BASE model with all the FE options would be a decent amount more expensive than the FE. So I guess if the 2.0 FE V6 is $105K than a BASE could easily be over $110K I assume. I know this is speculation but if I don't order until summer of 2024, I expect additional price increases.

Wasn't the FE supposed to be ~$10-15k in savings with all the options? So now if the new FE 2.0s are ~$12k more expensive, that could mean the FE 1.0s are now $22-27k less expensive than a base spec with all the FE options. We'll have to wait and see what the base spec options come in at....

 

[VL3X]

BTW, congrats on the Dark Horse! Looking forward to seeing pics and reading your feedback. It's a cool car for sure... and I'd already be looking at supercharger options. 😈

 

[Pegasi]

Wasn't the FE supposed to be ~$10-15k in savings with all the options? So now if the new FE 2.0s are ~$12k more expensive, that could mean the FE 1.0s are now $22-27k less expensive than a base spec with all the FE options. We'll have to wait and see what the base spec options come in at....

I forgot exactly how much savings. Someone made a post a while back that one of the reasons the configurator hasn't been updated with BASE options is because Lotus doesn't want to announce anything that may have to change. But the numbers you state are about what I recall. So yes, we just waitin to see!

 

[Pegasi]

BTW, congrats on the Dark Horse! Looking forward to seeing pics and reading your feedback. It's a cool car for sure... and I'd already be looking at supercharger options. 😈

Thank you! FYI this officially knocks out the Supra for me, I will only consider mid engine now. The Dark Horse was just like the Emira. I looked at GT4's for over a year and couldn't pull the trigger. Saw Emira, deposit when down. I looked at GT350Rs for almost 3 years and couldn't pull the trigger. Saw Dark Horse, deposit went down. When I say "saw" I mean the looks, the price, the engine, the looks, the performance.

I may choose to track the car so that would prohibit me from getting a blower but boy oh boy, yes I am already thinking about it!

 

[TomE]

Wasn't the FE supposed to be ~$10-15k in savings with all the options? So now if the new FE 2.0s are ~$12k more expensive, that could mean the FE 1.0s are now $22-27k less expensive than a base spec with all the FE options. We'll have to wait and see what the base spec options come in at....

Not as big a saving as that, more like $3-4k on the original FE pricing.

With the revised pricing Lotus may put the price of options up by a higher % than the increase on the Base car and FE package, so the saving may increase.

 

[Pegasi]

MSRP for my Dark Horse was $57970 on March 31 when I placed my order. Ford just had a price increase this week 4 weeks after a new model was released. New MSRP price is $63265. Never heard of a price increase 4 weeks after a new model release. Crazy. I didn't check to see if any of the options increased, I just checked base MSRP.

 

[LotusB]

MSRP for my Dark Horse was $57970 on March 31 when I placed my order. Ford just had a price increase this week 4 weeks after a new model was released. New MSRP price is $63265. Never heard of a price increase 4 weeks after a new model release. Crazy. I didn't check to see if any of the options increased, I just checked base MSRP.

That seems to be the norm these days... inflation all over.

By the way, I'm curious, have you owned a Mustang before or have seen the latest releases? I'm only asking because a buddy and I recently went to the Ford dealer to look at them and were very unimpressed with the interiors. The engine sounded great, but everything else (esp interior) reminded me that I'm in a ~$30k car with upgrades to make it ~$65k (before ADM).

Not saying that to detract you from the purchase, if you love it, go for it. Just making sure you're not internet/magazine shopping. We ended up going to dealers to try various cars and came away unimpressed with several IRL.

 

[Pegasi]

That seems to be the norm these days... inflation all over.

By the way, I'm curious, have you owned a Mustang before or have seen the latest releases? I'm only asking because a buddy and I recently went to the Ford dealer to look at them and were very unimpressed with the interiors. The engine sounded great, but everything else (esp interior) reminded me that I'm in a ~$30k car with upgrades to make it ~$65k (before ADM).

Not saying that to detract you from the purchase, if you love it, go for it. Just making sure you're not internet/magazine shopping. We ended up going to dealers to try various cars and came away unimpressed with several IRL.

I haven't seen the Dark Horse in person so yes I am internet shopping. I am not an interior person and I really don't evaluate interior quality. I enjoy simplicity in an interior but I am more concerned with power train, exterior looks, and driving dynamics. The Dark Horse, at minimum, will be between the Mach 1 and the GT350R and if it somehow rivals the GT350R, well you know. Here is my current S197 Mustang.

 

[Pegasi]

Dark Horse is here. Incredible handling. Incredible turn in. Lovely manual. Wow!

Has the same confident feel as the Emira did in corners. Hard to explain but hard to forget when you experience it. Unfortunately I really need for CARB to delay a little more at this point! Lol