I dive into the Mustang Dark Horse's engineering secrets, doing many burnouts in the process. Muscle car, pony car, sports car–Any of these terms are functionally meaningless when it comes to the Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

Ford will have this camouflaged Mustang RTR on the show floor at the 2025 Detroit Auto Show.

As announced today, that package has been quickly replaced with the Mustang RTR EcoBoost model that apparently steals some goodies from the Dark Horse.

Set to make its formal debut on Friday at the 2025 Detroit auto show, the new performance Mustang is based on the latest Mustang EcoBoost and will be built by Ford on the same line as the regular Mustang. RTR has its own series of tuned Mustangs that it builds at its own facilities.

There’s a new, hot EcoBoost Mustang in town, and Ford chose to partner with Vaughn Gittin Jr’s RTR for the project.

In partnership with RTR Vehicles, this upcoming Ford Mustang RTR is the second partnered performance variant aimed at providing a budget-friendly sports car.

Ford has partnered with RTR to make what could be the wildest four-cylinder Mustang EcoBoost yet, with parts from the Dark Horse.

Ford revealed its EcoBoost Mustang RTR, engineered in partnership with Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s Mustang tuning firm RTR, which stands for Ready to Rock. Designed to offer more power and performance than the stock model,

Ford and Ford Performance racing driver Vaughn Gittin Jr. have revealed the first factory-built Mustang co-developed with Gittin’s RTR (Ready

The RTR is a more accessible, turbocharged track-focused option compared to the V8-powered Mustang Dark Horse.

Joining the striped Mustang GTD Spirit of America on the floor—after doing several donuts and slow-speed drifts in the hands of Vaugh Gittin Jr.—is the new Mustang RTR. Yes, it's that RTR, but it isn't an after-sale upfit done at Gittin Jr.