When most Americans think about Ford high-performance development, they picture proving grounds in Michigan, IMSA paddocks, NASCAR garages, or testing sessions at tracks like Road America or VIR.
But more than 5,000 miles away from Detroit, there is another place where motorsports are lived with extraordinary intensity: Argentina.
A country where racing is deeply embedded into the culture. Where generations grew up around oval racing, road racing, touring cars, endurance competition, fabrication, chassis setup, and mechanical engineering.
And that is exactly where this comparison took place.
As part of a collaboration with Ford Argentina, Collino carried out a complete telemetry-based track evaluation comparing two generations of Ford Mustang V8 platforms under real high-speed conditions at Rafaela Speedway — one of the fastest racing facilities in South America.
The comparison featured a Ford Mustang Dark Horse 2026 powered by Ford’s 4th-generation Coyote V8 and 10-speed automatic transmission against a Ford Mustang GT 2018 equipped with the 2nd-generation Coyote V8 and 6-speed manual transmission.
Both vehicles were driven by Leonardo Collino using the same driver, same circuit, same tire conditions, and the same engineering-oriented testing methodology.
Rafaela: South America’s Temple of Speed
The test took place at the legendary Rafaela Speedway in Santa Fe, Argentina.
Known locally as “The Temple of Speed,” Rafaela has historically been one of the fastest oval racing environments outside the United States.
Its main oval has produced average speeds that, depending on category and setup, surpassed several Indy-style oval configurations.
Although this test was conducted using Rafaela’s short technical layout, the configuration still incorporates sections of the high-speed banking and long full-throttle straights that made the venue famous.
That combination creates an extremely demanding environment for brake stability, rear platform control, directional transitions, and throttle application under load.
Both Mustangs reached the braking zone for Turn 1 at extremely high terminal speeds, placing enormous demands on brake consistency, chassis balance, and driver confidence under load transfer.
Ford and Argentina: more than a century of history
There is another reason this collaboration carries special significance.
Ford Argentina was one of Ford Motor Company’s earliest operations outside the United States, established in the early 1900s as one of the company’s first international branches.
For over a century, Ford has maintained a strong connection with Argentine motorsports culture through touring cars, endurance racing, off-road competition, pickups, and performance vehicles.
Today, that relationship continues through Ford Racing’s new global identity and vehicles such as:
- Ford Mustang Dark Horse 2026
- Ford Mustang Mach-E GT
- Ford Ranger Raptor
- Ford F-150 Raptor
Vehicles developed under a motorsports-driven engineering philosophy directly connected to Ford’s global racing programs.
Professional telemetry and vehicle dynamics analysis
This was not a casual track-day comparison.
The session was approached from a motorsports engineering perspective using professional telemetry and data acquisition systems to evaluate how both Mustang platforms behaved under sustained high-speed load conditions.
Working alongside Maximiliano Cervetti from DATAPRO, both vehicles were instrumented to analyze driver inputs, brake traces, chassis response, traction application, steering corrections, and overall platform balance throughout the lap.
Rather than focusing exclusively on lap time, the analysis concentrated on how each platform generated and maintained performance.
Telemetry overlays allowed direct comparison of:
- Brake pressure application and release timing.
- Minimum corner speed retention.
- Longitudinal acceleration traces.
- Throttle pickup timing at corner exit.
- Steering correction demand and yaw response.
- Transitional balance during rapid left-right load migration.
- Rear tire drive-off efficiency under throttle.
- Differential locking behavior during loaded exits.
- Gear selection logic and transmission response under braking events.
- Chassis attitude during combined braking and lateral-load conditions.
One of the biggest differences appeared during high-speed brake release and corner entry phases.
The Dark Horse platform maintains significantly better rear-platform stability during load migration, allowing the driver to carry brake pressure deeper into the corner while maintaining front-end bite and rotation predictability.
Under throttle application, the Torsen differential calibration and overall rear suspension control allowed the Dark Horse to accept power earlier with reduced steering correction demand at corner exit.
The car consistently maintained better rear tire stability during lateral-to-longitudinal load transfer while minimizing transient instability during aggressive throttle commitment.
The 10-speed transmission also played a major role in overall acceleration performance by keeping the engine consistently inside an optimal torque band throughout most sectors of the lap.
At the same time, the manual-transmission Mustang GT occasionally produced cleaner rhythm sections by reducing automatic downshift activity during aggressive braking transitions.
From an engineering standpoint, the most noticeable evolution was not simply horsepower.
It was overall platform management.
The Dark Horse represents a major improvement in brake stability, rear platform control, steering precision, transient response, traction efficiency, and overall driver confidence at the limit.
Faster than several racing categories
One of the most impressive results from the session was the overall speed capability achieved by both cars.
Both Mustangs reached braking speeds typically associated with purpose-built race cars competing at Rafaela, despite running as full street-based production vehicles.
Lap times between both cars ended up surprisingly close, which also demonstrated how capable the previous-generation Mustang GT platform still is when properly driven.
Much of the Dark Horse’s advantage comes not simply from raw power output, but from the integration of braking performance, traction management, chassis balance, transmission strategy, and overall platform predictability.
Everything discussed throughout this article can be directly validated through the onboard telemetry comparison videos published together with this feature.
Mustang Dark Horse
Mustang GT
The evolution of the modern Mustang platform
The most important conclusion from the session became obvious very quickly.
The Ford Mustang Dark Horse 2026 represents a substantial dynamic evolution over the previous Mustang GT platform.
The braking system delivers dramatically greater stopping capability while maintaining far more stability during high-energy braking events.
Corner-exit traction is significantly improved, largely due to the Torsen differential and the platform’s rear suspension control under load.
Even with substantially more power, the Dark Horse consistently allowed earlier throttle application with reduced steering correction demand and greater predictability at the limit.
The chassis remains considerably more settled under sustained lateral load, especially through high-speed corners and rapid directional transitions.
Steering response is sharper, more immediate, and more precise while requiring fewer mid-corner corrections.
At the same time, the manual-transmission Mustang GT still delivered an extremely engaging and highly effective driving experience.
In several sections of the circuit, the manual gearbox actually produced smoother rhythm sequences by avoiding the constant gear transitions generated by the 10-speed automatic during aggressive braking and turn-in phases.
From a pure driver-engagement standpoint, the ideal combination might honestly be the Dark Horse platform paired with a manual transmission.
Ford Racing’s new global era
Today Ford Racing is entering one of the most ambitious periods in its modern history.
The company officially unified its global motorsports programs under the Ford Racing identity, reconnecting production vehicle development directly with racing engineering and competition technology.
Ford is now simultaneously involved in Formula 1, NASCAR, Dakar, endurance racing, off-road competition, drifting, and multiple Mustang racing programs around the world.
Its official return to Formula 1 in 2026 alongside Red Bull Powertrains marks one of the biggest moments for the brand in decades.
That same global motorsports DNA is exactly what projects like this seek to connect with.
Real testing. Real telemetry. Real motorsports culture.
At Collino, the objective is not simply to create automotive content.
The goal is to combine engineering, telemetry, data acquisition, and real-world track analysis while building a bridge between Argentine motorsports culture and the global high-performance automotive world.
Because far away from Detroit, deep in South America, there is still a place where motorsports are lived with incredible passion, technical intensity, and authentic racing culture.
And at full braking load into Turn 1 at Rafaela, you can absolutely feel it.
