Near-stock 2019 Mustang GT Yields Bonkers Horsepower on Dyno
Ford’s official specs for the GT says it makes 480 horsepower, so how the heck is this one pushing 489 to the rear wheels?
Who doesn’t love a good mystery? The thrill of the chase, the unexpected twists and turns. Whether it’s a whodunnit for the ages or a something a little out of the ordinary, they just tend to make life a little more interesting. And today’s mystery, of course, is Mustang-related. Specifically, YouTuber Zander13’s 2019 Mustang GT known as Project Carnage. So far, it’s largely stock. But at its first dyno test, it puts up more horsepower than Ford advertises for the ’19 GT. Like, a lot more horsepower.
“Do factory freaks exist? Maybe,” he says at the beginning of this video. “I might have one.” The Mustang in question is part of his latest venture, “Project Carnage.” It’s a red 2019 GT with the Performance Pack and a 10-speed automatic transmission. So far, other than installing an X-pipe exhaust, the car is bone stock (at least from what we can see). That should mean 435 horses.
But at 412 Dyno Shop in Parsons, Tennessee, it’s another story. After the car, makes its run, the shop dynos a stock 2016 GT that makes 396 horses, a stock Hellcat pumping out 643, and a Whipple-supercharged GT making 732. Those numbers all check out. Project Carnage, however? A whopping 489 horsepower.
That can’t be right, so they try again. The second time around, the car puts out 472 horsepower. The third time around, 464 horsepower at the rear wheels. That’s still a lot higher than anyone would expect from a stock ’19 GT. “I’m like the third or fourth car [today], and they’ve all been accurate as can be,” he says hopefully. The shop predicts that based on these readings, the car seems to be putting out 451 horsepower.
So is Ford underrating horsepower? We know that with a little coaxing, Coyote V8s can do incredible things. But we’re as shocked as Zander is about these numbers. Unfortunately, this video does prove to be a fluke. Just a few days later, he re-dynos the car, and it turns out to be a much more realistic 400 horsepower or so at the rear wheels. No one is at fault here; Zander filmed the entire thing, and as he points out, Project Carnage is the first ’19 GT with the 10-speed auto the shop had tested. So while we love the idea of Ford accidentally selling high-horsepower “factory freaks,” to unsuspecting customers, unfortunately, Zander’s GT isn’t one of them.
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