MotorWeek's Mustang vs Camaro vs Challenger

[Hack]

The Mustang just got a major design change and it needs a refresh? Most of the 15's have been on the road less than a year..

But some have been on the road almost 2 years. Just my opinion - the Mustang front end is starting to look tired to me. Maybe it's from looking at the GT350 front end too much. Or maybe it's because I never thought the new Mustang front end was a great design. I never get tired of looking at the 2011 Mustang front end.

As for the outdated Challenger look.....most of us Challenger owners will not buy a future updated modern looking Challenger if it started to look like a "euro egg." We like the current design and the recent refresh. We don't want it to change. We buy the car because we want a modern driving car that looks like a classic. .

I agree and Dodge did a good job with the Challenger. But it's been lots of years without much of a styling change. They can refresh it without making it look too modern. I'd love to see them do a 'Cuda instead for a few years.

Challenger owners know that their cars will never sell as much as the larger corporation (GM & Ford) products. We like that. We like having cars that are not as common on the road. We like being different. Many of us don't care about the price difference either. There are many Mustang guys who would have but an SRT if it was less expensive..

Yeah, I looked at Challenger. It was too big and expensive for me. I didn't feel I was getting enough for the extra money. But then again I think all three are too large.

The design is "timeless" because it mimics a classic design so well. It's no more outdated to us than the original. The more these retro cars depart from that formula, the more those cars will become cars that can go out of style in a few years..

We can agree to disagree on this. Whether a design is new versus old doesn't have an impact on whether people will eventually judge it to be timeless or a great design, etc. I think the new Corvette is a great design - probably the best one since the 60s, and it doesn't copy an old 'vette. It stands on its own.

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[Clump]

Tm@c1965 nailed it, at least for me. If he's circa 1965 maybe it's an old guy thing. I'm circa 1960.:lol: The Challenger does retro better than any other car imo. If you see a new 1 parked next to a '70 it's really stunning what a great job they did.

If not for the $50K price of admission I'd probably be driving an SRT.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Mustang. It's a great modern design that still shows the classic influences. Not an easy thing to do, IMO. It's the best bang for the buck by far and just a blast to drive. I don't like that it's slower than the other 2, at least when bench racing, but unless you have a Chiron there's always something faster.

 

[Tm@c1965]

If the 15 had round headlights....

Tm@c1965 nailed it, at least for me. If he's circa 1965 maybe it's an old guy thing. I'm circa 1960.:lol: The Challenger does retro better than any other car imo. If you see a new 1 parked next to a '70 it's really stunning what a great job they did.

If not for the $50K price of admission I'd probably be driving an SRT.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Mustang. It's a great modern design that still shows the classic influences. Not an easy thing to do, IMO. It's the best bang for the buck by far and just a blast to drive. I don't like that it's slower than the other 2, at least when bench racing, but unless you have a Chiron there's always something faster.

....but everything else was "as is" on current design (the rear looks so much like a 69 fastback), I would have sold my 15' TRD Taco and bought one to keep my SRT company. They improved the new one in almost every way.....gave it sexy hips, coke bottle curves and retro profile/rear. They just missed a grand slam by not having "round eyes."

 

[bluebeastsrt]

This is what cracks me up about people discussing 1/4 mile times. There is no handicap for winning/losing with warranty intact. Literally nobody cares when you lose. If you are worried about warranty and decide not to race, cool, I respect that. Then don't come in here spouting off times like you're part of the conversation. Here is something to consider too, with the Mustang being out a year longer more owners have had time to put on miles and add their mods. Makes the track interactions a little less one sided than a lot of people in here want to admit.

Bring this point up and the pure bench racers have a fit in these on line conversations! I went to the track last night. It was a beautiful 50 degree night. Everyone's out with their brand new cars hoping to run magazine times. They line up next to me and don't stand a chance! They cant understand how they lose so badly. The simple answer is a few bolt on mods and a ton of racing experience. I watched drivers of brand a new Camaro and Scat pack both struggle to get into the 12s last night. Talk to em and they both chant the same thing. These cars run 11s stock. I just think to my self. So make it run 11s. It's easy right?:rant:

 

[ZaneWayne]

Bring this point up and the pure bench racers have a fit in these on line conversations! I went to the track last night. It was a beautiful 50 degree night. Everyone's out with their brand new cars hoping to run magazine times. They line up next to me and don't stand a chance! They cant understand how they lose so badly. The simple answer is a few bolt on mods and a ton of racing experience. I watched drivers of brand a new Camaro and Scat pack both struggle to get into the 12s last night. Talk to em and they both chant the same thing. These cars run 11s stock. I just think to my self. So make it run 11s. It's easy right?:rant:

You beat the drivers though. Most drivers suck lol. But the cars are capable of running certain times. Just doesnt mean it will happen.

 

[Asharus]

maybe they had manual trannys, not the "i win button" tranny

 

[GoBlues38]

My take is this. On the "street", no one cares about a full 1/4 mile time. The Mustang as it sits has way too much power for the street to do any "full throttle" runs without risk of a ticket or jail. At a moments notice you can break the back tire loose or hit 100 mph.

If the 1/4 mile does matter to you, then you wont be stock, and the it is anyones game at that point.

The cars are equal as far as twisty road driving. And in almost all reviews, the visibility / interior quality of the mustang wins out.

Bottom line is, I bought the car that was right for me, not what some fat guy from ariona says.

 

[bluebeastsrt]

LOL exactly. Bench racers care about what cars are capable of stock. Racers only care about what/who just beat them. The term with all things being equal gets throw around a lot on forums. How often are all things equal when your not behind a keyboard?

 

[OppoLock]

Surprise, surprise, the obese man doesn't like the Recaros. He should lose 150 pounds; he'll be able to enjoy some seats with actual lateral support and decrease the overall drive weight. Him in a Camaro probably weighs the same as me in my car, jeez.

 

[Strokerswild]

My take is this. On the "street", no one cares about a full 1/4 mile time. The Mustang as it sits has way too much power for the street to do any "full throttle" runs without risk of a ticket or jail. At a moments notice you can break the back tire loose or hit 100 mph.

If the 1/4 mile does matter to you, then you wont be stock, and the it is anyones game at that point.

The cars are equal as far as twisty road driving. And in almost all reviews, the visibility / interior quality of the mustang wins out.

Bottom line is, I bought the car that was right for me, not what some fat guy from ariona says.

Well put.

Especially the first bit. When I had my GT500, everyone who saw it and commented on it, "Oooooh, a Shelby", fap fap fap. But the reality was it was a nose-heavy pig that you could realistically only enjoy from 0-60 (or thereabouts) assuming you could keep the tires from blowing off while doing so.

My '15 is a far superior car, but is still vaguely usable as a whole.

Bench racing is pretty damn silly, really.

 

[ZaneWayne]

The cars are equal as far as twisty road driving. And in almost all reviews, the visibility / interior quality of the mustang wins out.

I agree with you except for the point above. I have driven both semi back to back on a twisty road. They are not even. The Mustang is good. But it is too soft to be even with the Camaro.

 

[Chad11491]

I agree with you except for the point above. I have driven both semi back to back on a twisty road. They are not even. The Mustang is good. But it is too soft to be even with the Camaro.

Agreed. The pp really should have been stiffer.

 

[ZaneWayne]

Agreed. The pp really should have been stiffer.

Agreed. The PP is too soft and the non PP is just not comparable.

 

[MagGT]

Agreed. The PP is too soft and the non PP is just not comparable.

I feel like a lot of these words people use are huge exaggerations.

apparently .3 seconds difference to 60 or in the quarter mile is "UTTERLY DESTROYED" or "absolutely raped!".


Of course they can be compared, but i think you mean the camaro is so far out of the league of the mustang you shouldn't even compare it which i also disagree with. It's not like the mustang is a 1999 Nissan Sentra, it will probably more than keep up with the camaro but will have a tough time. To the average person, these cars are very close in performance. I think i can safely say this as when I went down to the Lightening track in Millville, NJ, to the average person, the average person will not be able to fully take advantage of the slight differences in the cars. I was on the track with a 2012 camaro zl1, a corvette stingray, a shelby cobra kit car, lexus is-f. I was able to pass all of those cars in my completely stock Auto, non-pp stang. I had stock tires, brakes, everything. This doesn't mean that my car is better or faster, but my point is that to us, the average people who do autocross or a few track days a year, any car under 5 seconds to 60 will be close enough where a few tenths of a second

Like come on guys, lets be reasonable. Times this close is as much a drivers race than anything. I am fully understanding that the camaro in stock form is faster than the mustang, not by a huge amount but enough.

Sorry for the rant. I just dislike when people say things like the camaro SS is much better compared to the new gt350, as if the GT is so out of its league.

 

[GoBlues38]

Agreed. The PP is too soft and the non PP is just not comparable.

My SHO was a PP car. I did it more for the gear ration then the suspension.

In my GT, I o not have the PP, but 3.55 gears and 20 inch wheels. The 20 inch wheels IMHO make up for the lack of stiffer springs. In my case, the parkway going into where I live is the worst stretch of 1.5 miles of bumpy cracked poorly laid concrete in all of missouri. I would not be able to live with the car if it were any stiffer.

All for my point. Get the car that suits YOU, not your buddy, or worse some magazine hack.

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