2020 Mustang GT vs Camaro SS 1LE

[Jmtoast]

i definitely need to drive it because I’ve read all the same things you’ve said. And the sales for the Camaro are definitely tanking. Thanks for the advice

Since you can't test drive here you go... I drove a SS before the 1LE. Loved the SS manual. Leagues better than the Mustang GT. The manual was made for for guys like me who grew up driving manuals but doesn't want to work at it when I'm only going to drive it on weekends. Interior huge flaw and my girlfriend who is a huge Camaro fan (both from GM towns and both have employee discounts) as I was, hated it and the visibility. Back seat room was even worse than the Mustang if that's possible. Decently fast but manual so didn't compare with an A10. Exhaust didn't sound as good as the Mustang and I didn't feel like it ever would. LE1 - Beautiful car. Orange with that black L1E hood. I loved it and would have bought it because I get a huge discount and it was available at a cheap price but gf gave the passenger perspective and it wasn't good.. Although the L1E sounds great (AE exhaust), like a muscle car with nice low burbles and good backfires, it just didn't compare to the Mustang sound. I preferred the good lows and crazy highs of the Mustang. Speed was good and the manual was very unforgiving. I blasted it from a light and it had plenty of torque to turn the car sideways. But after driving a 2012 GT500 and a 15 Petty Mustang (Roush 627hp) it wasn't fast enough and to be honest the A10 felt faster than all of those.

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[rancid]

If you are thinking about a used ZL1, have you considered a used 17' GT350?

 

[John_B]

Since you can't test drive here you go... I drove a SS before the 1LE. Loved the SS manual. Leagues better than the Mustang GT. The manual was made for for guys like me who grew up driving manuals but doesn't want to work at it when I'm only going to drive it on weekends. Interior huge flaw and my girlfriend who is a huge Camaro fan (both from GM towns and both have employee discounts) as I was, hated it and the visibility. Back seat room was even worse than the Mustang if that's possible. Decently fast but manual so didn't compare with an A10. Exhaust didn't sound as good as the Mustang and I didn't feel like it ever would. LE1 - Beautiful car. Orange with that black L1E hood. I loved it and would have bought it because I get a huge discount and it was available at a cheap price but gf gave the passenger perspective and it wasn't good.. Although the L1E sounds great (AE exhaust), like a muscle car with nice low burbles and good backfires, it just didn't compare to the Mustang sound. I preferred the good lows and crazy highs of the Mustang. Speed was good and the manual was very unforgiving. I blasted it from a light and it had plenty of torque to turn the car sideways. But after driving a 2012 GT500 and a 15 Petty Mustang (Roush 627hp) it wasn't fast enough and to be honest the A10 felt faster than all of those.

thank you for the input, it’s good to hear from somebody with actual experience and not just “mustangs are better”

if the mustang came with the same 6060 as the Camaro i don’t think auto would even be a consideration for me lol

 

[John_B]

If you are thinking about a used ZL1, have you considered a used 17' GT350?

I haven’t, and i can’t tell you why lol. I’ll start to look into them. Not sure how well they handle boost compared to the regular gen 3 coyote. I’ll need to do more research.

 

[Jmtoast]

thank you for the input, it’s good to hear from somebody with actual experience and not just “mustangs are better”

if the mustang came with the same 6060 as the Camaro i don’t think auto would even be a consideration for me lol

Wish I would have driven the Zl1 but by the time I was done withe 2 test drives I knew it was pointless. Funny thing is that living near Detroit and Flint there are great Camaro speedshops here. No problem getting boost around here. Found that out after I added boost to mine at a speedshop that mostly does GM cars.

 

[Hack]

If you are thinking about a used ZL1, have you considered a used 17' GT350?

Frankly for the OP's use case I'm not sure the GT350 will be what he wants. It does make 525 HP without mods, which is nice. And it wouldn't necessarily need a power adder due to that fact.

However, for all street use it's not that easy to access the power of the GT350 due to the steep gearing. The gearing is more set up for the road course.

It's an odd thing thinking that the best car I ever owned is not the car I would recommend to someone. But the OP has very different taste than I do.

Another option for that 500 hp range might be the 2021 Mach 1.

 

[John_B]

Frankly for the OP's use case I'm not sure the GT350 will be what he wants. It does make 525 HP without mods, which is nice. And it wouldn't necessarily need a power adder due to that fact.

However, for all street use it's not that easy to access the power of the GT350 due to the steep gearing. The gearing is more set up for the road course.

It's an odd thing thinking that the best car I ever owned is not the car I would recommend to someone. But the OP has very different taste than I do.

Another option for that 500 hp range might be the 2021 Mach 1.

i would agree with that. 525 is amazing out of an all motor factory car, but nothing impressive to me for what i would use it for. Same with the Mach 1, seems to be more of a track (road race) car and I’m a straight line guy. I enjoy taking turns and cornering in my WRX as a daily but for the weekend car, i want something fast in a straight line.

 

[Hack]

i would agree with that. 525 is amazing out of an all motor factory car, but nothing impressive to me for what i would use it for. Same with the Mach 1, seems to be more of a track (road race) car and I’m a straight line guy. I enjoy taking turns and cornering in my WRX as a daily but for the weekend car, i want something fast in a straight line.

The GT350 might be faster than the SS 1LE with the mods you were planning for that car, but it would be slower unmodded than the Mustang GT with mods. And there's a lot of expensive equipment on the GT350 that won't be useful for you. Frankly I also think a regular SS would be a better choice than an SS 1LE if you were planning to mod right away and street drive exclusively.

 

[John_B]

The GT350 might be faster than the SS 1LE with the mods you were planning for that car, but it would be slower unmodded than the Mustang GT with mods. And there's a lot of expensive equipment on the GT350 that won't be useful for you. Frankly I also think a regular SS would be a better choice than an SS 1LE if you were planning to mod right away and street drive exclusively.

Yea the gt350 wouldnt be worth it for me, a regular GT and then boosted is more what I’m looking for.

as far as the regular ss, i want the bigger brakes, seats, exterior bits, and wheels and tires from the 1LE. Well worth the money to me and it’s still cheaper than the mustang GT.

But since creating this thread, I’ve been looking more and more into the mustangs again and i feel like that’s the better car for what i want. I was finally able to make an appointment to test drive both an auto and a manual this Wednesday so that should give me a better idea.

 

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

Serious question: Why do you have to supercharge the Mustang for the street? I think you could possibly do a full bolt on plus E85 tune on an A10 PP1 Mustang GT and possibly be happy. It's hard to put 700 rwhp down on the street with FI torque making it that much more difficult. In another thread there's a guy with a boosted M6 GT that can't crack 0-60 in 4 seconds, and I recently did 3.80 seconds bone stock in my A10 GT PP1 (with my winter all seasons!). And he is supercharged. He acts like he doesn't care because he has another car for 0-60, but that's gotta hurt a little. A more linear power response w/ the A10 is where its at for the street IMO. Over 500 rwhp with just bolt ons and E85 tune is attainable with the Gen 3 Coyote. And 100+ lbs less weight on the nose of the car compared to a FI setup.

I also highly recommend testing driving and buying a GT PP1 w/ MagneRide. Makes it a great road car.

And something no one has mentioned - which do you think looks better? I was always a GM/Chevy guy, but man, the S550, and particularly the 2018+ GT PP1 refresh, looks much better than the Camaro SS IMO.

When I bought mine (fall 2018) the Mustang had much better safety tech. available as well, which I like.

And also there's really no comparison in name recognition and overall appeal.

 

[John_B]

Serious question: Why do you have to supercharge the Mustang for the street? I think you could possibly do a full bolt on plus E85 tune on an A10 PP1 Mustang GT and possibly be happy. It's hard to put 700 rwhp down on the street with FI torque making it that much more difficult. In another thread there's a guy with a boosted M6 GT that can't crack 0-60 in 4 seconds, and I recently did 3.80 seconds bone stock in my A10 GT PP1 (with my winter all seasons!). And he is supercharged. He acts like he doesn't care because he has another car for 0-60, but that's gotta hurt a little. A more linear power response w/ the A10 is where its at for the street IMO. Over 500 rwhp with just bolt ons and E85 tune is attainable with the Gen 3 Coyote. And 100+ lbs less weight on the nose of the car compared to a FI setup.

I also highly recommend testing driving and buying a GT PP1 w/ MagneRide. Makes it a great road car.

And something no one has mentioned - which do you think looks better? I was always a GM/Chevy guy, but man, the S550, and particularly the 2018+ GT PP1 refresh, looks much better than the Camaro SS IMO.

When I bought mine (fall 2018) the Mustang had much better safety tech. available as well, which I like.

And also there's really no comparison in name recognition and overall appeal.

why? Because race car!

Serious answer is I’m just a horsepower/speed junkie and the slowest car I’ve had in the last 8? years was my Paxton 2012 that made 660whp and dead hooked second gear with the mt82. Now a 750 whp Z06 and I’d rather not go backwards. As soon as i get the car I’d probably throw on full exhaust and E85. If that keeps me happy then i don’t need to supercharge it, but i highly doubt I’d be satisfied with bolt on power for very long. Also it will be very rarely driven and hopefully get some track rentals so i plan to run a drag pack full time so hopefully traction isn’t an issue.

I think the mustang looks way better. I think the Camaro sounds better even tho that seems to be an unpopular opinion. Probably because i associate the Camaro sound with a nice cam, but I’m not a fan of the high pitched rasp the coyote produces. Interior i can’t speak to build quality but i prefer the seats in the Camaro which is a big part of it. And the biggest advantage for the mustang is the power which i am clearly stuck on.

to be completely honest i originally wanted the mustang and never thought about the Camaro, but then i thought getting a mustang would put me down the same expensive rabbit hole and more power means more things breaking. So the Camaro was the second best “drivers car” i would want with a manual and still have fun reliably. Better manual transmission and heads/cam to be more fun than a n/a coyote.

I’ll be test driving the A10 Wednesday so that should help me out a lot. A fbo A10 is certainly an option.

 

[SkyBlast]

I can give you my experience from tracking my 2015 Mustang GT FBO against stock Camaro SS 1LEs... they're fast, right from the factory. They make good power and have magnaride dampening, so they kick ass around the track. They burn a lot of oil on the track, though. One guy put 2 quarts in during the day of 6 20 minute sessions. So there's that.

But that's not what you're asking about.. you're talking about driving on the street and having some fun. That's a whole different ball game, and one I can also tell you about since I owned a Camaro SS a few years back.

It was junk. Lots of stuff broke right from the factory before the thing was 9 months old. From little things like the lights in the driver's side door to big things like the heater core, which dumped antifreeze all over the carpet. They had to replace the carpet because they couldn't get the maple syrup smell out of it and it kept making me want pancakes. Or waffles. Or waffles and pancakes. You get my drift.

I'm sure you heard this before, but they are hard to see out of. Their windows are about 3 inches tall. You also sit low in the car, so it's hard to put your arm on the door and just cruise along, unless you like your elbow being a 30 degree angle from your shoulder.

Passengers don't like riding in them, because they also sit low and all they see is a big, boring dash.

The heating/cooling vents are directly in front of the shifter. Since you are looking at an M6, you'll probably be affected by this. It's only a big deal because if you ride with your hand on the shifter, your hand is either going to get hot or cold, depending on what time of year it is.

See this photo for a better idea of what I'm talking about. High doors, fans blowing directly on your hand, and a goofy looking screen could all be yours.

On the flip side, the 2020 Mustang GT is an awesome car. Comfortable to ride in, beautiful to behold, and ready to make fantastic amounts of power for a few thousand bucks.

They fixed the shift forks back in 2018, which were made of pure Chinesium and were just itching to break at the most inopportune moment. Thank God for small favors.

Anyways, I hope this helps you decide.

-Steven

PS: I just read your post about the "high pitched rasp" for the Coyote exhaust note... don't buy an X pipe, buy an H pipe with your exhaust. The exhaust note drops an octave and the rasp goes away, as does the drone.

I get a lot of compliments on how my car sounds, because it's not "waaaah waaaaah waaaaah" and constantly grating on your nerves. It's subdued when idling and just cruising along and then "This thing just ripped off my face!" kind of loud when you get into it. American Racing Headers with an H pipe and Pure Thunder mufflers FTW!

 

[John_B]

Thank you for that ^ very informative and real world experience. Ive heard about all the complaints as far as ergonomics in the Camaro, poor visibility etc and i haven’t driven a 6th gen yet to know if it would bother me but it sounds like it would. It seems all the things that would make the Camaro better are track related, which is not for me so I’m definitely leaning way more towards the mustang since starting this thread and researching the mustang more. Good to know they fixed the shift forks in 2018, again ill have to drive the auto and see how i like it. Always been a manual guy, but cant deny the performance of the A10.

The rasp comment was more of a general statement, there’s definitely exhausts i like better. AWE touring is one that sticks out right now. I love the Corsa extreme on my vette but hate it on the mustang (at least in video) its too raspy. Thanks again for your input.

 

[shogun32]

I have the Borla Touring and Steeda H-pipe. Sounds good and not loud. The Camaro factory exhaust crackles a bit too much for my liking.

 

[Takeshi]

I also highly recommend testing driving and buying a GT PP1 w/ MagneRide. Makes it a great road car.

And something no one has mentioned - which do you think looks better? I was always a GM/Chevy guy, but man, the S550, and particularly the 2018+ GT PP1 refresh, looks much better than the Camaro SS IMO.

When I bought mine (fall 2018) the Mustang had much better safety tech. available as well, which I like.

Hey ,

This is totally what I thought too once Mustang got the Magne ride things became better. Same thing with the refreshed 2018 looks vs Camaro's Refreshed 2019. Alongside the added daily comfort and tech just made it overall better. I won't be carving Canyons or tracks everyday but I'd still like to drive it everyday!

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