Like that other guy I prefer bench racing and letting magazines tell me what is faster rather than driving the cars
Met up with two buddies today to cruise and shoot some pics. Comparison and my impressions and pics below but I’ll first say we are lucky to have lived through the second muscle car era!
The cars:
2022 GT PP1 manual, 2019 Charger Scatpack auto 392 handling package, 2021 Camaro 2SS 1LE auto. All cars are completely stock (with the exception of stock airbox mods.) All had brembos - all on summer rubber.
Straight line speed:
Here’s what most people care about. the Mustang pulled fairly hard on the scat from a 50 roll. I was actually really surprised how bad he got gapped. The Camaro was nowhere to be found (combo of heavy drag for the 1LE from the aero and really sticky tires is my guess - not surprising). From a dig the Scat beats the Mustang and below 40 the Camaro does too (man those autos shift fast). A ten speed mustang would be a different story probably. Overall they are very similar and fast for mid level muscle, but mustang takes 1st, charger a very close 2nd, Camaro 3rd.
handling:
On paper these cars should be fairly similar - all around the same msrp, V8, handling package equipped. All have big Brembos.
In reality, there was no contest. The Camaro had not only the most comfortable suspension but the most capable as well. The 1LE package is light years ahead of the PP1. The Camaro was unbelievably composed in every situation imaginable. michigan potholes hardly shook the car and you could floor the car coming out of a roundabout and barely chirp the tires. It hooks and books.
the GT is second, but not close. I love my car but I was blown away by the Camaro. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have some buyers remorse. My car is stiff, but lacks the grip of the Camaro and its composure over bumps. Additionally, under hard acceleration, the rear end jumps sideways slightly while the Camaro is glued to the pavement and accelerates perfectly straight. The plus for the Mustang is its brakes - not sure what car and driver was talking about when it said the Camaro had better brakes. The Mustang brembos are equal imo in pure braking power and have better feel and low speed modulation.
the scat, at 700 pounds heavier than both other cars, is a distant third. This is a big comfortable car and I have long thought it makes the best daily driver for around metro Detroit (I may be biased-my daily is an AWD hemi charger.) But handling wise it’s not close to the other two. It is a true muscle car whereas the Camaro and Mustang have moved into the sports segment. This car was wallowing all over the road compared to the other two and cooked its brakes, necessitating a 10 minute cool down, while my car and the Camaro’s brakes were cool to the touch when we stopped. The scat almost ate my bumper more than once on what I thought were fairly casual stops once its brakes heated up.
Driving impression/interior:
Driving all three back to back, my first thought is you really can’t go wrong. Just depends what you want.
The Mustang is my choice, balancing comfort with a great interior and top end speed. I love this car more and more as I drive it. The coyote sounds the best to me, the charger a very close 2nd and the Camaro 3rd (Camaro sounds like a truck motor to me, which it sort of is). I’ve always had a soft spot for small blocks, no matter how big they actually
The Camaro is a track beast and also pretty comfortable but the cabin is a coffin and I find the car ugly. The recaro seats are awesome for short drives (ford - figure out how to heat and cool them like Chevy does) but start to feel hard on longer drives.This is a fantastic car and truthfully, had I been able to find a manual version of this car, I probably would have bought it instead of the Mustang. The stang is a fun car for me after all and this car is pure fun, but I hate the interior and interface and I’d probably drive it less than I drive my Mustang because of this.
The charger, again, is probably the most practical daily of the three. best interior, great infotainment system and nav (don’t care what anyone says, uconnect is miles ahead of sync or the GM system). the handling package maybe turns it into a ski boat instead of a yacht, but it’s still a boat. Overall it’s a muscle car and a great looking one at that.
final thoughts:
Three great cars from the big 3, all excelling at their own thing. The Mustang balances between track terror and the boulevard brawler, which is why it’s the best selling of the three imo. What a great era this was, I’m truly sad to see the Camaro and Charger go.
God bless America and Detroit Muscle!
photo dump:
believe me man I hear ya. We all bought used, color was low on my priority list. Seems like the cars in brighter colors get thrashed - I actually went to the dealer to get a mischievous purple ‘22 GT, identical to my car otherwise and 2k cheaper but that car had been beat on - scraped rims, ran kind of funky, missing trim pieces. The one I bought had 6k miles and two oil changes already.Nice pictures and wonderful writeup OP! Great work.
Only thing I am sadden by are these lame ass colors. Yes I know most people want something on the gray spectrum just this photo... White, gray, and more gray.
I just think if one were to get their hands on some wild and fun cars like these that they would have a wild and fun color like red, lime green, orange, yellow, bright blue or purple just like the classic cars were. Sigh...
Mopar had some great colors over the years. Plum Crazy and Sublime are two of my favorite colors of all the different manufacturers. I like Mischievous Purple, but if Ford rolled out a purple similar to Plum Crazy I’d be all over it.Nice pictures and wonderful writeup OP! Great work.
Only thing I am sadden by are these lame ass colors. Yes I know most people want something on the gray spectrum just this photo... White, gray, and more gray.
I just think if one were to get their hands on some wild and fun cars like these that they would have a wild and fun color like red, lime green, orange, yellow, bright blue or purple just like the classic cars were. Sigh...
Your review is pretty spot on, I have owned all three and each has advantages and disadvantages over the others. I miss my 1LE for the go cart like handling and my 392 Charger for torque off the line, but the 5.0 is definitely a solid balance between bothMet up with two buddies today to cruise and shoot some pics. Comparison and my impressions and pics below but I’ll first say we are lucky to have lived through the second muscle car era!
The cars:
2022 GT PP1 manual, 2019 Charger Scatpack auto 392 handling package, 2021 Camaro 2SS 1LE auto. All cars are completely stock (with the exception of stock airbox mods.) All had brembos - all on summer rubber.
Straight line speed:
Here’s what most people care about. the Mustang pulled fairly hard on the scat from a 50 roll. I was actually really surprised how bad he got gapped. The Camaro was nowhere to be found (combo of heavy drag for the 1LE from the aero and really sticky tires is my guess - not surprising). From a dig the Scat beats the Mustang and below 40 the Camaro does too (man those autos shift fast). A ten speed mustang would be a different story probably. Overall they are very similar and fast for mid level muscle, but mustang takes 1st, charger a very close 2nd, Camaro 3rd.
handling:
On paper these cars should be fairly similar - all around the same msrp, V8, handling package equipped. All have big Brembos.
In reality, there was no contest. The Camaro had not only the most comfortable suspension but the most capable as well. The 1LE package is light years ahead of the PP1. The Camaro was unbelievably composed in every situation imaginable. michigan potholes hardly shook the car and you could floor the car coming out of a roundabout and barely chirp the tires. It hooks and books.
the GT is second, but not close. I love my car but I was blown away by the Camaro. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have some buyers remorse. My car is stiff, but lacks the grip of the Camaro and its composure over bumps. Additionally, under hard acceleration, the rear end jumps sideways slightly while the Camaro is glued to the pavement and accelerates perfectly straight. The plus for the Mustang is its brakes - not sure what car and driver was talking about when it said the Camaro had better brakes. The Mustang brembos are equal imo in pure braking power and have better feel and low speed modulation.
the scat, at 700 pounds heavier than both other cars, is a distant third. This is a big comfortable car and I have long thought it makes the best daily driver for around metro Detroit (I may be biased-my daily is an AWD hemi charger.) But handling wise it’s not close to the other two. It is a true muscle car whereas the Camaro and Mustang have moved into the sports segment. This car was wallowing all over the road compared to the other two and cooked its brakes, necessitating a 10 minute cool down, while my car and the Camaro’s brakes were cool to the touch when we stopped. The scat almost ate my bumper more than once on what I thought were fairly casual stops once its brakes heated up.
Driving impression/interior:
Driving all three back to back, my first thought is you really can’t go wrong. Just depends what you want.
The Mustang is my choice, balancing comfort with a great interior and top end speed. I love this car more and more as I drive it. The coyote sounds the best to me, the charger a very close 2nd and the Camaro 3rd (Camaro sounds like a truck motor to me, which it sort of is). I’ve always had a soft spot for small blocks, no matter how big they actually
The Camaro is a track beast and also pretty comfortable but the cabin is a coffin and I find the car ugly. The recaro seats are awesome for short drives (ford - figure out how to heat and cool them like Chevy does) but start to feel hard on longer drives.This is a fantastic car and truthfully, had I been able to find a manual version of this car, I probably would have bought it instead of the Mustang. The stang is a fun car for me after all and this car is pure fun, but I hate the interior and interface and I’d probably drive it less than I drive my Mustang because of this.
The charger, again, is probably the most practical daily of the three. best interior, great infotainment system and nav (don’t care what anyone says, uconnect is miles ahead of sync or the GM system). the handling package maybe turns it into a ski boat instead of a yacht, but it’s still a boat. Overall it’s a muscle car and a great looking one at that.
final thoughts:
Three great cars from the big 3, all excelling at their own thing. The Mustang balances between track terror and the boulevard brawler, which is why it’s the best selling of the three imo. What a great era this was, I’m truly sad to see the Camaro and Charger go.
God bless America and Detroit Muscle!
photo dump:
The Mach is the perfect balance imo. I want to trade into a Mach but I just bought my car and cant justify the $10k or so in transaction costs I’d be eating between both deals. Next year maybe it will be easier to stomachYour review is pretty spot on, I have owned all three and each has advantages and disadvantages over the others. I miss my 1LE for the go cart like handling and my 392 Charger for torque off the line, but the 5.0 is definitely a solid balance between both
Completely agree. See my above post about wanting a Mach 1 now lol. A magneride PP2 is nipping at the heels of a 1LE and I think the Mach is slightly faster. Still the 1LE is cheaper than a Mach 1 and more in line with PP1 pricing. Idk how Chevy does it.
Im a few days from pulling the trigger on a 2022 mach1 with HP package, but chatting/reconnecting with my track buddy who owns a 2018 SS 1LE yesterday, made me hesitate.
they aren't trying to compensate for 5 billion dollars pissed down the sewer in pursuit of EV credits.
Yeah they do that with the trucks and SUV’s instead
if you want handling and driver enjoyment, Camaro. Assuming you can live with some of the ergo tradeoffs. If you want a car that is super easy to live with 365, then Mustang. The HP is overrated and the key parts sourced for pennies on the dollar. So make sure you extract maximum value from the transaction, or just find a non-HP.
