Why DIDN'T you get a camaro?

[Adamone92]

The 1LE is awesome. And now for 2021 I believe you can get it with the A10. I still dont like the seats, but they are worth like $2k on the market, and maybe I could get them sold or trade for a brand new set of 2SS leather seats. Thats what I would do if i got a Camaro. The 1LE is sharp.

Interesting. The seats are one of my favorite parts

 

[ManyfordsnoMustang]

no logical reason what-so-ever, I just couldn't do it, first the car, then the gold neck chains, then the Member's Only jacket and finally Polo cologne :-) Being Italian I'd have to have it all.

 

[shogun32]

The mustang won all 3 for me. I found a 5.0 for $5k less than any v8 camaro and about $7k less than a scat pack.
...
Challenger has the best styling of the 3 in my opinion though.

Assuming it's not a mis-print - 10K off MSRP on a 2020. Granted it doesn't have the upgrades I'd want but not a bad entry point.
New 2020 DODGE Challenger R/T Scat Pack RWD Coupe in Springfield #LH242598 | Safford Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram & FIAT of Springfield (saffordofspringfield.com)

 

[ZXMustang]

Assuming it's not a mis-print - 10K off MSRP on a 2020. Granted it doesn't have the upgrades I'd want but not a bad entry point.
New 2020 DODGE Challenger R/T Scat Pack RWD Coupe in Springfield #LH242598 | Safford Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram & FIAT of Springfield (saffordofspringfield.com)

Thats not a misprint per say, but Dodge marketing allows dealers to throw all the rebates and dealer cash at every car they post, making it a too good to be true deal. Those prices are if you are a post office worker, disabled veteran, police and fireman whos also a teacher that currently has a 2001 toyota camary on a 360 month lease whos also a dodge line worker with one arm tied behind your back at noon on a tuesday. At that point you'd qualify for all the rebates and incentives that could get you to that price. Or that car has already been sold and you wont find out until they have you sitting at their desk with your trade in keys on the roof.

 

[Goosey23]

Visibility.

 

[16COEBM]

I have a 19 GT PP1 M6, at one point 3 of my friends had 17 and 18 1LE SS Camaros. 2 of them still do, neither are daily drivers. I considered a 1LE, but I was shopping for a daily. Top complaints from my friends: Interior design and lay out, shifter and harsh ride. Visibility isnt really a concern, you just get used to it. What you dont get used to apparently is not being able to use drive-thru windows because your food cant fit in the window. The stock goodyears on the 1LE cars have a somewhat short life, one of my friends is on his second set with less than 20k on the car. There is only one aftermarket shifter for the Camaro, after some miles the knob has 80s honda level of movement even in gear. The mustang being my daily, i wanted something i could drive comfortably every day and still have fun in.

One of my friends is pretty much FBO for the LT1, ported MSD intake, LTs, full exhaust, CAI and tuned on E. its about 3-4 cars faster than my E tuned GT. The camaro definitely handles better, but not to a noticable extent on the street. The 16-18 1LE cars look amazing to me, but the only thing I like on the interior is the gauge cluster. Even the camaro guys like my base interior better. The gearing and torque difference make the cars hard to roll race. I like to be in 2nd at about 5k, which puts the camaro in a bad spot. vice versa if they are in a good spot, im at like 3500 in 2nd or 6k in first.

The camaro does a couple of things really well for a price that most arent willing to pay in terms of harsh ride, uncomfortable interior and low visibility. The mustang does alot of things good while sacrificing things that are easily fixed in the aftermarket. That is why i think that the mustang has been dominating the camaro in sales since the 6g camaro came out.

 

[bnightstar]

Im torn between the 2020 Mustang GT and the 2020 Camaro SS both in A10 variants. And both seem to be very close in many aspects. I plan on asking this question on a camaro forum, but the other way around. But Im curious about those that shopped both seriously and chose the Mustang in the end. Lets not use the "visibility" argument though. I've driven both extensively and that isnt a problem in the camaro, at least not for me. What else prevented you from getting the camaro? Was it price, availability or was it options?? Lets have a real conversation without a flame war starting. Thanks.

When I first got interested in muscle cars was in 2016 right after the Guinness World Record for longest line of ford cars. I set that record with my 2013 Ford Fiesta. After that I went to a test drive of the new VW Tiguan and on the used car parking lot there was a bright red 400 hp 2014 Camaro. for A super cheap price. That's when I realise you can have tons of HP in an American car for cheap. So I start looked at Camaro's but the next year a friend of mine get a 2017 Mustang GT Convertable and so my love for the Mustang begin. I planned for buying one since then and I didn't even looked at the Camaro anymore. In 2019 I bought a new 2017 left out in my favourite Grabber Blue color and been loving it ever since. Seen 2019 Camaro's I just think the Mustang look better.

 

[Darkstar]

For one, the looks. The ZL1 looks good but I don't like the look of the SS. The S550 on the other hand is one of the best looking cars made today IMO. I also like the look and feel of the interior more than the SS.

Secondly, I like the Coyote more than the LT1. I like how high it revs and how it encourages you to rev it out. I think the Coyote sounds better, too. I like how it wails at high rpms.

Third, this is my daily and I think a Mustang would be easier to live with on a daily basis and take on a long trips.

 

[Ace]

I actually went for Camaro 2SS instead of a 18 GT. Reasons are pretty simple: I was looking for a car for joyrides that has great handling as it comes from the factory (here in Germany tuning is somewhat expensive since everything has to be approved).

So interior space, trunk space, visibility does not matter for this car to me. But the performance and handling of the Camaro is just ahead of the Mustang for some very simple reasons:

• Alpha chassis is just way stiffer and more lightweigth compared to S550. Even with MagneRide you feel that the Mustang carries the weigth through the corners while the Camaro feels more agile.
• Manual Gearing in the Mustang is horribly bad. 4 gears to Vmax, gear 5 and 6 are both overdrive. It costs you a lot of acceleration power, which here in Germany with the Autobahn is pretty important to me.
• Personal opinion: I prefer the LT1 over the Coyote. The Coyote even with Gen 3 just needs to be above 3.5k RPM to really deliver power and torque. The Camaro in comparison just pushes you in the seats from the get go plus overall the Camaro has way more torque.
• Mustangs have a really ugly looking stance from the factory. Buying spacers and lowering the car would be a must have to me. Maybe even add new tires overall since the 19 inch look a bit too small. Camaros stance already looks not perfect but fine from the factory with the standard 20 inch wheels.
• HUDs are just way too underrated. Yeah the Mustang have a nice digital gauge cluster, but once you have driver a car with good HUD like in the Camaro, you never want anything else.
• Don't know if that is just because of the EU model tuning, but the GT here is just way slower. I don't know if US models actually can get to the marketed 0-60 in 4s, but european models bone stock have huge problems to even get under 5s. Meanwhile I got my stock Camaro with manual transmission to 4.4s and even bad runs end up being under 5s easily.

As an additional point: Here in Europe the Camaro is pretty much an exotic sportscar with very limited sales since Chevy is only having a handful of dealers. Mustangs in comparison are always under the top 5 sols sportscars, which means after the 5 years of Mustangs in Europe you see them pretty much everywhere now.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Mustang and think it's a really good car. If the Mach 1 would be that expensive, I might even consider trading. But if you are looking for a V8 coupe purely for joyrides, the Camaro is still a bit ahead imho.

 

[Stang55]

One really good reason is sound. Lets be honest the camaro sounds like a truck there is no running about it. The mustang sounds like a muscle car. Another reason is looks, passengers always are blown away by the aesthetics of the mustang, not to mention the sound system that bumps just as hard as the exhaust note!

 

[ice445]

I actually went for Camaro 2SS instead of a 18 GT. Reasons are pretty simple: I was looking for a car for joyrides that has great handling as it comes from the factory (here in Germany tuning is somewhat expensive since everything has to be approved).

So interior space, trunk space, visibility does not matter for this car to me. But the performance and handling of the Camaro is just ahead of the Mustang for some very simple reasons:

• Alpha chassis is just way stiffer and more lightweigth compared to S550. Even with MagneRide you feel that the Mustang carries the weigth through the corners while the Camaro feels more agile.
• Manual Gearing in the Mustang is horribly bad. 4 gears to Vmax, gear 5 and 6 are both overdrive. It costs you a lot of acceleration power, which here in Germany with the Autobahn is pretty important to me.
• Personal opinion: I prefer the LT1 over the Coyote. The Coyote even with Gen 3 just needs to be above 3.5k RPM to really deliver power and torque. The Camaro in comparison just pushes you in the seats from the get go plus overall the Camaro has way more torque.
• Mustangs have a really ugly looking stance from the factory. Buying spacers and lowering the car would be a must have to me. Maybe even add new tires overall since the 19 inch look a bit too small. Camaros stance already looks not perfect but fine from the factory with the standard 20 inch wheels.
• HUDs are just way too underrated. Yeah the Mustang have a nice digital gauge cluster, but once you have driver a car with good HUD like in the Camaro, you never want anything else.
• Don't know if that is just because of the EU model tuning, but the GT here is just way slower. I don't know if US models actually can get to the marketed 0-60 in 4s, but european models bone stock have huge problems to even get under 5s. Meanwhile I got my stock Camaro with manual transmission to 4.4s and even bad runs end up being under 5s easily.

As an additional point: Here in Europe the Camaro is pretty much an exotic sportscar with very limited sales since Chevy is only having a handful of dealers. Mustangs in comparison are always under the top 5 sols sportscars, which means after the 5 years of Mustangs in Europe you see them pretty much everywhere now.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Mustang and think it's a really good car. If the Mach 1 would be that expensive, I might even consider trading. But if you are looking for a V8 coupe purely for joyrides, the Camaro is still a bit ahead imho.

Pretty understandable. Does the Euro Mustang have the available PP 3.73 rear end? With the stock gearing ratios and 3.55 rear end the manual car feels like a dog in low RPM's and overall loses a lot of performance. The manual trans in the Mustang is fun to use but the performance aspect makes it feel like an afterthought, like it's only there for fun and nothing else. Whereas GM actually puts effort into making sure the manual and auto cars are at least in the same ballpark performance wise. The only plus in my opinion about having the long gearing is that you can really wind out the Coyote, but if you're trying to win races you just won't lol

 

[Hack]

The Camaro (1LE trim) is a "performance car" feel more so than the Mustang. It's chassis/driving is superior to the GT350.

I have a 19 GT PP1 M6, at one point 3 of my friends had 17 and 18 1LE SS Camaros. 2 of them still do, neither are daily drivers. I considered a 1LE, but I was shopping for a daily. Top complaints from my friends: Interior design and lay out, shifter and harsh ride. Visibility isnt really a concern, you just get used to it. What you dont get used to apparently is not being able to use drive-thru windows because your food cant fit in the window. The stock goodyears on the 1LE cars have a somewhat short life, one of my friends is on his second set with less than 20k on the car. There is only one aftermarket shifter for the Camaro, after some miles the knob has 80s honda level of movement even in gear. The mustang being my daily, i wanted something i could drive comfortably every day and still have fun in.

One of my friends is pretty much FBO for the LT1, ported MSD intake, LTs, full exhaust, CAI and tuned on E. its about 3-4 cars faster than my E tuned GT. The camaro definitely handles better, but not to a noticable extent on the street. The 16-18 1LE cars look amazing to me, but the only thing I like on the interior is the gauge cluster. Even the camaro guys like my base interior better. The gearing and torque difference make the cars hard to roll race. I like to be in 2nd at about 5k, which puts the camaro in a bad spot. vice versa if they are in a good spot, im at like 3500 in 2nd or 6k in first.

The camaro does a couple of things really well for a price that most arent willing to pay in terms of harsh ride, uncomfortable interior and low visibility. The mustang does alot of things good while sacrificing things that are easily fixed in the aftermarket. That is why i think that the mustang has been dominating the camaro in sales since the 6g camaro came out.

Great info here. This is the kind of stuff you don't get from a test drive, but only when you (or your friend) has actually lived with the car. Interesting about the drive-thru. I hadn't even considered that.

It makes sense that the 1LE tires don't last long. Tires are the main differentiator in cornering performance between some of these models. People like to talk about chassis this and that, but really it's tires. And then after that stiff springs and shocks.

The Mustang and Camaro are really close in performance. The one with the stiffer springs and stickier tires will come out ahead generally. So which one you decide to get depends on your preference.

 

[mustangpegasus51]

I actually reignited my affair with American cars again not long ago. My family had a Dodge Intrepid growing up, but when my Dad and I went to test drive Chargers (maybe Challengers too? I forget if they were out at the time) when looking into a first car to me it felt underpowered -- this was long before Scat Packs* and Hellcats. Got a used Mitsubishi Eclipse; loved it to death but a total lemon. Then my family had Hyundais for about a decade.

After finally doing okay career-wise I got a 2017 Camaro RS a couple summers ago. Visibility became an issue and other things surfaced (my family doesn't do well with used cars) and so dumped it. I decided I was gonna buy new. Challenger felt too big, and the new 2019+ Camaro is just ugly. Got a 2019 GT and really loved it. However, around June I started having hesitation and surging issues (probably trans IMHO in retrospect) and had to lemon law it. So I was at it again:

• Challlenger has THE BEST front + rear end. Sadly because it's a sedan with doors cut off, the windshield needs to be pushed back like 3-5 inches from the hood to actually get the proportions of the original Hemi 'Cuda, or to at least not look stubby. Look at the side profile long enough and you'll see what I mean. Also, again, it's big; almost pickup truck big.
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• Charger -- also big but the visibility is better. I actually didn't bother to test drive; the tail lights just don't do it for me. I don't see what others see in that rear end.
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• 2020 Camaro SS is still ugly. Test drove a ZL1: power felt understandably unusable on the street. So to get a decent exhaust note to please my ears, I'd have to be driving pretty dangerously. Also, it's still hard to see out of. Also rented a 2020 SS for a trip recently, and didn't realize how "dinky" and uncomfortable it all felt until coming from something else, including the headrest that always leans forward.
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• Couldn't find an M2 Comp to test drive. Overall got a douchey vibe at BMW and just steered clear.
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• I've ALWAYS wanted a Wrangler since the Jurassic Park movies. However, the engines were meh, until now -- Jeep announced the 392 after I already found my replacement Mustang. If they hadn't the decision would have been harder.

I still think the front end could use a re-re-face lift, but it's better than the current Camaro SS. I was looking forward to the aftermarket GT500 bumper, but I'm still unsure about fitment, and whether or not I can ditch the canards that come with it. Still, there's options and maybe more on the way for exterior mods to the 2018+.

Also, the community for this vehicle is second-to-none. I know the Jeep community is also large, which again brings me back to the Wrangler 392 being the only other vehicle I'd want right now -- except maybe a classic Mustang.


*Yes I know Scat Pack was used in earlier decades but pretty sure the modern use of it has been recent.

 

[pyrophilus]

One simply cannot replicate the sound of an FPC Voodoo.

It just has that aggressive look while also being sleek and refined. Everything just flows together nicely. I didn't even really look at the options of each car. I wanted something that would always put a smile on my face every time I walk in the garage, the Mustang just does that for me still 1 year strong. Hard to say if I would have felt the same had I went with a Camaro. I liked them as well but just seem like it tried too hard visually.

I have leased two s550's, both were EB premium MT, standard 18" wheels, but it made me happy everytime I walked up to my car. When I got my '15 back in december of '14, I had many BMW/Audi snobs say how they actually lived the shape of the car. I don't care/crave about other people's opinions/compliments, but i acknowledge that many people acknowledge that the car has nice lines.

There was a substitute teacher who parked a new-looking black Camaro in our parkinglot a few years ago (don't know which model, don't care). When some non-car guys/gals come up and talk to me about my car, I would mention, "hey! Did you see the new camaro?" And people really didnt realize (car people did notice it).

I thought it was because of the color that my mustang was noticed by everyone. I had ingot silver '15, white platinum '17, vs. The black camaro.

Because I was so happy with the mustang, wife suggested I buy a used GT to keep rather than roll into another lease. I got a black GT prem PP1. Original plan was to wait until retirement and get a new GT350 (or whatever high-caliber mustang with manual is then), but retirement is 12 years away, and for some strange reason I couldn't find a EB with 6MT anywhere to lease (except with HPP, which I wasnt willing to pay extra to lease).

I parked the '19 GT away in a corner of the lot, between two small yellow school buses, because I didn't want to draw attention that I got a shiny new car. It is a very large parkinglot (~200 capacity), and couple of teachers (whose name I dont even know) walked up to me in the hallway and said, "Is that YOUR black mustang in the lot? It's beautiful congratulations". And two guy who are not into cars came up to me and said, "did you get a new mustang?? What is the 5.0 on the side?"

I know I am biased, but the s550's have distinctive lines. When I got my '15, my brother in law who is a euro snob (leased audi/bmw's only) sent me a side by side of aston martin and the s550 to say how it has a lot of the lines that make euroupean cars look nice.

I never thought mustangs were ugly, but after owning s550's I now like the s197's even better. Since my retirement car goal is sorta met, I am now even thinking of an old foxbody (if I can't find a '60's) and doing a home restoration as retirement project.

When I could not find a s550 6MT premium to lease and my current lease was ending, I got desperate, and started to look at alternatives, V6 Camaro, V6 Challenger, and V6 stinger, in that order).

I don't think camaros aren't too bad looking, but then the shape of the body doesn't tug at me either. And Challenger even less. I know that they are respectable in terms of mechanicals, but looking at base engines, it really came down to how the car made me feel to have one, and I just didnt have the same feeling from the camaro and challenger's. Perhaps there are camaro/challenger owners that feel the same way towards s550's. Idk. But in the end, I actually like the original versions of current camaros. Like Risto2G says, I feel like GM started trying too hard for the front of the car, which made it start to look weird. And challenger looks like it's just a literal copy of the 60's-'70's cars, not a "nod" to their design in a modern twist.

And the other huge deciding factor was the interior. I think the premium interior of mustang is a lot nicer looking than the camaro/challenger's. And I really liked the digital IP.

I have had my '19 GT (with active exhaust), and I couldn't be happier with it. My daughter is continuing her saturday SAT classes, which is 40 minute drive to NJ, and I am actually excited to volunteer to drive her back and forth.

I have owned lot of vehicles and while I was happy with all of them, when time to return my s550's at lease term, I felt like I was being asked to return a brand new car because it still made me feel all the emotions I felt the first week of owning it.


This is my reasons why I chose and still love my mustangs.

 

[PeterParker]

Because my wife bought me this shirt as I was considering both cars (as well as a Challenger). Plus the Mustang is just simply 'more sexy' and the interior is much, much better, IMO.