Repair-It

2017 CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 VS. 2017 FORD MUSTANG SHELBY GT350R: THE FOREVER WAR

2016 CAMARO SS VS. 2016 MUSTANG GT

COMPARISON: 2016 CHEVROLET CAMARO RS VS. 2016 FORD MUSTANG ECOBOOST

COMPARISON: CAMARO SS 1LE VS. CHALLENGER R/T SCAT PACK VS. MUSTANG GT

2015 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28 VS. 2016 FORD SHELBY GT350R MUSTANG

The occasion for this particular comparison test is Ford’s launch of the bigly refreshed 2018 Mustang. For the purposes of this story, we got our hands on the GT Performance Pack 1. Why not the recently announced P-Pack 2? Because Ford isn’t releasing it until May. Representing Chevrolet’s interests is the Camaro SS 1LE, unchanged since 2016. Both our tested cars came with a six-speed manual transmission, though the new Mustang is available with a 10-speed automatic.

kevm14 wrote:Ford has turned up the wick on the Coyote and NOW is finally at parity with the LT1.

For the first time in history, a production Mustang 5.0 displaces more than 5,000 cubic centimeters. The old Coyote V-8 displaced 4,951 cubes. Ford Performance changed out the cylinder liners, using the same plasma transferred wire arc process as the GT supercar. As such, the bore is now 93mm (up nearly a millimeter), and total displacement is 5,038cc. Because the bore is larger, the valves can be (and are) larger. The cylinder heads are new, as are the camshafts, the crankshaft, and the rod bearings. This new engine also revs 500 rpm higher to 7,500 rpm. The 2018 Coyote engine provides both port and direct injection, and because of the cooling effect of DI, the compression ratio is now a relatively lofty 12:1. As you’ve probably guessed by now, power is up, going from 435 to 460 horsepower (5 hp more than Chevy). Torque also is up by 20 lb-ft to 420 lb-ft (though 35 less than Chevy). The six-speed manual sports new gears, optimized for the engine’s healthier output.

The coolest change to me is the big 12.4-inch instrument panel. It’s bright and readable, has different displays for different modes (the Track screen, specifically the way Ford made the tachometer look, is particularly good), and works well with the Mustang’s pleasant innards. Sadly, like too many Ford screens these days, there’s too much information displayed and/or something always prompting you to hit “OK.”

kevm14 wrote:However, a quick scan of the rest of the stats leads me to conclude that Ford is still phoning it in with the chassis performance of the GT (perhaps to save the GT350?) as the Camaro just crushes it.

As is the 1LE’s handling. Around our figure-eight track, the Mustang managed a 24.0-second lap. That’s a fantastic time, especially because the 2016 Mustang GT needed 24.4 seconds, and the BMW M4 takes 24.1 seconds. So that’s good company. But by comparison, the Nissan GT-R NISMO, Porsche 991 GT3, and Porsche 991.2 Turbo S all dance the figure eight in a significantly quicker 22.9 seconds. I mention this because so does the Camaro. I’m still having a hard time processing that number, but it is true. The workaday Chevy runs even with the world’s elite performance cars in a true handling test.

For the record, the quickest time we’ve ever seen around the figure eight is 22.2 seconds, put down by both the Porsche 918 Spyder and the Lamborghini Huracán Performante. Meaning the Camaro 1LE is within spitting distance. When I asked our handling guru Kim Reynolds what he thought about the two cars after lapping them, he looked first to the Camaro then disparagingly glanced at the Mustang and said, “There’s about 4,000 years of evolution separating the two.”

Then came the track. We took the two American icons out to Streets of Willow. Here’s the good news for Ford fans. The fastback GT laid down a 1:23.97 lap. That’s 0.24 second off the aforementioned M4 (1:23.73), just quicker than a Lexus RC F (1:24.08), and nearly three tenths of a second better than a 2015 Mustang GT Performance Pack (1:24.29). The bad news? The Camaro SS 1LE laid down a 1:20.67 lap, 3.3 seconds quicker. In other words, these two cars wouldn’t be allowed to race together. Different class doesn’t cover it. The list of cars the Camaro went faster than should embarrass some OEMs: Porsche Cayman GT4, 2014 Audi R8 V10 Plus, Ferrari 458 Italia. I mean, come on!

To put it bluntly, the Camaro is in another league, with legitimate supercars. A 2015 GT-R NISMO held the Streets record—1:19.07—meaning the gulf between the quickest car ever lapped at the track and the Chevy (1.6 seconds) was less than half the gulf between our two competitors (3.3 seconds)

Ouch. But that’s the feeling both Jethro and I got out on the road. The SS 1LE—which by the way placed fourth in our 2016 Best Driver’s Car competition—is an ideal back road warrior. Everything it does is sweet, from turn-in to midcorner to post-apex to whatever—the Chevy never puts a foot wrong, never misbehaves, and most certainly never understeers. But the grip is so high that even though the chassis is keen to, the car never oversteers—even with everything turned off.

The Ford? Look, ever since the Mustang went with an independent rearend, the GTs haven’t been set up properly. The lighter EcoBoost cars are better, and the Shelby GT350R handles about as well as anything on the road. But the normal V-8s? Not great. I had high hopes the combination of the 2018 refresh, the new Performance Pack goodies, and MagneRide would fix things. Nope. The car rolls over on itself and seems to not only understeer but also to try and oversteer at the same time. Like the front and back aren’t actually connected. Jethro kept pointing out that although the Ford felt bad going into a corner, once you were actually in a turn it was pretty much OK. “There’s a good car somewhere under there,” he said. I concur.

Why did the Ford win? Well, for one thing, the Mustang’s V-8 just loves to rev out. The faster it spins, the more power it spits out. For another, and we’ll explore this more in a second, we have the distinct feeling that the new Coyote is putting out more than 460 ponies. For its part, the Camaro sits on wider, slicker rear tires, and on compacted dirt, that just doesn’t have the same traction as the Mustang.

Then came time to leave cowboy science behind and get to actual science, as provided by our testing team. First of all, the Ford outporks the Chevy, 3,863 pounds versus 3,746. The two cars have identical 54/46 weight distribution. The 1LE wins the 0–60 sprint, doing so in 4.1 seconds versus the Mustang GT’s 4.4 seconds. By the end of the quarter mile, the Camaro is still in the lead but not by much: 12.5 seconds at 115.2 mph for the Chevy versus the Mustang’s 12.6 seconds at 115.1 mph. Road test editor Chris Walton, our straight-line guru, told me that were we to lengthen the race, the Ford would win because at that point the Chevy’s torque and traction advantage is gone, and high-reving DOHC horsepower takes over.

The workaday Chevy runs even with the world’s elite performance cars in a true handling test.

For the record, the quickest time we’ve ever seen around the figure eight is 22.2 seconds, put down by both the Porsche 918 Spyder and the Lamborghini Huracán Performante. Meaning the Camaro 1LE is within spitting distance. When I asked our handling guru Kim Reynolds what he thought about the two cars after lapping them, he looked first to the Camaro then disparagingly glanced at the Mustang and said, “There’s about 4,000 years of evolution separating the two.”

just loves to rev out. The faster it spins, the more power it spits out.

We have the distinct feeling that the new Coyote is putting out more than 460 ponies.

Road test editor Chris Walton, our straight-line guru, told me that were we to lengthen the race, the Ford would win because at that point the Chevy’s torque and traction advantage is gone, and high-reving DOHC horsepower takes over.