Pony Car Wars! 2011 Ford Mustang GT vs Camaro SS and Challenger SRT8

MotorTrend

We pit the brand new 2011 Ford Mustang GT against its V-8 powered rivals from Chevrolet and Dodge in the ultimate battle for muscle car supremacy.

Transcript

00:00 It's spring 2010 and Ford is shaking up the pony car world by replacing its 15 year old

00:12 V8 engine with a spanking new 5.0 liter, 412 horsepower, 390 pound foot V8.

00:19 You know what that means, it's time to round up the usual suspects for a Motor Trend comparison

00:23 test.

00:24 Joining the new Mustang is the familiar Chevrolet Camaro SS and the Dodge Challenger SRT8.

00:28 But what should we do with these three cars?

00:31 Well, we could smoke 'em!

00:32 [Music]

00:34 [Music]

01:03 We could slide 'em!

01:05 [Music]

01:22 We probably ought to test 'em!

01:24 [Music]

01:46 [Music]

01:57 [Music]

02:18 But mainly, let's take 'em out on some good twisty roads and shake 'em down that way.

02:23 The Camaro SS has a lot to recommend it.

02:25 The chassis is quite good, the Zeta architecture gives it a 52% front, 48% rear weight balance,

02:30 it's almost ideal.

02:31 The 6.2 liter engine makes the most horsepower in the group, admittedly only by one at 426.

02:37 But you know, the styling, while it's really popular, a lot of people are snapping cell

02:41 phone pictures of it since it's in Transformers yellow and everything, but it exacts quite

02:46 a huge price on the interior.

02:48 The windows are very small, visibility out in all directions is poor, the pillars are

02:52 very wide, and there's other things like the steering wheel rim is very thick, and the

02:57 shifter knob is oversized.

02:59 All those kind of features make me feel small, and I don't want my muscle car to make me

03:03 feel small.

03:04 All these things combine to make most editors believe they would rather not own this car,

03:08 and that's what put it in third place.

03:10 Ah, the Challenger SRT8.

03:13 We all know this car is based on a full-size sedan, just like its predecessor was, so naturally

03:18 it's the largest and heaviest here by probably 300 to 500 pounds.

03:23 But up on the mountain, this chassis really shrinks the car.

03:26 It corners very flat with the same grip that the Camaro SS manages, .92 G.

03:31 Its heavy V8 also makes the most sweet, carmely V8 noise of any car here, if not any muscle

03:37 car ever.

03:38 We all just love it.

03:39 And of course, in between the heavy-duty running, it's the most comfortable and quiet car, too,

03:46 for highway running and so forth.

03:48 So even though it does cost about $12,000 more in the base price than the Camaro SS,

03:54 this is the car we'd all much rather own.

03:55 So it finishes in second place.

03:59 Well this test was basically the Mustangs to lose right from the beginning.

04:02 I mean, we fell in love with the chassis the last time we had these cars together, and

04:06 that's only been improved by the addition of this new Brembo performance package.

04:10 Then you throw in an engine that gives it the best weight-to-power ratio of 8.8 pounds

04:15 per horsepower, and what's not to love, especially considering it has the lowest base price and

04:19 the highest EPA fuel economy.

04:21 So we ran it up and down the mountain and fell in love with the light, nimble chassis,

04:25 the great visibility, the strong brakes, and this engine.

04:29 We just love this engine.

04:30 It sounds just like Frank Bullitt's car in the movie.

04:35 And so at the end of the test, we all agreed this was the car we'd most like to have.

04:41 So to recap the results in this battle in the ongoing Pony Car Wars, in third place

04:45 we had the Chevrolet Camaro SS.

04:47 In second, the Dodge Challenger SRT8.

04:50 And that means that until one of the other guys adds a few horsepower or tweaks their

04:54 chassis in some meaningful way, the king of the V8 Pony Car hill is the Ford Mustang GT5.0.

05:00 [TIRES SCREECHING]

05:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:08 (upbeat music)

05:11 (cymbal crash)

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