This post bothers me for alot of reasons.

1. The Camaro will be cheaper than the mustang, allowing you to take some of the cash that you saved and put in one or two after market parts. If you spend $42,000 on the camaro and then a fwe mods, you will kill a stock stang' (Most likely)

2. Ok, so lets say that stock the camaro can beet up the mustang. Then so what? "Ya, I beat a stock mustang today" Big deal. You need to be thinking more along the lines of potential. The camaro has alot more potential than the stang due to it's better quallity manufacturing.

Ok, Im done.

 

1) You know the Camaro will be cheaper than the Mustang HOW???

2) Camaros and Mustangs always HAVE and always WILL have lots of "potential" ... that's a no brainer that the new car will have lots of potential . Of course the factory always leaves lots of room for improvement, no matter WHAT. Heck, look at the C6 Z06 ... it's ~505 HP, and that's barely scratching the surface of what a 427 c.i. LSx engine is capable of . Better quality manufacturing? Well, I hope the Camaro is better quality ... I don't want any BS problems with it that the past generations of Camaro have had (people have enough ammo against GM built cars as it is). But we've got big shoes to fill, competing against the Mustang. Looks alone won't sell the Camaro, so hopefully it's got more things going for it than one (such as quality ).

 

1. Ok, I dont Know that he camaro wil be cheaper, but all the estamations i have heard indicate it will by a small amount.

2. Good pionts, but GM has alot better records than Ford when it comes to durability and quality, at least when it comes to trucks. In the end though, stock doesnt matter much. I have seen a v6 mustang beat a dodge viper by 2 lenths, but that is cuzz the guy did the work to make it fast.

So the question isnt which one will be faster off the showroom floor, rather which one will be faster after i spend a few days down there with a wrench?

 

Depends on who has deeper pockets . That's almost always been the case, with pretty much any car!

When the LS1 first came out, because it was brand spanking new, there was very little available for it in the aftermarket, and what little stuff WAS available, was very pricey . At that time, LT1 guys and Mustang guys had an advantage over LS1 guys. Now that the LS1 has been on the market for ~10 years (sorry, LSx ) its aftermarket has grown substantially, and prices have come down a lot, to the point that some parts are actually CHEAPER for an LS1 than they are for an LT1!

SO, since not a lot has changed from the original LS1, LS6, up to the new LS2 (and beyond as far as we can tell) things like intakes, heads, cams, full rotating assemblies, etc., etc., will all be available to the 5th-gen the minute it hits the streets . We all know the potential that these engines pack, so I don't think there's anything to worry about when the time comes to start shopping for go fast parts for your 5th-gen, in hopes of keeping up with (or beating) your Mustang buddies .

 

like interior quality?

 

This thread make baby Jesus cry

 

My son named his new pet snake Baby Jesus.

 

I say the biggest factor is the driver. You can always increase the speed and power of your car if you have the money but driving skills is something that cant be bought. No matter how powerful a car is, if the driver is a nincompoop, its useless.

 

I still say its as simple as, youre a Z28 guy, you drove one of the RARE ORIGINAL first year unmolested Z28 Camaro's. Plus 1st Gens got class!

 

Before I say anything, I am just happy to see that there's a new Muscle Car War on the horizon! I miss this! I'm so tired of seeing shootouts on the covers of magazines showing japanese and european cars all the time - I want to see Muscle Cars lightin' em up on the covers!

I'm a Mustang guy but like the Challenger and Camaro both as well. Being a long time Mustang guy I've read and driven a few and have been to the track and seen results on what Mustangs can do from fox-bodies (including my own) all the way up to seeing stock-lookin' terminators running 11's, and 10's in stock exterior trim and even a couple 9 second 03-04 Cobras that appear stock in and out minus the slicks on the back. I guess what made me post on this thread is I started seeing some posted 1/4 mile numbers on the GT500 and also that people think it takes a lot of work to get a blown mod motored Mustang in the 10s. It just isn't. Those things are ridiculously responsive to a few choice mods like a blower pulley change and a slick alone get's the car well into the 11s.
Evan Smith, hot shoe and now head editor at Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords Magazine (who I know quite well) was one of the first guys to test the new GT500 down the 1/4 mile and on the high speed test track.
As far as I know he was the only editor testing the new GT500 that was able to get a bone stock GT500 Mustang in the low 12s! No mods, no tricks - 12.2 to be exact. It can be done. Most people will be able to get high 12s out of it yes but is a GT500 capable of low 12s, absolutely.
Another thing to point out about the new Camaro - IRS? If that's something they are still going to production with then I hope they are able to make that car launch smoothly. There's a reason there's no more IRS in the Mustangs. That new 3-link is much better as far as ability to launch at the 1320.

Just thought I'd share what I've seen.

John

 

We know who Evan Smith is . He's the same guy who posted a 12.89 with a bone stock '02 Camaro SS, and he's the same guy who ran an 11.97 in an '04 Z06 . Which STILL gets me ... 11.97 with "only" 405 HP (only ) and yet the new Mustang is barely into low 12's, with 500 HP, but it takes Evan Smith to do it .

BUT, I realize that comparing a GT500 to a C5 is, perhaps, apples to oranges . But the C5 has IRS, yet it still performs well . I just HOPE GM sets the new Camaro up right .

Oh, and another apples to oranges comparison (car for car) is the C6 Z06 ... with its 505 HP, it's posting easy ~11.5's and I've seen ~11.20's bone stock . That's a full second faster than the GT500, with the same amount of power!

For EVERYBODY'S sake (Mustangs included) I wish that the new cars weren't so damn heavy .

 

I could see GM putting a LS9 into the Camaro in 2010 and calling it the top Camaro or Z28 model. A LS9 with 500hp insted of the 650hp the BlueDevil will have, and the LS9=LS3 with forged internals and a supercharger, still 6.2L.

The Z28 would be the GT500 competitor.

While a Camaro SS would get the LS3, and the base Camaro would get a 3.6L DI VVT DOHC motor or a 3.9L V6.

I think now the Corvette's LS3 will be at 450hp to set it apart from the Camaro SS engine's 400hp LS3.

 

I am probably going to reveal a lot about my mechanical knowledge at this point, but I have always wondered what the actual difference was between the Camaro engines and the vette's engines that gave the descrepency in HP ratings. What is the limiting factor? Is it just tuning? Furthermore, what would need to be done to the above mentioned LS3 camaro engine to get it to the 450 rated HP of the vette given that it is the same engine?

 

First there is no 5th generation, 2nd I spank stangs all the time in my 4th.

 

Usually GM justs put a more restrictive air intake and exhaust on the Camaro to bring the power down from a Vette like they did with the 4th gen. Even though it didn't bring the power down much, the 4th gen F-Bodies were rated at 305hp for the lowest model V8 but were making closer to 340-350 at the flywheel for all the V8 models.

I expect the same thing to happen with the new Camaro.