Pony-car sales war: Mustang vs. Camaro vs. Challenger

[Ed Blown Vert]

Filed under: Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford
The Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, and Dodge Challenger continue their ancient battle for the hearts of enthusiasts. In June, the Mustang won handily.Continue reading Pony-car sales war: Mustang vs. Camaro vs. Challenger
Pony-car sales war: Mustang vs. Camaro vs. Challenger originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 03 Jul 2015 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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[2002ssslp]

I wish they could take 300 to 400 pounds out of the Challenger.

[Whamhammer]

I wish they could take 300 to 400 pounds out of the Challenger.

Agreed, if they kept the interior and trunk size as is, or even just a little smaller, its still be a great family coupe, and I would even consider buying one.

[raynor139]

That's why they are so popular. They are pigs but interior space is great especially for the bigger guys.

[Firebirdjones]

I don't care about the weight. They all seem to run pretty darn good. They just throw more HP at it I wouldn't hesitate to own a new 5.0 or the Challenger if I were on the market for a new car.

[Whamhammer]

i

I don't care about the weight. They all seem to run pretty darn good. They just throw more HP at it I wouldn't hesitate to own a new 5.0 or the Challenger if I were on the market for a new car.

To tell the truth, I really like he look of the new Mustang, and was even seriously contemplating getting a GT Track Package coupe, but when O heard what it weighed and how it was poorer handling than the Boss Laguna Seca model from 2014, I lost interest. I'm still finding the new Camaros weight unpalatable and the looks arent as alluring compared to the Mustang.

[Firebirdjones]

Yeah the looks of the new camaros just hasn't grown on me yet. They made a big improvement with the rear tail lights on the most recent versions, but still overall I'm not sold on looks yet.

I like the new 5.0's. Not super hot on the new front ends, looks a bit too European for me, but I do like what they've done with the rear section. I was liking the 2010-2014 mustang more.

The Challenger for me is a home run out of the ball park all the way around in looks. Certain colors and certain stripe packages really make the car, especially the longetude RT stripe. My hats of to Chrysler for not falling victim to the European peer pressure.

They all would handle and brake worlds better than anything I'm used to driving so none of that is really a concern for me. They are all nice, and of course they all have a nice price that goes with that too. What I don't want is a friggin car payment, higher insurance and tags, too old for that crap, lol. Car payments nowadays are higher than my monthly payment on the first house we bought

[Whamhammer]

Yeah the looks of the new camaros just hasn't grown on me yet. They made a big improvement with the rear tail lights on the most recent versions, but still overall I'm not sold on looks yet.

I like the new 5.0's. Not super hot on the new front ends, looks a bit too European for me, but I do like what they've done with the rear section. I was liking the 2010-2014 mustang more.

The Challenger for me is a home run out of the ball park all the way around in looks. Certain colors and certain stripe packages really make the car, especially the longetude RT stripe. My hats of to Chrysler for not falling victim to the European peer pressure.

They all would handle and brake worlds better than anything I'm used to driving so none of that is really a concern for me. They are all nice, and of course they all have a nice price that goes with that too. What I don't want is a friggin car payment, higher insurance and tags, too old for that crap, lol. Car payments nowadays are higher than my monthly payment on the first house we bought

You do know that the Challenger is based of a (dated) Mercedes (European) body/chassis, right? ;p

You know whats funny, my used '89 T/A was a 300/month payment ( 3 years if I remember. I can almost get one of these for that price for 6 years now

I dont remember what the 02 was a month, I paid $1,000 a month to pay it off, because houses cost too much back then for me to buy.

[Firebirdjones]

You do know that the Challenger is based of a (dated) Mercedes (European) body/chassis, right? ;p

You know whats funny, my used '89 T/A was a 300/month payment ( 3 years if I remember. I can almost get one of these for that price for 6 years now

I dont remember what the 02 was a month, I paid $1,000 a month to pay it off, because houses cost too much back then for me to buy.

I'm good with that, it's the appearance I was referring to. The more it looks like the original the better I like it.

[Naaman]

I tend to be the opposite:

While the Challenger is luxurious will all that headroom and legroom (mostly up front... back seats are still pretty cramped... unless you want the front seats to be), I tend to prefer a more "lean" approach to performance. I'd rather have less weight than more power. Heck, if they could get these cars down to the weight of the late 90s cars, they'd be running low 12s with the 420-ish horsepower of the outgoing models.

[2002ssslp]

You do know that the Challenger is based of a (dated) Mercedes (European) body/chassis, right? ;p

You know whats funny, my used '89 T/A was a 300/month payment ( 3 years if I remember. I can almost get one of these for that price for 6 years now

I dont remember what the 02 was a month, I paid $1,000 a month to pay it off, because houses cost too much back then for me to buy.

Chrysler and MB parted ways many years ago. This one is all Chrysler. Fiat is the one who upgraded the build quality and increased the HP

[Firebirdjones]

One thing that always impresses me, especially with classic cars, that most people never take into consideration, is seeing the heavy cars go fast down the track.
It's not an easy feat, harder on parts, harder to 60 foot, and just all around takes alot more effort than people realize.

My chevelle for instance weighing 4,100 lbs. goes mid 11's at a buck 18 and will 60 foot in the 1.5 range. Engine makes over 600 hp to accomplish that. Had a guy the other day tell me his little 64 goat only made 500 HP and goes that quick. Yeah your goat doesn't weigh 4,100 lbs. either. If my chevelle weighed 3300 lbs. I'd be running 10's.....DUH!!!

It's easy to make the light cars go fast with not much effort. I used to have fun playing around with V8 vegas and monzas, daily drivers for years with 400+ cubes. They were little rockets. Just something to be said when you see the big cars go fast though. I just get a bigger kick out of that and enjoy the challenge.

[Whamhammer]

Chrysler and MB parted ways many years ago. This one is all Chrysler. Fiat is the one who upgraded the build quality and increased the HP

I know what you are saying but the Challenger is still based off of the first run Charger chasis, which is off of a Mercedes Chassis (forget which one). The architecture, for all intents and purposes, is Mercedes.

[Whamhammer]

One thing that always impresses me, especially with classic cars, that most people never take into consideration, is seeing the heavy cars go fast down the track.
It's not an easy feat, harder on parts, harder to 60 foot, and just all around takes alot more effort than people realize.

My chevelle for instance weighing 4,100 lbs. goes mid 11's at a buck 18 and will 60 foot in the 1.5 range. Engine makes over 600 hp to accomplish that. Had a guy the other day tell me his little 64 goat only made 500 HP and goes that quick. Yeah your goat doesn't weigh 4,100 lbs. either. If my chevelle weighed 3300 lbs. I'd be running 10's.....DUH!!!

It's easy to make the light cars go fast with not much effort. I used to have fun playing around with V8 vegas and monzas, daily drivers for years with 400+ cubes. They were little rockets. Just something to be said when you see the big cars go fast though. I just get a bigger kick out of that and enjoy the challenge.

While it does take more work (mechanically literal) to go faster with a heavy car, its still fairly a simple concept, more BF&I can accomplish it. What is really hard, and is why its such a rare thing, is to see a heavy car handle well (for decent bucks/effort). Overcomming inertia in only one direction is one thing, doing it in al cardinal directions is a totally different beast.

[Firebirdjones]

I guess if you're into all that pro touring stuff, that's never been my thing.

[Whamhammer]

I guess if you're into all that pro touring stuff, that's never been my thing.

I'm just greedy, I want it all There are also a bunch of backroad twisites where I live.

[Firebirdjones]

I'm just greedy, I want it all There are also a bunch of backroad twisites where I live.

Haha, yeah I understand. I live in the mountains with twisty roads and it can be fun at times. Matter of fact, when ever the Vette, Camaro, MG, Motorcycle clubs all get together for a drive, they come up here, there are several popular routes that go to old mining towns. Just about every weekend you'll see them up here. I've been out on a few drives with them.

[Naaman]

I rather like the zippy feel and responsiveness of a well-tuned, light weight car. When I'm driving something heavy, I feel... encumbered by all the mass floating around on those springs.

Straight line Gs is certainly a rush, but I rather enjoy the involvement of working out the technical bits of a twisty road.

In fact, I've even given some thought into picking up a Miata...

[Whamhammer]

I rather like the zippy feel and responsiveness of a well-tuned, light weight car. When I'm driving something heavy, I feel... encumbered by all the mass floating around on those springs.

Straight line Gs is certainly a rush, but I rather enjoy the involvement of working out the technical bits of a twisty road.

In fact, I've even given some thought into picking up a Miata...

My uncle had a Miata for years, and then bumped up to a S2000. He loved those cars handling, but they werent enough for him. He just picked up a Boxster with the sport suspension last year and hasnt looked back.

[Firebirdjones]

I haven't noticed the difference