Anyone wanna help choose a muscle car?
 

Not for me, for my uncle... He's wants me to help him decide on one, and I figured who better to take it to than everyone on here haha. He has been looking to get a new sports car for a while, and has decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on getting one pretty soon. For anyone who says he shouldn't get a muscle car, trust me there is no convincing him of that.

He is looking to buy one new, not used. And at this point is trying to pick between a Mustang GT, Camaro SS, and Challenger SRT8 (assuming that these ones about to come out have an option for manual transmission like the ones a year or two ago did.)

Conveniently Road & Track actually just did a comparison between those three cars (and a Hyundai Genesis coupe. wtf). Only difference is that the Challenger they tested wasn't the SRT8. While that does help some with the decision making, it is pretty hard to really get a good idea of what a car is like just from reading a review of it and looking at some stats. So I was wondering if anyone has driven any of those cars or knows much about them.

The Challenger SRT8 would definitely have the most power (atleast they are saying it puts out 470hp), but I have seen and heard that it apparently handles terribly. The Mustang is supposed to make 412hp and the SS is supposed to make 426hp.


Anyway, I want him to get the best car out of the 3 (especially since I'm sure I'll be getting to drive it :smoker:), so wanted to get some opinions on here before I told him what I thought..... Any help is appreciated.....

Thanks!

Out of those cars, I'd rather have the Camaro SS.. :D

I'm more of a mustang guy! so i would say mustang

oh and you should make a poll (Just a thought)

As much as it pains me to say this, the new Mustang GT is pretty damn awesome.

Well, I don't want to quote captain obvious... but, tell him to test drive each car. Never really know until you've sat behind the wheel and "drove it like you stole it" to convince you if the car is right or not.

tell him to wait for the new mustang boss its coming out in march i think... that thing is absolutely incredible

Good call!


Yeah, I did him that right when he started looking. He has driven the Mustang and the Camaro already, and the problem is that he seriously loved both of them haha. And he is gonna drive the SRT8 when it comes out. Obviously all three of them are badass cars, so the trouble comes trying to pick which is the most badass... He's planning to keep it for a long time, so he wants to be sure that in a decade or two he doesn't look in his driveway and wonder if he made the right call. Obviously once he buys one he will get attached and automatically love the thing even more, but he wants to put a lot of thought into it before he chooses one. Which I obviously understand...

Has anybody heard many complaints about any of those cars?

^I've driven all 3. The Challenger is a boat compared to the others. I've driven the stock Camaro, the SS, and a brand new 700HP custom Camaro, while it is fast it still doesn't have the handling of the new Mustang. It also has terrible blind spots and windows built for someone who is at least 6'4.

Although I'm not a fan of American muscle cars, I believe the new Mustang GT has been the most impressive, performance wise. Although the Mustangs seem too common to see out on the roads.

The Challenger SRT8 has never truly impressed me thus far, but maybe that's because I haven't really given it a chance.

My vote goes for the Camaro SS. Looks the coolest, and stands out from the pack. The performance is there as well.

At the end, it's all about the thorough test drives.

Good luck to your uncle!

oh lol, for some reason...I forgot the new 'Stang existed...

/facepalm

I'd pick the new stang over the Comaro. Better all 'rounder.

I love the looks of the new camaro the most. I hate mustangs. The new 5.0 mustang has changed my opinion greatly and is the car I would pick, if I was looking for one of those 3 cars.

If the best performer isn't the most important thing to him, then he should just pick the one he likes the most. The mustang is hands down the best of those 3 in terms of performance. Looks and general feel are going to be up to him and his opinion. The mustang will be the most common of the 3, but they'll all be fairly common so I wouldn't really bother with "being unique" with one of those cars.

I wold have to go with the Charger. Mopar to ya.

The best sports car of those 3 is deffinitley the 'stang. Obviously sports car performance isn't his main criteria though or he'd be looking at other cars that are way better performance-wise than these 3. He wants a muscle car. I say go for the Challenger, its the most retro-cool and the closest to the actual old school muscle cars. Yeah it handles like a boat, but it looks the coolest doing it and its fast in a straight line. Thats all that matters for a muscle car.

That said if I had to buy one of these as my only sports car, I'd pick the mustang but I value handling a lot more.

And the mustang even does that better.

I vote for Mustang GT! IMO way better than your other options

Camaro z28 when it comes out.

Yup, I even watched something on youtube that I am sure I could find with 2 seconds of searching where they compared the new stang to the M3, pro driver drove both and said he would rather have the stang. I think that is 'nuff said.

Having said that I think that they all look rubbish and wouldn't want any of them myself, I personally don't think that American car companies have made one good looking production car, other than the newest 'vette, since the late 70's.

GT, if he cares about turning and stopping
 

I was always a muscle car kid growing up. What is important to him? If it is stoplight-to-stoplight or dragstrip, it isn't hard to find the numbers to make that choice. If it is styling and sound, then our advice isn't gonna help. If he cares about turning and braking, then the new (2011) Mustang GT crushes the others. In case you haven't seen this, the new GT is a damn good all-around sports car:

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...son/index.html

In fact, it is the second place contender for me. I know the GT and RX-8 are totally different cars, but I've trimmed the field down to these two. Both are excellent at what they are made for and both are relatively affordable.

Good luck to him!
Chris

I like the looks of the challenger or the mustang the best personally. I think the new camaros are very ugly. I think I would give it to the challenger just based on looks, not sure on performance though as I have never driven any of them.

Hands down the camaro the other two choices don't even compare.

i would say camaro unless you get a 2011 mustang gt. so i voted mustang.

Damn. I was leaning pretty heavily toward the Mustang, but just found a motortrend video review of the SRT8 that may wind up changing my opinion... They got it from 0-60 in 4.6 seconds... And they claim that a lot of adjustments have been made that improve the steering a good bit. I had thought that the increased horsepower was gonna be the main difference between the SRT8 and the other versions, but it looks like there are a couple of others ones too... Here's the video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKcZaVH_x3E



Thoughts?

Definitely looks like they've improved a lot... it pretty much held a firm 3rd in terms of performance before, but it looks like it might be on par, or better, than the camaro now. It still seems like the mustang is better. The mustang still has better performance and probably has a better feel. They described the SRT8 as feeling like an oversized sports car, which kind of hints at the noticeable size of the car while driving still.

It really just comes down to what he feels is better.

you didn't do the poll correctly... You missed this bad boy:
Its the 2011 Mustang Mach 1.

Engine
Engine Layout Front engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine Type MOD 4.6L DOHC V-8
Displacement 4.6L, 281 cu. in.
Horsepower @ rpm 300+ @ 6000 (projected)
Torque lb.-ft. @ rpm 300+ @ 4250 (projected)
Compression Ratio 10.1:1
Bore and Stroke 90.2 mm x 90 mm (3.55 in. x 3.54 in.)
Fuel System Sequential multi-port electronic fuel injection
Fuel Requirement Premium (91 octane minimum)
Exhaust System Stainless steel with chromed rolled tips
Transmission
Type 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic
Final Drive Ratio 3.55:1
Gear Ratios (Manual) 1st - 3.38; 2nd - 2.00; 3rd - 1.32; 4th - 1.00;
5th - 0.62; Rev. - 3.38


https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1294974866

Or even how about the new kick ass Boss 302. I saw this at an auto show back in august and it was beautiful, yet more than enough power to make you a competitor with the resurection of the 302!

"More aggressive control calibration yields 440 horsepower and 380 lb.-ft. of torque, while still offering a smooth idle and low-end torque for comfortable around-town driving."

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/4...-Boss-302.html

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1294975001