I sat in a Camaro since I had never sat in one and wow is that car small inside! Then ran over to the Mustang, jumped in and couldn't beleive the difference - I actually fit. You can't see worth a poopoo out of the Camaro's cockpit, and when I finally adjusted the seat so my knees didn't crash into the steering wheel I had to strech to reach the shifter. Nice looking car on the outside but the inside paid for it.

Why in the holy heck would anyone pay $90,000 for an SMS Challenger, Mustang, Camaro, or SMS anything? The booth attendant at SMS says, "Where can you get 700 horsepower for $90,000?" I said "A new Shelby and a couple grand, or a Super Snake, and still look good". She also said Steve Saleen was tring to sue and get his name back.

And lastly, $60,000 for a 281 Saleen with 480 horsepower? WTF? To each their own, I guess.

 

Did the Camaro you sat in have a sunroof?

 

I thought the same thing when I test drove the Camaros... Visibility is crap and everything feels like it's closing in on you, plus the cheap feel of the interior... I went into my test drive actually wanting to be impressed, and it just didn't happen. Mustang FTW!

 

Agreed - I got a Camaro rental car once and you cannot see out of it. The trunk opening is too small too.

 

No it didn't. I after sitting in the first one I wasn't going to try to squeeze into one with a sunroof.

 

Cannot agree more on the Camaro interior reaction. I was shocked I could barely see out the windshield. Especially since it looks as big as any other car's. But that dash comes up so far and those A Pillars are so huge, first thing I thought was "This is an accident waiting to happen".

I did like the Paddle Shifting though. I thought that was cool. But that's about the only true positive I can muster up for the Camaro interior. The surfaces, for being leather, felt like hard plastic. The dash comes out way too far. Trunk opening, as mentioned, is a joke.

And like Black_Bullitt, I went to test drive wanting to be impressed and convinced I was about to be. But when the test drive was over, I was delighted to jump back into the Mustang and drive off. Stang felt nimbler and faster, and I didn't feel like I was cramped.

Friggin love this car. Every other car I test drive, it ends up feeling inferior.

 

That F-body "big outside/small inside" is another FAIL tradition GM should have left behind with the 4th gen. +1 on the ridiculous trunk opening - it makes the one on my 5.0 coupe look practical. Sadly for GM, IMO the 05-09 Mustang's interior is still nicer. The 2010+ Mustangs are way better.

 

And why the hell was there no Shelby at NAIAS?

 

ditto on the Camaro, can't see anything from the drivers seat.... kinda important, you know, the seeing while driving part.

 

Ford has to save something for the remainder of the auto show season. Chicago, which is the show usually reserved for Ford truck-related content and releases, and New York, which has hosted several Mustang updates in the past.

 

I hate that mentality though. I live in PA, and if I'm going to spend the money to travel out to what is considered *THE* autoshow, I want nothing held back. Especially, if I'm going out primarily to ogle new Mustangs.

It's like waking up on Christmas morning to find... socks.

But if you're going to hold anything back, hold back the less flashier, lesser-demand cars. Mustangs don't fit in that category.

"Wow.... it's um....it's a Flex. ...how uh...exciting?"

 

The Shelby should have been released at the Los Angeles Auto Show...almost 40% of a all new cars are sold in California.

Dave

 

Hey dude, its Jeff. Ever go to the NY Auto Show? Its a quick trip to Trenton, take the train to Penn Station and a short few block walk to the Javits Center. I go every Easter Monday as we're closed and I go with the Service manager and his Brother-in-law (both car guys). Its a trip that is SO WORTH IT!!! Last year, the Koenigsegg was there!!!!

 

Hey, Jeff.
No, I never braved NY's traffic to try for the auto show up there. I also considered it probably closer to Philly's caliber of where it's "nice" but it's not *the* one to go to. It wasn't until I started hearing about it on this forum that I thought it might be a better car show.

I'll definitely have to check it out now though.

 

Dude, its WORLDS better than the Philly show. The Philly show is basically a "dealer's show" for people to see new cars for sale. NY has concepts, new introductions at the show, and exotics. The train from Trenton to NY is the best way to go. Less than 20 round trip last time I took it. Do it you won't be sorry.

 

Do you mean that 40% of all Shelbys are sold in California? Surely it can't be true that 40% of all new cars sold in the U.S. are sold in California. I know that Jay Leno buys a lot of cars, but come on.

 

Jeff, you're right. There are really only 4 big shows:

-NY
-Chicago
-Detroit
-LA

Detroit is slipping, because Cobo is too small to really house the manufacturers comfortably. It doesn't help that the city is corrupt and the state is hurting bad either. If you can, make it out to one of the big shows, so you can see some of the concepts and interactive displays that they have. It's definitely worth it. I've been spoiled in growing up near one of the big ones, but I may make it to Chicago this year as well to check that show out.

 

Hahah that's allllll I needed to hear! Now I'm definitely going.

Just to be sure, it's this one, correct? http://www.autoshowny.com/

Thanks guys!

 

Actually I'm sorry my statistics were way off...13% of all new cars are sold in the US..still more cars are sold in California than any other state. I read one statistic from one manafacturer..sorry.

Dave

 

Totally agree on camero comments.

I rented one for a week, only a V6, but still fun or so I thought.

I really really wanted to like this car, I was in the market to buy either camero or mustang, so was open minded having never owned either before

I hated it to drive, visibiity was shocking, my head was on the roof (had sunroof) and those plastic panels on the door are just nasty.

I was talking to a friend about it, and described the difference as follows. The mustang shrinks around you when you drive it, its a reasonably sized car that get smaller when you're in control. The camero on the other hand is a big car that stays feeling big. Its intimidating to drive for all the wrong reasons.

Made my purchasing decision a lot easier