The Oct 09 issue of Road and Track compared the Mustang, Camaro and Challenger on a long, pony express trip and the Mustang came out on top. Some results:

0 - 60 mph = Mustang, 5.3 sec
Camaro, 4.6
Challenger, 5.8

60 - 0 = Mustang, 115'
Camaro, 121'
Challenger, 136'

Out of a perfect score of 400, Mustang got 383.9
Camaro got 372.7
Challenger got 357.9

Scores based on engine, handling, ride, etc. Two of the three testers picked the Mustang as the most fun to drive car.

Joe

 

Just imagine what 400 HP/ TQ will do to the fun factor !

 

and history repeats itself!

 

+1 for FORD baby!

 

Nice find, thanks for sharing. Here's the article online:

The Pony Express

Lot's more history and description of the route than the cars, but a good write-up nonetheless.

 

Lol I bet camaro5 is drumming up the old "Ford paid for the Article" excuse again

GO BLUE OVAL !

 

wow look how small the stang looks to the others in that first picture the site loads.

 

They really should have named the Chevy coupe "Monte Carlo SS" or "Chevelle" and the Mopar should have been a "Charger" and used 68-70 Charger styling. Because what GM and Mopar did is analogous to Ford scaling up the Mustang body styling and building a coupe on the Crown Victoria or Taurus chassis and then calling it a Mustang.

 

Totally agree, and I would actually be really excited to see a 68-70 inspired Chrager and a Chevelle back. The Camaro and Challenger are ridiculously huge for "pony cars". Even the Mustang which is the smallest of the three has been growing too much over the years and could use a serious diet. I guess that's all cars though. Look at "small" cars like the Golf or the Civic. They are almost double the size and weight of what they originally started as.

 

I agree.

The main reason the Mustang is getting a pass for it's weight gain at the moment is because the others are so much worse.

I realize there are a lot of reasons why the cars have gotten heavier... safety equipment, features, increased power, etc... but it's still crazy to think that a 2010 GT500 weighs nearly 50% more than my '93 Notchback (~2,700lb vs. ~4,000lb).

 

Can't wait to see how the '11 spanks the snot out of these chubsters once that Coyote comes a howlin. The best part about this is once again, from a clean slate GM has screwed the pooch. They had a chance to fix every last bit of the issues the last Camaro had yet they elected to go with a very similar approach with this car. The same issues will bite them with this one. Once the big backlog is done, the sales will slow to a trickle. Ugly interior, bad visability and even some questionable reliability will all conspire in its downfall. The Mustang will as always soldier on with 400hp out of the box, probably 435hp tuned. With gears and a tune with CAI the '11 promises to be some piece.

Can't wait!!

 

You hit the nail right on the head. You do realize why all cars have gotten larger and heavier. It's to make them safer, which includes stiffening the body and chassis. Yeah that's quite a bit heavier than your old 93 notchback, but you're also comparing it to a GT-500 not a GT Which weighed in at 3,755 lbs according to Road & Track, which is only a thousand pounds more than your 93. But you're not considering adding in the safety factors of Dual front Airbags, Side impact Airbags, Traction Control, and Anti Lock Brakes, not to mention how much stiffer and stronger the S-197 Platform is over the old Fox platform your 93 was built on, which had none of those safety features because it actually dates back to the mid 70's when it was developed. The added Power increases have been to counter all the added weight that the safety equipment has added. Not to mention that riding in a Fox Body notchback compared to riding in an S-197 is like riding in a tin can compared to a bank vault. I speak from experience, my friend has a Fox Notch, and my Mom has an 05 GT. I feel Much Safer in my Mom's GT than my friends Notch. As far as the added features, they really don't add that much weight, most of the stuff is just software and plastic.

 

Thanks for the link 1chocophile.

Yeah, it looks like a Hot Wheels car or something, yikes!

 

Yeah, we're in agreement on the reasons they have gotten so heavy. The new ones are safer, faster, stiffer, more luxurious, etc.

However, they're also notably LARGER. The Challenger, for instance, is HUGE. That thing isn't 4300lb because it's just SAFER than the Mustang. It's because it's a land barge. In the same way, I think the Mustang could afford to be trimmed down a little bit, too. Sure, it's lighter than the Camaro/Challenger, but I'd be happy for them to extend that advantage.

 

I agree the Challenger is just Massive! the Camaro doesn't look as large as the Challenger but it looks really Heavy and Fat especially from the rear, neither of which is due to safety equipment Chrysler and GM just chose to build them on a Full Size Chassis that was already in production. I used to think the Mustang was big, but I really don't mind it's size, Honestly, My Mom had her 05 GT parked next to her 92 Lincoln Mark VII LSC/SE and they are Nearly Identical in size, With the only major difference being the Mustang's more fastback roofline. Unfortunately Ford quit building what I consider Real T-Birds (The 4 Seat Kind that they built and sold Millions of) in 1997 so the new size Mustang kinda fills the gap between a smaller Stang and a 4 Seat T-Bird for me. Honestly I think we look at the Mustang as being so big because we have grown accustomed to how small cars had become since the late 70's, 80's and 90's.

 

You do realize though, that the Camaro is virtually the same size as the Mustang? The Camaro is only 2.3" longer and 1.6" wider, but it is 1.4" lower than the Mustang. The Challenger is significantly larger, at nearly 10" longer than the Mustang.

 

Motor Trend gave one to Ford, too. In the issue ranking the "drivability" (aka how good it was to drive) of the 10 newest high-ticket cars for 2010 (from Porsche to Ferrari to Corvette, etc):

And here are the results:

• #10 Chevy Camaro SS
• #09 BMW 135i
• #08 Jaguar XFR
• #07 Nissan 370Z Nismo
• #06 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
• #05 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500
• #04 Cadillac CTS-V
• #03 Mazda MX-5 Miata
• #02 Audi R8
• #01 Porsche Cayman S