2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 vs. 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
Superponies: The mega Mustang and the killer Camaro battle for control of the street.
July 2012
BY MICHAEL AUSTIN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROY RITCHIE
Even in their most superpowered forms, the Chevrolet Camaro and the Ford Mustang are paragons of affordable performance. The base prices of the 580-hp Camaro ZL1 and the 662-hp Shelby GT500 together add up to $111,290, or $2285 less than one 638-hp Corvette ZR1.
But the ZL1 and the GT500 are more than just gas-addled tire vaporizers. You should expect as much for their price tags, which more than double those of the base V-6 models. Both are engineered to stand up to the extremes of racetrack driving. They also come with sophisticated electronic aids to make their lofty power reserves easily accessible to rank novices.
No Camaro-Mustang comparo will convert the faithful from either camp, yet we are dutybound to look beyond the biases to find out which is the better car. In this round: real-world roads, proving grounds, a chassis-dynamometer test, and track lapping at Grattan Raceway in Belding, Michigan.
Before you troll on over to your favorite internet-message board to bemoan the injustice or glorify the wisdom of the decision that follows, consider that both the ZL1 and the GT500 are stunning automotive achievements, each worthy of bedroom-wall posterdom. Both deliver breathtaking performance and distinctive character. That’s enough for the love-fest: Let’s proceed swiftly and mercilessly to the results.
2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
Second place: Superponies.
The GT500 boasts the most powerful production V-8 at any price, slamming out 662 horsepower and 631 pound-feet of torque while speaking assertively through its 3.5-inch quad exhaust tips. The price, if you’re wondering, starts at $54,995, and the car escapes a gas-guzzler tax.
Bored out to 5.8 liters, the engine now comes with a 2.3-liter Eaton TVS supercharger, piston oil squirters, a block and heads engineered for improved cooling, and high-lift camshafts from the Ford GT. The intercooler capacity goes up 36 percent, and the engine now holds 9.5 quarts of 5W-50 when equipped with the optional oil cooler. Compression increases to 9.0:1 from 8.4:1.
Most of the other running changes to the Shelby relate to chasing its 200-mph top-speed goal [see here] or managing the heat and power of the engine. The shift linkage is revised, and there is a new clutch disc and master cylinder.
Ford offers an á la carte menu for the Shelby. The $3495 SVT Performance package upgrades the rear limited-slip differential to a Torsen design, slaps on black-painted wheels, and adds stiffer springs and anti-roll bars, plus two-stage adjustable Bilstein dampers. Buy the $2995 SVT Track package, and you get coolers for the engine oil, the transmission fluid, and the differential. Recaro seats ($1595) get us to the price of our $63,080 test car, which came absent mass-penalizing optional equipment such as a sunroof, navigation, and heated seats.
Forget the Ford Fiesta; the GT500 is the real party on wheels. Sassy cue-ball knob tops a stiff but accurate shifter.
Some retronauts crave the brute-force gut punch of a muscle car, and the Shelby will not disappoint them. The GT500 feels as beastly as you’d expect from a car with such a menacing, grille-less snout. The stiff shift lever permits no jiggle. The heavy clutch pedal engages abruptly toward the end of its travel. Every aspect of this Mustang reinforces the violence and shock you feel when you nail the throttle.
The Shelby first comes across as almost frightening. But isn’t 662 horsepower supposed to be fearsome? Do you really want a shithead teenager to think he can master this thing? We are actually a little disappointed that, in an attempt to lessen the intimidation factor, the GT500 offers launch control. Just set the launch rpm, floor the gas, and ease out of the clutch, and the computer modulates engine output and applies the rear brakes to limit wheelspin. If your pink slip is on the line, launch control provides an effective and reliable safety net. But mostly it’s theater. With the system fully disabled, the GT500 is still fairly easy to launch, and the average of our best run in each direction results in a 0-to-60 time of 3.5 seconds and an 11.8-second, 125-mph quarter-mile. The GT500 is half a second quicker to 60 mph than the ZL1, and the Shelby is as fast as Ford’s own GT supercar (splitting the difference in quarter-mile times of the two GTs we have tested).
Its power corrupts on public roads. The rest of the experience, however, isn’t quite as sinfully pleasurable. At highway speeds, the GT500 is loud, with audible driveline whine and a deep resonance in the exhaust. The booming engine note sounds better from outside the cabin. And the suspension jostles up and down over highway-expansion joints. It’s tolerable, but the Camaro has better ride quality.
The Shelby’s steering has the same problem we experienced with the Mustang GT in our most recent best-handling test. It’s precise and accurate, but its weighting loads up too subtly with lock, and it transmits too little information about what the front tires are doing.
On the track [see map], this lack of feel frustrates efforts to exploit the GT500’s 1.0 g of grip. If only the rest of the car were as communicative and precisely controllable as its fade-proof brakes, now 15-inch Brembos in front with six-piston calipers.
Its explosive power delivery makes it a challenge to use the 236-pound-lighter GT500’s extra 82 horsepower. In Grattan’s numerous off-camber corners, the GT500 constantly threatens to step out of line upon the smallest abuse of throttle. This is most evident in the right-left kink before the main straight, where the GT500 scrubs speed and forces the driver to delay full power application. A secondary concern: After three hot laps, the Shelby’s oil temperature climbed to the edge of the yellow zone on the unit-less gauge (found in the LCD screen between the speedometer and the tach).
Over the past few years, the Shelby has evolved at a staggering rate. No longer a knuckle-dragging drag sled, the GT500 has handling to match its monumental power. But it’s also over-the-top brutish.
2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
First place: Superponies.
In late-night barroom discussions, the Camaro will forever lose to the GT500. An 82-hp deficit will do that, even for a car with more output than a Nissan GT-R. That the Camaro comes track-ready, with all fluid coolers included for $56,295, makes little difference. It’s a testament to the Shelby’s power that it makes the Camaro feel slow, and in a side-by-side race the ZL1 is slow. By 150 mph, the GT500 opens up a 4.1-second gap.
But if it were only about straight-line acceleration, we would take our fallout-shelter time machine back to the ’60s and stay there. And it’s nearly a dead heat in other performance metrics, with the ZL1 pulling 0.99 g on the skidpad and braking from 70 mph in 151 feet, four shorter than the GT500.
Both cars owe a lot to the grip provided by their Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar G: 2 rubber. Treacherous when cold, these tires are flypaper for pavement when they’re hot, and after a full day at the track, they showed no alarming signs of wear.
Despite a power deficit and a weight penalty, the ZL1 matches the GT500’s lap times. Opposite: slightly dressed-up interior.
The ZL1 comes with launch control of its own, integrated into the race setting of the five-mode Performance Traction Management system. It, too, offers consistent launches, although experienced drivers can do better. Like we said, those tires make everything easier.
The Eagle F1s offered a good experimental control and helped to demonstrate how and why the ZL1 delivers a more involving driving experience than the Shelby. That this is an about-face from previous Camaro SS–versus–Mustang GT tests is not lost on us. The ZL1 feels more like the Cadillac CTS-V than one of the lesser Camaros. The steering responds to corners with properly modulated, steadily mounting weight, and the front end is more responsive than the Shelby’s. In the ZL1, all the controls are fine-tuned and well matched. The clutch is light and engages progressively throughout its travel. You can move the shift lever with your fingertips. In contrast to the Shelby, the Camaro does almost everything with more refinement and with more empathy for its driver. One’s a gorilla, the other’s a racehorse. Which one would you rather ride?
The Camaro is more comfortable, too; its magnetorheological shocks do a great job managing wheel impacts and overall ride stability. It’s also fairly quiet and transmits the deep engine rumble to the interior without other unwanted racket. The ZL1 delivers more of the sophistication expected of a $60,000 sports car than does the GT500.
Admittedly, creature comforts are not the primary aim of these cars, but the ZL1’s unstressed vibe enhances the driving experience. It’s more relaxed and approachable, and ultimately more fun to drive. At Grattan, the Camaro’s front end seemed like it would never wash out, and a handy dose of trail braking quelled any understeer. The shocks and multilink rear suspension helped the ZL1 use more of its power around the track. Going onto the main straight, the Camaro negotiated the final turn without scrubbing speed. Elsewhere, the linear throttle response that makes the Camaro feel relatively docile on the street helps to keep the car nudging softly against the edge of its handling limits. That the ZL1’s lap times are identical to the lighter and more powerful GT500’s shows how much more it does with less. And our times were more consistent in the Camaro.
We here at Car and Driver champion automotive progress (automatic transmissions notwithstanding). More than the GT500, the ZL1 aggressively lifts the bar, proving that big American muscle can venture beyond sheer horsepower and drag-strip numbers and into the realm of the sports car.
[video=youtube;FF-db7bX9LI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF-db7bX9LI[/video]
CarandDriver editorial and MotorTrend video
Superponies: The mega Mustang and the killer Camaro battle for control of the street.
July 2012
BY MICHAEL AUSTIN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROY RITCHIE
Even in their most superpowered forms, the Chevrolet Camaro and the Ford Mustang are paragons of affordable performance. The base prices of the 580-hp Camaro ZL1 and the 662-hp Shelby GT500 together add up to $111,290, or $2285 less than one 638-hp Corvette ZR1.
But the ZL1 and the GT500 are more than just gas-addled tire vaporizers. You should expect as much for their price tags, which more than double those of the base V-6 models. Both are engineered to stand up to the extremes of racetrack driving. They also come with sophisticated electronic aids to make their lofty power reserves easily accessible to rank novices.
No Camaro-Mustang comparo will convert the faithful from either camp, yet we are dutybound to look beyond the biases to find out which is the better car. In this round: real-world roads, proving grounds, a chassis-dynamometer test, and track lapping at Grattan Raceway in Belding, Michigan.
Before you troll on over to your favorite internet-message board to bemoan the injustice or glorify the wisdom of the decision that follows, consider that both the ZL1 and the GT500 are stunning automotive achievements, each worthy of bedroom-wall posterdom. Both deliver breathtaking performance and distinctive character. That’s enough for the love-fest: Let’s proceed swiftly and mercilessly to the results.
2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
Second place: Superponies.
The GT500 boasts the most powerful production V-8 at any price, slamming out 662 horsepower and 631 pound-feet of torque while speaking assertively through its 3.5-inch quad exhaust tips. The price, if you’re wondering, starts at $54,995, and the car escapes a gas-guzzler tax.
Bored out to 5.8 liters, the engine now comes with a 2.3-liter Eaton TVS supercharger, piston oil squirters, a block and heads engineered for improved cooling, and high-lift camshafts from the Ford GT. The intercooler capacity goes up 36 percent, and the engine now holds 9.5 quarts of 5W-50 when equipped with the optional oil cooler. Compression increases to 9.0:1 from 8.4:1.
Most of the other running changes to the Shelby relate to chasing its 200-mph top-speed goal [see here] or managing the heat and power of the engine. The shift linkage is revised, and there is a new clutch disc and master cylinder.
Ford offers an á la carte menu for the Shelby. The $3495 SVT Performance package upgrades the rear limited-slip differential to a Torsen design, slaps on black-painted wheels, and adds stiffer springs and anti-roll bars, plus two-stage adjustable Bilstein dampers. Buy the $2995 SVT Track package, and you get coolers for the engine oil, the transmission fluid, and the differential. Recaro seats ($1595) get us to the price of our $63,080 test car, which came absent mass-penalizing optional equipment such as a sunroof, navigation, and heated seats.
Forget the Ford Fiesta; the GT500 is the real party on wheels. Sassy cue-ball knob tops a stiff but accurate shifter.
Some retronauts crave the brute-force gut punch of a muscle car, and the Shelby will not disappoint them. The GT500 feels as beastly as you’d expect from a car with such a menacing, grille-less snout. The stiff shift lever permits no jiggle. The heavy clutch pedal engages abruptly toward the end of its travel. Every aspect of this Mustang reinforces the violence and shock you feel when you nail the throttle.
The Shelby first comes across as almost frightening. But isn’t 662 horsepower supposed to be fearsome? Do you really want a shithead teenager to think he can master this thing? We are actually a little disappointed that, in an attempt to lessen the intimidation factor, the GT500 offers launch control. Just set the launch rpm, floor the gas, and ease out of the clutch, and the computer modulates engine output and applies the rear brakes to limit wheelspin. If your pink slip is on the line, launch control provides an effective and reliable safety net. But mostly it’s theater. With the system fully disabled, the GT500 is still fairly easy to launch, and the average of our best run in each direction results in a 0-to-60 time of 3.5 seconds and an 11.8-second, 125-mph quarter-mile. The GT500 is half a second quicker to 60 mph than the ZL1, and the Shelby is as fast as Ford’s own GT supercar (splitting the difference in quarter-mile times of the two GTs we have tested).
Its power corrupts on public roads. The rest of the experience, however, isn’t quite as sinfully pleasurable. At highway speeds, the GT500 is loud, with audible driveline whine and a deep resonance in the exhaust. The booming engine note sounds better from outside the cabin. And the suspension jostles up and down over highway-expansion joints. It’s tolerable, but the Camaro has better ride quality.
The Shelby’s steering has the same problem we experienced with the Mustang GT in our most recent best-handling test. It’s precise and accurate, but its weighting loads up too subtly with lock, and it transmits too little information about what the front tires are doing.
On the track [see map], this lack of feel frustrates efforts to exploit the GT500’s 1.0 g of grip. If only the rest of the car were as communicative and precisely controllable as its fade-proof brakes, now 15-inch Brembos in front with six-piston calipers.
Its explosive power delivery makes it a challenge to use the 236-pound-lighter GT500’s extra 82 horsepower. In Grattan’s numerous off-camber corners, the GT500 constantly threatens to step out of line upon the smallest abuse of throttle. This is most evident in the right-left kink before the main straight, where the GT500 scrubs speed and forces the driver to delay full power application. A secondary concern: After three hot laps, the Shelby’s oil temperature climbed to the edge of the yellow zone on the unit-less gauge (found in the LCD screen between the speedometer and the tach).
Over the past few years, the Shelby has evolved at a staggering rate. No longer a knuckle-dragging drag sled, the GT500 has handling to match its monumental power. But it’s also over-the-top brutish.
2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
First place: Superponies.
In late-night barroom discussions, the Camaro will forever lose to the GT500. An 82-hp deficit will do that, even for a car with more output than a Nissan GT-R. That the Camaro comes track-ready, with all fluid coolers included for $56,295, makes little difference. It’s a testament to the Shelby’s power that it makes the Camaro feel slow, and in a side-by-side race the ZL1 is slow. By 150 mph, the GT500 opens up a 4.1-second gap.
But if it were only about straight-line acceleration, we would take our fallout-shelter time machine back to the ’60s and stay there. And it’s nearly a dead heat in other performance metrics, with the ZL1 pulling 0.99 g on the skidpad and braking from 70 mph in 151 feet, four shorter than the GT500.
Both cars owe a lot to the grip provided by their Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar G: 2 rubber. Treacherous when cold, these tires are flypaper for pavement when they’re hot, and after a full day at the track, they showed no alarming signs of wear.
Despite a power deficit and a weight penalty, the ZL1 matches the GT500’s lap times. Opposite: slightly dressed-up interior.
The ZL1 comes with launch control of its own, integrated into the race setting of the five-mode Performance Traction Management system. It, too, offers consistent launches, although experienced drivers can do better. Like we said, those tires make everything easier.
The Eagle F1s offered a good experimental control and helped to demonstrate how and why the ZL1 delivers a more involving driving experience than the Shelby. That this is an about-face from previous Camaro SS–versus–Mustang GT tests is not lost on us. The ZL1 feels more like the Cadillac CTS-V than one of the lesser Camaros. The steering responds to corners with properly modulated, steadily mounting weight, and the front end is more responsive than the Shelby’s. In the ZL1, all the controls are fine-tuned and well matched. The clutch is light and engages progressively throughout its travel. You can move the shift lever with your fingertips. In contrast to the Shelby, the Camaro does almost everything with more refinement and with more empathy for its driver. One’s a gorilla, the other’s a racehorse. Which one would you rather ride?
The Camaro is more comfortable, too; its magnetorheological shocks do a great job managing wheel impacts and overall ride stability. It’s also fairly quiet and transmits the deep engine rumble to the interior without other unwanted racket. The ZL1 delivers more of the sophistication expected of a $60,000 sports car than does the GT500.
Admittedly, creature comforts are not the primary aim of these cars, but the ZL1’s unstressed vibe enhances the driving experience. It’s more relaxed and approachable, and ultimately more fun to drive. At Grattan, the Camaro’s front end seemed like it would never wash out, and a handy dose of trail braking quelled any understeer. The shocks and multilink rear suspension helped the ZL1 use more of its power around the track. Going onto the main straight, the Camaro negotiated the final turn without scrubbing speed. Elsewhere, the linear throttle response that makes the Camaro feel relatively docile on the street helps to keep the car nudging softly against the edge of its handling limits. That the ZL1’s lap times are identical to the lighter and more powerful GT500’s shows how much more it does with less. And our times were more consistent in the Camaro.
We here at Car and Driver champion automotive progress (automatic transmissions notwithstanding). More than the GT500, the ZL1 aggressively lifts the bar, proving that big American muscle can venture beyond sheer horsepower and drag-strip numbers and into the realm of the sports car.
[video=youtube;FF-db7bX9LI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF-db7bX9LI[/video]
CarandDriver editorial and MotorTrend video
