In this Comparison Test
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MotorTranscript
00:00 (engine revving)
00:02 Hi there.
00:03 Do we have a fun comparison test for you today?
00:06 (engine revving)
00:08 That is the all new 2024 Ford Mustang GT.
00:23 Hats off to Ford because in the age of electrification,
00:27 they're still releasing an all new vehicle
00:30 that has a high revving V8, a manual transmission,
00:33 and rear wheel drive.
00:34 All the things that enthusiasts crave.
00:37 And because it's a 2024 model year car,
00:40 that means you'll be able to buy it new
00:42 through at least 2032.
00:45 On the other hand, this is the Dodge Challenger Shakedown.
00:50 It's the end of the line for the Challenger,
00:52 that makes some sense.
00:53 The design's over a decade old, so is the engine,
00:56 so is the transmission,
00:58 but the mentality behind this thing
01:00 goes all the way back to the 1960s.
01:03 This is the last pure muscle car on sale today.
01:08 The question becomes,
01:09 which one of these two all American icons should you buy?
01:13 Let's find out.
01:15 (upbeat music)
01:17 In a minute, we're gonna find out
01:20 if the new Mustang is mechanically any better
01:22 than the old Mustang.
01:24 But in terms of design, I can tell you,
01:26 it's a step backwards.
01:27 In fact, it's a step backwards and a step sideways.
01:31 Say whatever else you want about Mustangs,
01:33 they've always looked cool.
01:35 And this one doesn't.
01:37 This grill, that looks like a rejected Volvo design.
01:40 And then when they realized it,
01:42 they quickly struggled to put two big nostrils
01:45 on the front end.
01:46 And that looks like a Ram pickup truck.
01:48 I don't get it.
01:50 Headlights, Mustangs have big eyes, big round eyes.
01:53 And this one, they're squished.
01:55 And there's three bulbs in them.
01:58 Three bulbs, that's like a Citroen SM
02:00 or those aliens in the vending machine in "Toy Story."
02:04 You look at the side, hey, it looks a lot better.
02:06 But it's pretty easy to make a two-door coupe look good,
02:10 especially a rear drive one.
02:11 However, from the B pillar back,
02:13 this screams Chevy Camaro.
02:16 It looks just like the sixth gen Camaro,
02:19 but it's got a Ford badge.
02:20 Why?
02:22 Out back, it's a bit better.
02:23 You know, the taillights, graphically,
02:24 it looks like a Mustang, cool.
02:25 But then it's got that weird boomerang indent.
02:28 It's like half a cam back on the trunk lid.
02:30 Strange.
02:31 I mean, the wing's cool.
02:32 I like the tailpipes.
02:33 I like the diffuser.
02:35 But you know, overall, I just really feel this design
02:39 is a missed opportunity for Ford.
02:40 As for the design of the Dodge Challenger,
02:45 I mean, it rocks.
02:47 Look, when you have that long
02:49 to play with the design of a car,
02:51 you can make it look cooler and cooler and cooler.
02:53 And this final iteration, the Shakedown Challenger,
02:57 I mean, it's one of the best looking ones yet.
02:59 It's got the shaker hood.
03:01 That's that big air intake sticking up
03:02 out of the center of the hood.
03:04 It's got the cool stripes.
03:05 Admittedly, a little cheese ball there
03:07 on top of the paint, but whatever.
03:09 Hood pins, who doesn't love hood pins?
03:12 Cooler than the hood pins are the air intakes
03:15 in the headlights, just like the Hellcat.
03:18 Plus, this is a wide body.
03:19 Plus, look at those wheels.
03:21 I mean, they are gorgeous.
03:23 So yeah, the Dodge Challenger is one
03:26 of the best retro mod designs I've ever seen.
03:29 Hat tip to Ralph Gilles and his team.
03:32 It's just killer.
03:33 I mean, look at this thing.
03:34 It's sinister, it's imposing.
03:36 It's everything you want a muscle car to look like.
03:40 Just cool.
03:40 All right, I'm driving the new Mustang GT.
03:48 As far as the interior goes, I don't like the seats.
03:51 You can get Recaros.
03:53 I haven't sat in them, but they have to be better than these.
03:57 One of the things that people made a big deal about
03:59 when they announced the new Mustang is,
04:01 because it's got this huge curved screen,
04:03 you can do all kinds of different digital gauges,
04:06 including Fox Body Mustang gauges.
04:09 That said, while they're kind of cool,
04:11 the actual real gauges on the Challenger,
04:13 I would argue, are cooler.
04:16 Back to not cool, this handbrake.
04:18 I'm sorry, it's not a real handbrake.
04:20 It's an electric parking brake that is fashioned
04:23 to look like a handbrake.
04:24 Eh on that.
04:26 Look, the Mustang is a nice, modern, luxurious interior.
04:30 Some people will scream about the giant screen.
04:33 I happen to like it.
04:34 Talking about the interior
04:40 of the Dodge Challenger Shakedown here,
04:43 let me tell you, I had a Hellcat Charger in 2016 for a year.
04:48 This interior, identical.
04:51 Nothing has changed.
04:53 And you know, it's not that high quality.
04:55 I mean, the carbon fiber, fake.
04:58 The leather, suspect.
05:00 The screen, small, especially by today's standards.
05:04 And yet, it's just so great in this car.
05:07 I love it.
05:08 It just, I feel at home.
05:09 And part of that is I'm sitting on a Lazy Boy.
05:12 No, really, these are probably the largest,
05:14 most comfortable seats in the automotive kingdom.
05:18 I could complain about certain things,
05:20 but who's gonna listen?
05:22 As far as actually driving the Mustang goes,
05:35 it's a confused car.
05:37 It's not sure what it wants to be.
05:39 Am I a muscle car?
05:40 Am I a sports car?
05:41 So, like, it's a sports car that handles really well
05:46 with completely numb steering.
05:48 It's a muscle car that has an insanely long third gear.
05:52 I'm still in third, I'm still in third, I'm still in third.
05:55 You'll never get to fourth on a racetrack.
05:57 So, in other words, it has no torque.
05:58 It's not great as a track car.
06:00 So, I don't know.
06:01 You know, it sounds awesome.
06:03 It doesn't go that quick.
06:05 I should also mention the brakes
06:07 on the new Mustang are fantastic.
06:10 Hats off to Ford for giving the car the stopping power
06:14 it has always desired.
06:18 It has always yearned for.
06:19 I've yearned for, we've all yearned for.
06:21 It's just, you know, are you a luxury coupe?
06:23 Are you a GT?
06:24 Are you a sports car?
06:26 No one's sure.
06:27 Least of all, the Mustang itself.
06:29 As for performance, you know,
06:34 and the question isn't why does this thing understeer
06:38 or why aren't the brakes more powerful?
06:40 No, the question is, after all these years,
06:44 why are we still taking challengers on racetracks?
06:46 No, really, I went on the launch of this thing in 2010
06:51 at Sears Point and it made no sense then.
06:54 And now at the end of 2023, it still makes no sense.
06:59 But, get this thing pointed straight.
07:03 You open up that big fat V8
07:05 and you let the automatic transmission do what it's good at
07:09 and that's upshifting.
07:10 And man, do you have a car that knows exactly what it is
07:15 and exactly what it's supposed to be doing?
07:17 Just, that's what I like about it so much
07:21 is there's no confusion.
07:22 It's not trying to have one foot in two different worlds.
07:26 It's just a big, dumb muscle car.
07:28 And there's nothing wrong with that.
07:30 Oh, has any car ever been more at home
07:37 going in a straight line?
07:39 I don't think so.
07:41 I gotta admit, I'm having a hard time
07:44 picking a winner between these two.
07:47 Why?
07:48 They're just both fantastic.
07:49 I mean, they're loud, they're silly, they're juvenile,
07:52 they're fun, they make you smile.
07:53 It's what we want cars to be.
07:56 And I think we're running into a
07:58 heart versus mind type situation.
08:01 Because intellectually, Ford has built the better car.
08:05 In every way you can measure a vehicle,
08:07 the Mustang is better, including miles per gallon,
08:10 not that anyone buying these two cares, but it is true.
08:15 On the other hand, the heart wants what the heart wants.
08:18 And man, that Challenger is just so desirable.
08:22 If it were my money, I would go with the Dodge.
08:26 It's not my money we're talking about, it's your money.
08:29 And I have to advise you to do the right thing,
08:32 to buy the better car, and that's why
08:34 the winner of this Motor Trend Comparison Test
08:37 is the 2024 Ford Mustang GT.
08:44 But man, I like that Challenger.
08:48 (engine revving)
08:51 (whooshing)
08:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]