Battle of the Ponycar Convertibles: Mustang GT vs. Camaro SS
Another day
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MotorTranscript
00:00 (engine revving)
00:02 All right, it's test day for Mustang and Camaro,
00:05 and we've been doing this comparison test since the 1960s.
00:09 In recent years, it's been all Camaro.
00:12 Every test, it seems like Camaro's been coming out on top,
00:15 but convertibles this time,
00:16 which could shake up the whole thing.
00:18 This is a new test, we've got new cars.
00:20 We'll see what happens this time.
00:21 After Kim went out and got the official times,
00:27 decided to go out and give it a shot myself,
00:28 and it kind of confirmed everything we already knew
00:31 about how Mustangs behave.
00:33 They're great on the road, but when you get them to the limit
00:36 they're kind of a handful.
00:37 You're coming into the corner,
00:38 and it's just all understeer, understeer, understeer,
00:40 and then you finally get it turned, and you're coming out,
00:43 and then all of a sudden it's oversteered.
00:45 It's not drifting, it's a snap oversteer,
00:47 and then you turn it and it snaps back.
00:48 So it's not the best sports car here,
00:51 but maybe that's not what really matters in a convertible.
00:56 (engine revving)
00:59 All righty.
01:08 - How was he?
01:09 - As usual, the launch control or drag mode
01:13 is very consistent, but I can beat it.
01:15 - What about the other way?
01:17 How was the braking?
01:18 - Braking was good, I like this firm pedal.
01:20 - You know, this is why Chris is the pro,
01:24 'cause he's absolutely right.
01:25 They make it easy.
01:26 You got a nice little RPM range to play with,
01:29 real easy to slip the clutch, good shifter,
01:31 bang, bang, bang, and you're down.
01:34 - We've done the Mustang, we've got its numbers,
01:36 now it's time to do the Camaro SS.
01:39 One thing that's different about this muscle car
01:41 is that you can, it's called no-lift shift.
01:45 Typically, you have to take your foot
01:47 a little bit off the gas while you clutch and back in again.
01:50 This one, you can literally leave your foot flat
01:52 on the floor while you do the clutch and make the shift.
01:55 The brake pedal on the Camaro's sort of a two-stage,
01:59 like firm and then squish.
02:01 Well, as we predicted, it's very different
02:04 from the Mustang, and yet the results
02:05 are shockingly similar.
02:07 - But if you're gonna drag one of these cars,
02:10 you're going--
02:11 - Yeah, I would pick the Mustang
02:13 because it's so much easier to nail that launch every time,
02:16 where you get one out of five in this guy.
02:18 - Yeah.
02:18 Our winner, the Mustang.
02:22 Now, we can see from the performance testing
02:24 that the Camaro's a better sports car,
02:26 but for a convertible, this is what you want.
02:29 You can have the roof down and still have room
02:30 for all your stuff on vacation, on a road trip, whatever.
02:33 And if you got kids, they can sit comfortably
02:35 in the back seat, and it rides better
02:38 and is a little more comfortable.
02:39 So yeah, the Camaro might be more fun on a racetrack,
02:43 but this is the car you want
02:44 when you're buying a convertible.
02:45 (engine revving)
02:48 (engine revving)
02:51 (dramatic music)
02:54 (thunder)