MUSTANG WINS! - Car and Driver front page!

So I just got my July issue of Car and Driver and the front cover is "MUSTANG WINS! Beats Chevy + Dodge With Less Power" with a photo of a 315 hp 2010 Mustang GT with a 426 hp Camaro and a 376 hp Challenger in the background.

Inside they do a complete comparison and the Mustang wins big

Final scores:

Mustang - 209
Camaro - 193
Challenger - 190

The interesting thing is in performance the Mustang is MUCH quicker in the 30 - 50 mph and 50 - 70 mph.

Car and Driver doesn't usually ever give the nod to a Ford product so this is big.

Anyhow, pick up the July copy and read for yourself.

Lol with the 5.0L on the way it ought to be a walk in the park next time around.

Excellent. I got a call about this about an hour ago. Decided to wait for someone here to post the goods here than go out in the rain and get it

I saw the cover at the gas station tonight as I was going to meat up with friends for dinner. With the "Coyote" on the way and the death of GM's performance division and Chrysler merging with Fiat the 400hp Mustang will be in a class of it's own just like the GT-500

Would not it be nice if we actually got the Coyote motor? With Obama's new emissions plans I wonder if it will see the light of day. Ford has already pushed it to 2011 or 2012. They are dancing around commitment, which scares me even more.

I am wondering if an article like that will actually hurt the coyote's chances. If the mustang is competitive now, why ad a better motor? Also, I have to wonder how the coyote will fit into the product line. It is supposed to replace BOTH the 4.6L and 5.4L engines. Does this mean, our choices will be a 300hp V6, or a 400hp V8, period. No GT500? And I would assume the Coyote would fall in the 40 grand price point.

I'd say the coyote would be supercharged in the gt500 and n/a in the gt.

I have the car and driver/motor trend magazines. They are always biased away from ford. In one issue they compared the gt500 and the z06 and gave the z06 the winning nod, as it should because those are 2 different types of car. THEN they compared the srt8 challenger and the gt500. The gt500 smoked the srt8 in every category and they still gave the winning nod to the srt8 based solely on looks!

It's obvious to me that the car companies pay the magazine to favor their cars. Now dodge and gm can't pay that money so they are trying to kiss up to ford. That's my opinion though...

The motor trend article comparing all three cars was good as well. It had the Camaro barley beating out the Mustang and the dodge coming in last place again. Can't wait for the 5.0!

But will Ford really do it?

A 400hp n/a factory Mustang would be da bomb

Everything points to that way apparently.

Let's keep our finger crossed some accountant doesn't step in and screw that up at Ford HQ.

Lets just hope the coyote ends up in a GT and not a $45,000 Boss or Mach 1.

But back to the original topic, I love to see a lowly 315 hp car keeping up with cars that have 60 - 100 more hp.

Car designers need to grasp the fact that CURB WEIGHT is important too when it comes to performance.

lol...... Well im glad car and driver picked you guys. You all seem happy, as you should. This is also the magazine that ran a 13.80 in the mustang ,while motor trend ran 13.50s all day. The mustang is a great handler from what Ive read, even beating out the mighty GT500 KR. So its a road course contender for sure.....But come on guys, for the type of running we do, 1/4 mile stuff, the Strong Willed GT still comes up short..even if just a little.

I plan on stop light to stop light racing.....not fast and the furious New York City block racing, as im sure most of you agree. Good stuff though....really im glad the GT gets some well deserved respect.

I haven't read the article so until I do I'm just going to guess that the Mustang won because it's smaller, lighter, handles better, pulls higher Gs, sounds better, doesn't look so plain and plasticky on the inside.....

Plus Ford isn't bankrupt and the Mustang now has 45 years of production, more than the other 2 cars can say. Chevy had 7 years to do it right, and they gave us bold styling, I'll give credit for that, the first good looking Chevy, but we're talking about a 100 hp improvement over the last SS Camaro and this car is putting down almost the same track numbers. Not to mention the inside looks like a Cobalt with a fancy speedo and tach. And what's with the shiny cheap plastic on the door? I can't believe they did so well with the outside and a badass engine and left the interior looking whack.

My understanding is the 5.0 will replace the 4.6 in all vehicles (Mustang, F150, Explorer, Mountaineer, etc). I have heard from other sources that the 4.6 engine plant will close late this year, maybe November. So the 5.0 is coming and its going into the GT. If they keep the GT500 or come out with the rumored Boss they could either supercharge the 5.0 or go with the 6.2 they are using in the F150 Raptor. And the V6 is supposedly going to be the 3.5 Ecoboost engine. This engine turbo'd on the new Taurus SHO is going to put out over 350 hp.

Not to sound pessimistic, but I really have my doubts that Ford is going to make a 400 HP GT and a 350 HP V6. This is what I would think they'd do - 3.5 V6 N/A (265 HP I think) they keep the 4.6 for the GT or use a 5.0 SOHC. I think they'll save the DOHC and 400 hp for the special editions. You can't jump 85 HP in one year, but bumping it to 340-350 would certainly be nice. If they go to 400 HP next year then where do they go with the next refresh? Not to mention the new mileage expectations. Good thing 70% (correct me if anyone knows the right number, I think that's it) of the new Fusions built and sold will be hybrids. At least they have that much foresight to make up for all the trucks/explorers/expeditions they sell.

Why would you downgrade a gt500 and put the coyote engine in it? its already rocking a 5.4

Believe it or not as you will. But from what I've been reading the 4.6 will stop production and the 5.0 will take its place. The 350hp V6 is with the turbos, if they don't put the turbos on it I'm sure it'll be around 260-300hp.

But when the new MPH rules take affect they are by vehicle type not by manufacturer. Selling a bunch of Fusions do nothing for selling a bunch of gas guzzling SUV's, thats why Ford plans on using high tech and lighter steels to shed weight. The newer engines are also being made to get better gas mileage.

a 260hp v6 sounds more reasonable to me. I'm still trying to grasp the idea that they're going to offer 400 HP in a GT. And if they do, what do you think it's going to do to the price of the car? I mean we're already talking about 34k for a GT with leather and track pack. I bought my 05 for 27.6k, granted it didnt' have the suspension upgrades but I did what i needed myself for much less than 6k, and that also included my headers and catback and tuner. My 05 was putting down over 330 hp at the wheels for less than what I'm about to drop on my 2010. Too bad I didn't salvage the parts since apparently they would have all bolted onto the 2010, with the exception of the tuner I would assume.

What would REALLY be nice is if we had engine choices for the GT just listed as options. Like a base 4.6, a 5.0 SOHC and a 5.0 DOHC. Unfortunately choices cost money and that seems to be something all car companies are short on these days. And I really don't think going from a blown 5.4 to a blown 5.0 would be all bad for the GT500. the 5.4 n/a is less HP than the new coyote, and probably heavier. At least it would help put that car on a diet since it's a heffer of a muscle car already.

On any note, I sure hope Dodge and Government Motors keep the Challenger and Camaro, competition is always good. But being government owned who knows now. I like all 3 cars so I hope the other 2 don't get put on the chopping block.

Sorry im not on the Mustang upkeep, but wasnt the motor originally called "Hurricane" ...I am not diggin the "Coyote" nameplate...YUK lol. Damn call it the "Stallion" or something Mustang Related. Sounds like its going to be worth the wait, the names killin me though !!!!