One day some Mustang owners will admitt that the Fbodies are great cars, and lots of times faster than a Mustang!
Yup, I'll admit it!
Of the many years of these cars existence. Mustang wasn't as fast as a comperable Camaro or Firebird or Challenger. Yes they had options that were close and fairly comparable and some years they were higher performing.
An all out ground pounder isn't why I drive a Mustang daily. Its because it offers decent power, fun driving, reliable, an instantly recognizable styling, and mostly its very nice driving car that is comfortable. Far more comfortable than driving a 4th gen F-body. I know that becuase I tried back in early '01. The Mustang was far nicer to drive for me at 6'7" and had plenty of power for what I wanted.
Its this fact that is precicely why the Mustang is doing so well. Some people just want a sporty stylish car thats great to drive... Hence the V6 Stang sells so well. Its the primary reason the car is still around as its the "backbone" or "Cash-cow" of the line.
As for performance... well during the period they were alive. The V6's duked it out at the same level, but the Z-28/SS was far on the oposite end of the spectrum. That is what the Cobra model was for. Mustang GT's sat nicely in the middle with nothing from GM to compete with it in price/performance.
Think of it like this.
Base Mustang - - - - - - - - - - - - Base Camaro / RS
+
+
+
+
Mustang GT - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
+
+
+
+
Mustang Cobra - - - - - - - - - - - - - Z-28 / Formula-Trans Am
. . . . . . . . . . . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SS / WS-6
That is really how the chart looks up until F-body demise in late 2002. The price and performance level is pretty par with Cobra, and thats what the Cobra was for...
But umm, I like both... Just can't comfortably ride/drive the 4th gen cars from GM