Chevrolet Camaro 2018 vs Ford Mustang 2018 Review
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Chevrolet Camaro vs Ford Mustang: The Ultimate Muscle Car Showdown
Born on American highways, muscle cars are obnoxious, loud, and fast. Two contenders that have been battling it out for decades are the Chevrolet Camaro and the Ford Mustang. Despite their similarities in target audiences, they differ significantly in power, performance, and price. Locking horns in an intense battle for supremacy, we put these two iconic nameplates against one another to settle it once and for all.
Exterior
With both cars undergoing a midlife refresh, they’ve emerged looking brawnier than ever. The Chevrolet Camaro, with its quad exhaust pipes and low-slung roof, retains the sleekness of its predecessors while making its muscle known with bulging hood vents and protruding wheel arches. The 2018 Mustang, on the other hand, is slightly less intimidating (barring its bright yellow hue) and features a softer design with a new lower lip and narrower headlamps. Described as the Ronda Rousey of the muscle car world, the Mustang strikes the right balance between elegance and aggression.
Interior
Paying the price for the low-slung roof on the inside, the Chevrolet Camaro isn’t as spacious as its Mustang rival. In fact, the cramped cabin of the Camaro hinders outward visibility, meaning that should you have to use your visor, you’d practically be driving blind. Although a neat feature is the outer ring around the A/C vents doubling as temperature controls, the location of the A/C vents themselves raises questions as they are positioned closer to the driver and passengers’ knees than their faces.
For those who prefer a different flavor, the Mustang balances its retro appeal with a dash of modernism and is home to several fighter-jet-like switches and a full digital instrument cluster display. Despite the materials being of lower quality with hard plastic robbing it of any semblance of luxury, the Mustang’s center console is preferred by those who enjoy a button-laden console, giving it the impression of an airplane cockpit.
Features
Complementing their power and good looks, the muscle duo also packs numerous features that carry their price tags into the AED 200,000 realm. However, the true differentiator lies in the nitty-gritty features that one welcomes and the other shuns. The Camaro benefits from a Heads-Up Display for more relaxed driving and cylinder activation that switches off 4 cylinders when cruising to save petrol. Conversely, the Mustang welcomes adaptive cruise control, an active exhaust system that can be adjusted for softer or louder sounds, and Line-Lock, which is Ford-speak for burnout mode.
Drive
Gone are the days when muscle cars possessed the handling characteristics of sailboats on a choppy river. Muscle cars by name and sports cars by performance, the Chevrolet Camaro SS and Ford Mustang have both upped their game, especially in handling. The Camaro SS, with its brutal 6.2-liter V8 engine, produces 455 horsepower and 614 Nm of torque, flaunting a sizeable 44 Nm more than the Mustang, despite being 5 horsepower down. Throaty melodies emit from its tailpipes as it accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just over 4 seconds. Undoubtedly, the Camaro is the better handler of the two, allowing drivers to push the car to its absolute limits while remaining in total control.
Following in the footsteps of the Camaro, the Mustang has also undergone major improvements, making it safe to assume that the 2018 Mustang is the best handling Mustang to date. Twitchier than the Camaro when pushed into corners, the Mustang, with its five extra horsepower, hits the 100 km/h mark in 4.3 seconds while keeping fuel economy in check by channeling its power through a 10-speed automatic transmission.
Verdict
In conclusion, the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang are quite similar. They’re both fun to drive, perform exceptionally well, and are both monstrously loud. However, that's where their similarities end. Priced at AED 227,000, the Camaro SS (despite being faster and the better handler of the two) is a whopping AED 20,000 more affordable than the Ford Mustang, which costs AED 247,000.
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