The muscle car battle seems to be headed to new grounds as The Chevrolet Camaro is lapping up orders all the way closely followed by the Ford Mustang with the Challenger making up the rear. But the 2010 Stang has reason to cheer as it emerged victorious over the Camaro and the Challenger in ConsumerReports.
Six new cars - Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger, Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Nissan 370Z and Subaru WRZ were put to the test with the judging criteria being reliability, handling, fuel economy and road manners. The pony car amassed all of 78 points which gave it a seating right above the Chevy which compiled 71 points and the Challenger repeated its sales chart position with a 53 point third position, if we rule out the rest of the contenders.
So where does the good guy score high?
"The Mustang topped this group by delivering strong acceleration, communicative steering, and the most agile handling," David Champion, senior director of ConsumerReport's Auto Test Center. All that refinement comes from the purpose-built chassis which is quite different from those employed in the Camaro and the Challenger. While the Camaro uses Holden G8 underpinnings, the Challenger gets to do with a 300/Charger chassis. The power and efficiency came highly rewarded. The Stangs 4.6L V8 which draws out 315 thoroughbred horses displayed sufficient economy in fuel consumption with a 20miles/gallon figure. Also receiving the pat on the back was the accurate 5-speed manual transmission. The styling, fit and finish levels and build quality received points in abundance. The 34 grand pice tag made it the least expensive muscle car among the three as the Camaro retails at 35 grand and the Challenger is the dearest by 36 grand. Though the pricing of the purposeful rivals can be justified by the bigger engines that they offer the Camaro offers a 428 hp 6.2 L V8 and the Challenger has a 5.7L 370 hp Hemi unit powering it they lag behind in vital areas like handling and braking.
Hope the reports help the Stang to reclaim the sales chart top spot as well.