[eolson]

Yes, in a straight line the GT500 is the winner. In road course handling and sustained breaking the ZL1 so far is the winner until shown otherwise. For the cost of the ZL1 in it's basic sports coupe category, nothing has been shown to be able to touch it in handling yet, that's what I'm saying.

Adding a shorter pulley to the ZL1 will give it a bit more power, and take it's top speed up a bit. Beyond this if you're looking at a ZL1 with a shorter pulley, on the street, on a road course, so far the ZL1 has the better balance struck between usable and enjoyable high performance aspects of a sports coupe. Control going fast through or around a corner on the street and then having planted control accelerating out of that corner is very important on the street and a road course.

So far if you were to take the a decent spirited drive on a long mountain road, city streets, highway on ramps and off ramps, the ZL1 has more than enough usable power for any driving activity, and has better performance in handling and cornering(including powering out of a corner) as far as has been proven so far.

Absolute maximums on a drag strip and giant oval for top speed is not part of 95% of what real people will be doing with these Muscle cars.

On the street, the GT500 might not have as good of control or grip accelerating very fast over uneven surfaces, as well as cornering around them. That has been true with most Mustangs of all types, including mine with all the great parts I have put on my car.

I'm skeptical about the improvement in handling of the GT500 until I see it back to back with other cars in real driving situations and use. The car has only been tested for it's strengths, and not for handling and breaking. That's all I'm saying. Usable power in harmony with all the other driving aspects of a high performance car. The ZL1 has already proven it's great balance and harmony between high performance driving. Erik