Why DIDN'T you buy a mustang GT??

[Norm Peterson]

any brand loyalty i have for gm stems from working on gm vehicles. i have always done my own work, which as time progressed since the mid 90s (for me), has often required tools and knowledge only attained & needed for such. i looked long and hard at other cars before i bought another camaro. i think ultimately it came down to how comfortable i already was with the gen 1-4 engines & associated platforms. its easy to see that gm has done a lot of repetitious/piggyback engineering if you start from the beginning. be it chassis, engine, vehicle communication etc.

Maybe brand loyalty is what happens when the focus of your car enthusiasm doesn't step out past the engine and drivetrain . . . at least that's what I'm seeing here.

Originally Posted by s346k

ultimately i think all of the vehicles in a given tier have their ups and downs and it comes down to personal choice, above all. it's funny to read how "superior" many of you think the camaro is bc it can beat a mustang on track by fractions of a second per lap. to 99.99% of buyers, that info means nothing more than a box to stand on and brag. when in reality those people can't drive the car to 85% of its ability and have no idea how anything on the car works, let alone why it is "better" and how it achieves what it does.

And people have been claiming marque superiority based on the quarter mile ETs somebody else ran since about forever. I'm not sure what your point here is, or why road course lap times shouldn't be viewed as an indication of overall chassis goodness the same way that ETs demonstrate straight line excellence.


There's more to it than just flat comparisons between the numbers. If nothing else, being able to drive a stock SS/1LE to 85% of its capability will still get you around your local track a little faster than driving a stock Mustang GT to 85% of its capability. Chances are that the 1LE will feel subjectively better than the GT even in normal driving, more 'composed', or a feeling of having more capability in reserve if you're into noticing such things (some of us actually are).


I actually stole a page from the 5th gen 1LE playbook in the evolution of my GT from street-only to a dual-purpose street/road course car. But I took it one step further with 11" wide wheels all around instead of the 1LE's 10" & 11" staggered setup. I really don't care where an idea comes from any more than an engine cares what car it's under the hood of.


Norm

[Crushin_LT1]

Originally Posted by LT4Greg

Chevrolet has always been the performance division of GM and I guess that’s the reason I consider myself brand loyal and the Camaro is a performance car. I have owned in 45 years of driving all Chevies except for a Buick Skyhawk and my parents preferred GM cars over the others. I don’t brag on the Camaro to anyone just because I own a ZL1 I don’t think it can outrun everything on the road either. People buy what they want and can afford and there’s nothing wrong with that in my thinking because we can in this country.

Wait, what?


Wasn't Pontiac the performance division and Chevrolet the 'every-man, every-day' car division?

[Paintslinger16]

Originally Posted by Crushin_LT1

Wait, what?


Wasn't Pontiac the performance division and Chevrolet the 'every-man, every-day' car division?

BOP all made 455 ci engines and Cadillac made the 472

[Crushin_LT1]

Originally Posted by Paintslinger16

BOP all made 455 ci engines and Cadillac made the 472

correct, but Pontiac was always branded as the Performance, Oldsmobile as every-man upscale, Buick as near-luxury, and Cadillac as luxury, with Chevy as default. GMC as more 'serious' trucks.



Or is that impression wrong?

[s346k]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

Maybe brand loyalty is what happens when the focus of your car enthusiasm doesn't step out past the engine and drivetrain . . . at least that's what I'm seeing here.

Chances are that the 1LE will feel subjectively better than the GT even in normal driving, more 'composed', or a feeling of having more capability in reserve if you're into noticing such things (some of us actually are).

i think brand loyalty is born when you work on your own car beyond swapping wheels and tires. in my experience: it's rare to find people who pulled motors/transmissions, rebuilt engines/rear difs on their own and then go spread that out over several manufacturers (excluding purpose built swap cars). as such, apparently my blind, brand loyal enthusiasm does extend beyond the power train or i simply wouldn't have purchased an na 1LE car.

i disagree with very little of what you said, but i think you're trying to argue points that aren't present.

[digitalfutur]

Styling and value.

The Mustang looks tame by comparison, and there are lots of them on the road...so many that they don't turn heads anymore.

For me, the SS with the LT1 is not worth the big price bump for the performance increase over the LGX. So I used the money I saved, both upfront and in 40% less gas cost, for mods. Mostly cosmetic, the exception being the Borla Atak axle-back, with black tips.

A 4 cylinder engine, turbo or not, has no place in a performance coupe, so that alone eliminated the Mustang. At the time that I bought my RS in June '18, I got $8K off MSRP through a combination of GM credits, and employer discounts, AND 0.9% financing for 6 years. Too good a deal to pass up for this Chevy guy.

[SloCal]

Originally Posted by digitalfutur

Styling and value.

The Mustang looks tame by comparison, and there are lots of them on the road...so many that they don't turn heads anymore.

For me, the SS with the LT1 is not worth the big price bump for the performance increase over the LGX. So I used the money I saved, both upfront and in 40% less gas cost, for mods. Mostly cosmetic, the exception being the Borla Atak axle-back, with black tips.

A 4 cylinder engine, turbo or not, has no place in a performance coupe, so that alone eliminated the Mustang. At the time that I bought my RS in June '18, I got $8K off MSRP through a combination of GM credits, and employer discounts, AND 0.9% financing for 6 years. Too good a deal to pass up for this Chevy guy.

[SloCal]

Originally Posted by Crushin_LT1

Wait, what?


Wasn't Pontiac the performance division and Chevrolet the 'every-man, every-day' car division?

Yes.

[Rayvan]

Deal breaker for sure, for me is the Corrolla-sized fuel tank that the Mustang is stuck with...

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by SloCal

We aren't all the same

[Crushin_LT1]

Originally Posted by Rayvan

Deal breaker for sure, for me is the Corrolla-sized fuel tank that the Mustang is stuck with...

16 vs 19 gal?

[Paintslinger16]

Originally Posted by Crushin_LT1

correct, but Pontiac was always branded as the Performance, Oldsmobile as every-man upscale, Buick as near-luxury, and Cadillac as luxury, with Chevy as default. GMC as more 'serious' trucks.

Or is that impression wrong?

Not wrong, but Chevy was also performance, Pontiac had the head start.
Back then while all corporate GM, they all had heads of divisions that like to compete and get one ups. As long as it wasn’t faster then a Vette.

[CamaroSSStlfan]

Originally Posted by digitalfutur

Styling and value.

The Mustang looks tame by comparison, and there are lots of them on the road...so many that they don't turn heads anymore.

For me, the SS with the LT1 is not worth the big price bump for the performance increase over the LGX. So I used the money I saved, both upfront and in 40% less gas cost, for mods. Mostly cosmetic, the exception being the Borla Atak axle-back, with black tips.

A 4 cylinder engine, turbo or not, has no place in a performance coupe, so that alone eliminated the Mustang. At the time that I bought my RS in June '18, I got $8K off MSRP through a combination of GM credits, and employer discounts, AND 0.9% financing for 6 years. Too good a deal to pass up for this Chevy guy.

Current Mustangs are a bit of a sleeper though. They don't scream muscle car even though they're fast.

[gtfoxy]

Originally Posted by Paintslinger16

BOP all made 455 ci engines and Cadillac made the 472

It was even a 472/500.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XeArcjuLTpg