Going head to head, the two most iconic American performance cars faced off in an epic battle of endurance and performance. From their respective corners, the 2015 Mustang GT and the 2015 Chevy Camaro SS were tested out on an episode of Head 2 Head, with Carlos Lago of Motor Trend, pitting the legendary rivals against one another in variety of performance challenges.
To keep the playing field level, both cars were packing their best bang-for-the-buck option packages – the Performance Pack for the Mustang, and the 1LE RPO for the Camaro. In terms of power, the comparison is apples to apples as well. The 6th generation 2015 Ford Mustang GT offers the 5.0 liter V8 producing 435 HP, while the 5th generation 2015 Chevrolet Camaro SS comes powered by the 6.2 liter V8 producing 426 HP.
Thus equipped, these iconic competitors were put to the test on both the road and the track courses. So the question is which one is an overall better package on and off track?
While Lago was impressed with the new interior and exterior design package of the S550 Mustang, the new gen Camaro SS won out in the end in overall performance in Lago’s assessment of the two. Despite the fact the Camaro SS is 72 pounds heavier and physically larger than the Mustang, Lago ultimately felt the SS was simply a more fun ride overall for a number of reasons.
Lago cited better corner entry and exit behavior for the SS, as well as easier mid-corner correction, finding it more agile overall than the Mustang. He did prefer the Mustang as a nicer car to sit in, but ultimately judged the Camaro as a better driving experience both on track and on the road.
While the raw performance data for these cars puts them in a dead heat on paper, in the end Lago gives his highest marks to the Camaro, citing precise steering and better overall balance than the Mustang. Is there a bad choice between these two rivals? Clearly, no – they’re the best pony cars Ford and Chevy have offered to date, so it comes down to which car feels best from the driver’s seat.