Repair-It

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons ... comparison

The Mustang was still using the old 302, which was quite fast 5 short years ago but after the LT1 F-body, not so much.

As tested, these were about $20k. So cheap.

On the Camaro's seats:

The Mustang's seat was also a winner, offering good thigh support on max-lat turns. In the Camaro, on the other hand, you have to scrunch up your left leg and wedge it as stiffly as possible against the door panel, then brace your upper body by desperately clutching the steering wheel. Or onto that huge medicine ball on the tip of the shifter.

Bob will no doubt laugh at that.

How about a 1993 Mustang Cobra vs the new 93 F-Bodies?

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons ... comparison

The Mustang actually had some performance, running 14.3 @ 98 (the F-Bodies were a bit faster still, with a 200lb disadvantage). The 302 was putting out 235hp @ 5000rpm. Ford really should have done a LOT more with the old 302 before bringing in the disappointing 4.6, giving it more time to bake.

The brakes and handling in the Mustang don't seem up to snuff, though. Though it has some cool salad shooters that remind me a bit of the Thunderbird Turbo Coupe.

I drove a '95 Mustang Cobra back in college (not my own) and was very impressed with the 5.0L performance. The car was slightly modified with a CAI and some side pipe exhaust, so that didn't hurt either. The SN95 platform was a huge improvement over the fox body mustang from the '80s. From memory it was faster than automatic LT1 F-bodies I had driven previously. The manual transmission on the Mustang probably helped there.

Since then, I have driven SOHC 4.6L mustangs and they weren't as nice until maybe 2003 (PI engine?) and even then it didn't have the low end torque of the pushrod engine.

I think the automatic LT1 F-Bodies were about dead even with that 93 Cobra, so assuming the 95 was the same, there you go. Though the 95 was probably heavier. Same 235hp?

240? Plus a couple aftermarket parts.

If it was faster, I don't think it was by much at all. But maybe a bit more peaky power delivery made it feel faster?

Maybe not by alot. The power delivery was very linear (pushrods?) and pulled strongly to redline.