The world has been upended. Everything I thought I knew is now wrong. The good guys aren’t wearing white hats. Both presidential candidates are intelligent, honest, humble, and competent. Bacon wrapped donuts are good for you. Formula one is both interesting and exciting. Of course none of these things have happened. But one very big thing has changed. The V6 Camaro and 4 banger Mustang are both good cars.
What is wrong with the base Camaro and Mustang, you might ask? Taken in a vacuum, either car is not all that bad. They have always been cheap rear drive coupes, and have never tried to be anything else. Compared to cars like the Nissan SX or Toyota Celica, the base Mustang or Camaro just seemed unsophisticated, but there can be some charm in that. Like wearing cowboy boots with a tuxedo. But open the hood of either and there was a noticeable gap between the engine and the radiator, almost if something was missing. Of course the missing thing was about half of the pistons and several of the horses.
It has always been accepted that the only reason a base Mustang or Camaro exists is to rest dollars from the hands of people that should not aspire to own fast cars. People who, through conscious decisions, have neither the fiscal prosperity nor the regulatory purity to purchase a Mustang GT or Camaro SS. People who find themselves in a hedge on Saturday night. A hedge at the terminus of half a mile of skid marks, downed fence posts, and a few frightened deer. People to whom a Power Ball lottery ticket constitutes a retirement plan. People who have memorized every fast food value menu. People who buy single cigarettes. People who, in other words, can not hope to responsibly operate a powerful, rear drive sport coupe.
For these people, the base Mustang and Camaro represent an aspirational goal. Historically, the base cars have been slow enough that even people with a negative driver's license point balance can obtain mandatory minimum insurance coverage. What this means is that every base Mustang or Camaro on the road is driven by an aggressive, insecure egomaniac who is one handbrake u-turn from NASCAR. Or, it’s a rental car.
Luckily, Ford and Chevrolet aided the rest of us by making the wheezers of the coupe world easy to spot. Skinny tires with plastic hubcaps that made the car seem to ride on sofa casters. One tiny exhaust pipe ashamedly stuffed under the rear bumper. Absolutely no aerodynamic aids at all. Seats as flat as the pathetic engine’s dyno chart. All the cool stuff was reserved for the V8 models. Spotting a base car was easy. And avoiding it, either at the dealership or on the road, became second nature.
But now things are different. The base Mustang and Camaro are legitimate sports coupes, instead of the darling of special financing. If you are deaf, the Camaro RS is indistinguishable from a Camaro SS. You can have an EcoBoost Mustang has the same wheels, suspension, brakes, and aerodynamics as a GT. And this is no paint and spackle job, either. The turbo Mustang has 310 horsepower while the V6 Camaro is a 335 horsepower car. They are both capable of five second runs to 60 MPH. Five seconds - that is faster than any Mustang GT prior to the latest 5.0 Coyote engine cars!
What it comes down to is the LT1 455 HP V8 Camaro SS and the Coyote 5.0L 435 HP Mustang GT are stellar performers, approaching supercar status. With all independent suspension, stiff sophisticated chassis, Brembo brakes, and the availability of a real, honest to Mark Donohue manual transmission, these coupes rival cars like the M4, AMG C63, RS5, and even some real sports cars like the Cayman or F Type. As the V8 cars have improved, the base models have necessarily followed. The Camaro V6 is basically a Cadillac ATS in Old Navy jeans instead of Gap chinos. In this day of 300 HP minivans, it is not surprising even the most basic versions of the Mustang and Camaro are decent cars.
No longer shall the base cars suffer the indignity of bad engines, unsupportive seats, skinny tires, or floppy suspensions. All new Camaro and Mustang models are worth owning, and not just because the bank, or insurance, or your wife is not going to let you have the one that sounds like a NASCAR race. If better fuel economy and sharper steering are on your list of priorities, then you may find yourself in a V8 ponycar, sans the V8.
Everything stated not withstanding, I would never buy a base Camaro or Mustang. The point of one of these cars is not that it is adequate, but that it is excessive. It was once said that a Jaguar X Type is "enough" Jaguar. I don't want "enough" Camaro or Mustang. I want waaay to much. I want torque that frightens me. I want brakes with with twice the pistons of the engine. I want to use my right foot to steer. If these cars were like Nissan Z cars or BMW 4 series, a four or six cylinder would be fine. But I know if I don't get the big honkin' V8, I would regret it. I would happily pay the premium, not only at the time of purchase, but for insurance, fuel, tires, and brake pads, in order to access to acceleration forces normally associated with a trebuchet. So, never mind. The base cars may be better than ever, but there is a reason a V8 fits under the hood.
