I test drove...
 

I sold my V6 Camaro (1LT, M6, non-R/S) a few months ago and I’m in the market for a new toy. Over the past few weeks I have been driving some of the competition, and I wanted to share some of my thoughts. Feel free to make comments….also…if any of you want to share some test drive experiences of your own, this thread could be a resource for people in the market for something new. As a side note, almost every salesperson I talked to had no idea what they were talking about.
Vehicle: 2011 Dodge Challenger R/T Classic
Mileage: 4,000
Color: Orange
Engine: 5.7 Liter Hemi V8, 372 HP
Transmission: 5 Speed Auto
Interior: Black Leather
Price: $36,000 (!!!)
This car was a used dealer demo. The car felt big and heavy, but moved well with the Hemi and seems to have tons of torque. The auto worked well in manual mode, with paddle shifts that responded almost immediately to driver inputs. Interior was very big and comfortable, and the back seats seemed useable. The push-button start was cool. Functional air scoops on the hood were cool too. Overall, I enjoyed the car, but it felt a touch sloppy in the corners and didn’t seem as fast as it should be.
Vehicle: 2013 Ford Mustang Premium V6 with Performance Package
Mileage: 8
Color: Grey
Engine: 3.7 Liter V6, 305 HP
Transmission: 6 Speed Manual
Interior: Black Leather
Price: $26,700
This car was new, marked down $2500 as a left over 2013. The performance packages includes larger stabilizer bars, tuned front springs, performance brakes, 3.31 gear ratio with LSD, performance stability control calibration, strut tower brace, 19” wheels with summer only tires, and misc cosmetic stuff. The interior was hard to see out of, but not as bad as the cave-like Camaro. The car sounded nice (for a V6). This Mustang was a rocket and a huge joy to drive. The transmission was fun to play with and the car was excellent in the corners. I really liked the standard HID headlights with LED accents and the LED taillights.
Vehicle: 2014 Ford Mustang V6 Base
Mileage: 90
Color: Black
Engine: 3.7 Liter V6, 305 HP
Transmission: 6 Speed Auto
Interior: Black Cloth
Price: $22,400
This car was new and the only option was the automatic transmission. This car was a world apart from the other V6 Mustang I drove. The biggest problem was the transmission. The SelectShift mode was worthless. The transmission was very slow to respond to shift requests and dropped into neutral during the test drive for no reason, leading to an awkward slam into second with no input from me. In full auto mode, the transmission shifted softly and always seemed a step behind. The interior was nice and the base radio was acceptable. The car was very sloppy in the corners and lazy off the line. I really hated this car….and that surprised me after my enjoyable drive in the Performance Pack V6.
Vehicle: 2013 Hyundai Coupe R-Spec
Mileage: 215
Color: Red
Engine: 2.0 I4 Turbo, 274 HP
Transmission: 6 Speed Manual
Interior: Red Leather
Price: $26,400
This car was new, but had 215 test drive miles on it, and was marked down $2000. The R-Spec package includes track-tuned suspension, 19” wheels with summer only tires, Brembo brakes, Torsen LSD, red leather seats, front camber adjustment bolt, and some R-Spec badges. The package deletes the cruise control and some interior chrome bits. I don’t really care for the looks of this car…and the two giant fake “scoops” on the hood are absolutely terrible. The interior was nice and, believe it or not, the red leather looked right at home. The clutch took some getting used to…it was very firm and the uptake was short and abrupt. The steering felt very artificial, but the brakes looked and performed excellent. This car was also a blast to drive..the turbo was fun to play with and the car was quick enough to have a good time. This coupe was lighter then all of the others, and you could tell. The base stereo was very strong and sounded great. I really liked this car, but the looks are a big turn off. It’s a shame, because the driving experience was smile-educing.

What are you looking at getting out of the car? If it were me and I had to choose between those 4 you have listed it would be the 13 mustang. You can probably talk them down some more since they have some 14s already

Sounds like fun. The Challenger is probably a bit misleading on how quick it feels, an auto R/T is capable of mid/low 13s. 36k is ridiculous, you should be able to find brand new loaded classics with all the bells and whistles for that price right now with discounts. Between the Mustangs I would DEFINITELY consider the 13 with track pack 10000 times over before the 14 base model automatic. The Track pack turns the V6 mustang into a pretty impressive car and a major bargain at that price. The Genesis is a fantastic car in it's own right, but have heard the power curve in the new turbo 4 is a little non-linear, thoughts? good luck whatever you decide, but I would not buy THAT Challenger, their pricing is insane.

The power curve on the Genisis is very sharp with the turbo lag...but that made it fun to wind out.

I agree with your thoughts on the performance pack Mustang...it's the leader for now.

Of those choices, I would choose the PP V6 Mustang.

If you're going to be spending $25-26K, you might as well get a 2010 SS.

BRZ? FRS?

I see toy in your OP, so no winter use up here?

Um..no thanks to the 4 year old Camaro at this point. I want something new or slightly used.

I'd only drive it on nice days and weekends. I have a 2012 Focus as a daily driver.

I did drive a BRZ....very fun car, but it's a bit small for me and needs more HP.

+1
No way I would that much for a v6 pony car when there clean low miles SS's out there.

No warranty, higher financing rates, unknown abuse and modifications, no power passenger seat, lazy TAPshift programming, terrible steering wheel and interior, too many first year problems...plus people think thier 2010 SS is still worth 30k.

You know except for the bolded I can't fault you for not wanting another camaro. I would go with the hyundai tbh

Out of those I'd go with the 2013 Mustang.

Yeah, after having the V8, it would be tough for me to have a V6 after that. If I was going to spend $27k for a hopped up V6, I would just get a base 5.0 for $30k.