I have to say, the longer this thread goes on, the more it resembles the much-complained-about "V6-hater" threads. Anti-Ford sentiments are not exactly uncommon here anyway, but considering some V8-ers' holier-than-thou-no-matter-what-logic-you-bring-to-the-table reaction in those threads, I can't help but be amused at the reversal - now it's the eight cylinder drivers crying foul.
I may be new to participating on this forum, but I'm not new to reading it, and as such I have to say that the "don't play up the Mustang's performance until we see production ones on the road" argument rings a bit hollow to me. I own and love a 2010 Camaro, but I don't recall much (
if any!) reluctance from members here to wet themselves reading preliminary road tests of the Camaro a little over a year ago, and to take those numbers as Holy Writ. It turns out those numbers were more or less correct, which was great for us, but brand-loyalty aside, who can definitively say Ford's current numbers for the 2011 Mustang are
not as accurate?
True, curb weight and horsepower are not everything when it comes to performance, but having less of the former while maintaining roughly the same of the latter is definitely a good starting point - something enough of us have used as a convincing argument when comparing the Camaro SS to the equally-powerful but heavier Challenger SRT-8! Ditto the price issue - we argued that the Camaro had better performance for less money than the Challenger and more performance for just a bit more money than the Mustang GT, but now some want to say that argument is invalid once a competitor has a lower price and more performance? Not buying it.
To borrow from some of the more patronizing posts about V6 owners, anyone who's really that bent out of shape about the potential of the Mustang usurping the Camaro's crown may not be very secure about their cars to begin with! Why not just enjoy your car? For the next few years at least, 9 out of 10 Mustangs will still be older ones anyway which 2010/2011 Camaro owners will have bragging rights over. If a member has to be a troll for making logical points which don't presuppose that Chevy and the Camaro must always rule and that Ford and the Mustang must always suck by comparison, then I guess I'm a troll, too.
And yes, I think Chevy will respond to this. I don't know (or care) which avenue that response will take, be it a smaller car, a bigger V8 or a turbo-V6, but I still believe we'll see a response in the next couple years. After which Ford will make its own next response, then Chevy again, and so on...