2018 Mustang GT goes 0-60 as fast as a C5Z
 

Finally after 14 years Ford has got the Mustang GT to rival a new base model Corvette on the drag strip. It doesn't say what it weighs, but if about 3,800lbs like the 2017 model, it could potentially be faster than a base model Corvette and a C5Z if lightened up about 200lbs. For those of you who know me I have always been a Ford guy. I actually don't like Chevrolet other than the Corvette, but haven't owned a Mustang yet that can rival a C5Z going straight or around corners. Thus why I sold my 2014 GT last year and bought another C5Z. I'm excited about this new GT but sadly I prefer the front of the 15-17 model more. I wonder if there will be Ford Performance parts to get those models up closer to the new 460/420 power ratings? Anyway enjoy the article...

NEW MUSTANG GT CAN GO 0-TO-60 MPH IN LESS THAN FOUR SECONDS

2018 Mustang GT in Drag Strip mode can reach 60 mph in under four seconds – faster than a Porsche 911 and setting a new standard as the fastest Mustang GT ever
Redesigned 5.0-liter V8 with all-new available 10-speed SelectShift® automatic sees power increased to 460 horsepower and 420 lb.-ft. of torque
Drag Strip mode optimizes torque, transmission and newly available custom-designed Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tires to deliver maximum acceleration and performance in straight-line driving
DEARBORN, Mich., July 24, 2017 – Ford’s most advanced and powerful Mustang GT is also the fastest ever, achieving 0-to-60-mph in less than four seconds in Drag Strip mode.

The new Mustang is also faster than a $94,000 Porsche 911 Carrera, which Carl Widmann, Mustang chief engineer, attributes to five factors:

Improved horsepower and torque output of the redesigned 5.0-liter V8
Maximum acceleration of available Drag Strip mode
Quicker, smoother shifting of the available 10-speed SelectShift® transmission
Optimized traction courtesy of the available custom-designed Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tires on new Performance Pack
“Typically, when you shift gears, you give up time,” said Widmann. “In Drag Strip mode, the engine torque doesn’t drop when you’re shifting. You get peak engine torque and horsepower straight through thanks to our new Ford-built 10-speed transmission.”

The car’s 5.0-liter V8 now features dual-fuel, high-pressure direct injection and low-pressure port fuel injection technology for increased power and efficiency. The engine’s 460 horsepower and 420 lb.-ft. of torque represent improvements over the current model’s 435 horsepower and 400 lb.-ft. The result is an engine that delivers robust low-end torque, high-rpm power and improved fuel efficiency.



Drivers of EcoBoost®-equipped Mustang also will feel increased power on the strip. The retuned EcoBoost four-cylinder generates 310 horsepower and 350 lb.-ft. of torque – a 30 lb.-ft. gain over the current model. In Drag Strip mode with Performance Package and the 10-speed automatic, the 2018 EcoBoost-powered Mustang posts an impressive 0-to-60-mph time of under five seconds.

Drag Strip mode – one of five driver-selectable modes available for 2018 – has been designed to provide maximum acceleration and performance for straight-line driving. Drag Strip mode is primarily controlled by the transmission and delivers a significant acceleration boost, eliminating the lost time usually associated with automatic shifting.

The new 10-speed transmission, with a wide-ratio span and optimized gear spacing, helps deliver higher average power for acceleration – resulting in improved responsiveness and performance. The 10-speed architecture features Ford-patented power-flow and Ford-patented direct-acting hydraulic controls. It’s designed for optimum ratio progression and efficiency, and provides more accurate, quicker upshift and downshift capability.

In addition, an all-new electronic control system features real-time adaptive shift-scheduling algorithms engineered to help ensure the right gear is engaged at the right time, including skip-shift and direct downshift capability.

Compared to the outgoing six-speed, the new 10-speed automatic has quicker shift times and better low-speed tip-in response. It’s uniquely tuned for all five drive modes – normal, sport, track, Drag Strip and snow/wet. Steering wheel-mounted shift paddles allow drivers maximum manual control.

“Gearing matters, and in Drag Strip mode, this car launches better than ever off the line,” said Widmann.

Fans will be able to build and price their very own 2018 Mustang from July 25 by visiting www.ford.com/mustang/2018. New Mustang is due to reach showrooms this fall.

With 460 hp and a 10 speed auto tuned for drag racing it better be able to beat a 14 year old vette off the line. I would imagine a c5z could still pull on one at speed though, especially a c5z with just a cai/LT's and a tune. Cool car nonetheless, love what the big 3 are doing these days, they are putting out some truly incredible performance cars. :cheers:

Straight line means nothing...that's redneck racing. Which can go faster around a track/course? The Mustang is heavier and doesn't handle as well.

I say this as someone who owns both a Mustang and a Corvette and am a fan of both cars.

I think I would rather sell my car and walk everywhere than own a ten speed automatic.

Have you guys driven 7 speed auto's on the street? They're awful. Shift up shift down shift up shift down for absolutely no apparent reason. Maybe if you shifted it manually every gear it wouldn't be as annoying.

:iagree:
Stats dont mean anything really who is really out there pulling a G and drag racing on the street?
A good percentage of owners dont even drive them they just like arguing. :yesnod:

I have loads of fun with my car, but unlikely I'll ever take it to a dragstrip or more so the road course just south of here (crazy $).
More so, I don't worry about any car that can beat mine. Honda, electric, doesn't matter; "there's always a quicker car", don't care.

I've had three Mustangs, 86 GT, 97 Cobra, 14 GT. I had full suspension, aftermarket full exhaust, and SCT tune on my Cobra and my stock C5Z is still faster on a road course tires being equal. You really can't compare a SN95 Mustang like the 94 in your sig to a S197 or S550 Mustang. The power and torsional strength has come miles ahead from those days. These new S550s are great handlers with the right springs/shocks packages. They just need to go on a serious diet to perform like a Corvette. You would think Ford would figure that out some how by now.

The Mustang's target is Camaro, not Corvette. Ford has pretty much ceded the American sports car space to GM and Corvette (Yes the GT is definitely a competitor to the top of the line Corvettes, but it is priced way too high to be a serious competitor).

The stangs have been in the running against the Camaro (up until the new ZL-1 and especially the ZL 1 1 LE), but to take on the Corvette, they would have to drop the "Pony" car status, lose the back seat, and go on a serious diet.

Great to know that our C5Zs are still holding their own after 13 years against some very impressive pony cars. That is quite a statement for GM and the C5 platform. No wonder the C5Z is still considered the performance bargain for the past decades. Once the C6 Z06 prices drop another 8 grand, that could change.

Comparing the mustang to the corvette is like comparing the corvette to the new Ford GT. Mustang is made to go against Camaro. So of course the mustang is going to fall short to a 500lb less 2 seater "supercar" or a 800lb less C5Z. Even with its "older technology" it still has a displacement advantage, weight advantage, gearing advantage and lets face it GM really didn't change anything from then till now (minus adding CI and changing shape of ports which some say hurt more than help) until the introduction of the new LT1/LT4.

I wasn't making any comparison at all, just proving that I'm free of bias/loyalism towards Corvettes as a brand and that I can make an objective assessment.

You do have to give Ford credit for those engines though. That Coyote motor is still flat out amazing even 6 models years after it's introduction.

Someone mentioned Chevy's displacement advantage.......... and that's absolutely TRUE except that GM hasn't made as much of that advantage as you'd expect to see. No normally aspirated Chevy V8 comes even close to the power per cubic inch Ford get's out of it's 302.

The OP is little silly too. Does he really believe anyone compares the 2018 Mustang GT to a C5?

The buyer of a 15 year old used Corvette and the buyer of a new Mustang are pretty different buyers with wildly different ideas of what they are looking for in the car purchase.

Where do comparisons like this end?

Should we point to how a lot of sub compact cars today have all the power of an early 80s C4.........or how a Mustang with a 4 banger eco boost makes more power than most C4 and comes pretty darn close to with C5's......and at the drag strip pulley swaps and a flash of the computer in the little motor could easily make it a C5 killer at the drag strip?

Cars, imo.......are all different.........but even when comparisons do inevitably happen you really have to limit the discussion to cars from the same time of manufacture parameters.

Especially today......seems like things just change so very quickly now vs years past.

Apples can be compared to Oranges but I'm not sure it tells you anything meaningful

This is subjective, but some of the crowds looking at older C5s actually do consider the newer Mustangs as their price point isn't too far off (depending on the shape/mileage of the c5 in question). When I was looking for my C5Z I had a budget of around $20K. For 20K I could of bought numerous 2-4 year old Mustangs with more horsepower, more amenities, and newer technology than a 15 year old Corvette. I actually had this conversation with a guy at an Autocross event last year. He said he was in the same boat as me... Wanted a weekend car and that he valued the Mustang over an older C5. For me, I wanted a pure sports car. We spent the same amount on our cars, but I shredded him a new a$$hole on the autocross pad. I think it was by about 10 seconds on a 45 second course. This was on Hankook 320 treadwear tires.

But to him, those higher horsepower numbers on paper meant it was likely better in a straight line, which wasn't really the case. Wasn't faster on the track either. Even the guys who do suspension work on their Mustangs can't hang with my stock C5Z in CAM (classic american muscle). It really just depends on what they're looking for. A friend of mine had a Boss 302 when it came out. GREAT bang for the buck car that got rave reviews all over the magazines. Is it a vette? Hell no. But it's got a back seat. Lol.

Silly? Well I guess you are entitled to your own opinion but that's exactly what I was comparing. I sold my 2001 C5Z to buy a higher mile 2014 GT with aftermarket suspension mods and wheels. I missed the Z06 so I sold it 8 months later and bought my current 2003 C5Z. However IF the 2018 GT wasn't over $40k with the Performance Pkg I would consider it. Heck if the 15-17 GTs were about 300lbs lighter I would consider one of those with the Perf Pkg just because the interior is far superior to the C5Z and the style has grown on me. I'm just not going to a slower care because it needs a serious diet.

If I had Jay Lenno's money I'd take one of each. One of everything that is. The C5 Z is an amazing car for being from the 90's. Mine is a brute on twisty roads.

No the GT is not aimed at Corvette........Corvette is no-where even close to in the "same league" as the GT. Ford's halo car is not accessible.......and it's no corvette fighter. It's a world class take on ANYTHING at any price sports car. Chevrolet and GM don't compete in this category. I honestly don't get the GT as an idea or platform. Ford's Halo car makes them no money to speak of and will be so very rarely seen I don't really understand it as a halo car....... Corvette brings a RACY IMAGE,it's accessible and seen in parking lots and on the roads all across the country.....Corvette as halo car actually works as a halo in that it up-scales the Chevrolet brand. The Ford GT could certainly do that if only they could build and sell more than a handful........yet it won't and can't with it's extremely limited production and too high price tag.

Mustang is a Camaro alternative first and foremost........ but even now there is pretty big differences that favor either the Mustang or the Camaro all depending on what a buyer prioritizes in a car.

GM has, for many decades now, offered up Camaros that always seem to be a few steps ahead of Ford on handling. Mustang owners have often been able to call their car the easier to live with model and on balance the GT Mustang is often the better straight line performer out of the box........but it just seems like GM does that better job of giving the Camaro buyer a car that handles better.

Even now the Mustang forums are buzzing with the promise of a 1LE Camaro type package available soon........yet a quick look at the pieces promised shows it's going to come well short of it's target.

Long-time Mustang fan here. Had an '86 GT 'vert... then an '01 GT 'vert... then an '05 GT 'vert. Loved them all. Then bought a 427 Cobra (replica)... had that for 8 years. Fun car, but terribly impractical & uncomfortable. A year or so after I sold the Cobra, got the itch for another toy. Thought about another Mustang, but then decided Corvette because... why not? I'd never had one. I suppose I COULD have bought a C7, but decided I was not going to sink a ton of cash into another toy (have 3 other cars), so that pretty much eliminated a C7. Started looking in earnest at C5s & C6s. Fell in love with a '13 427 'vert, but was priced too near C7 territory. Also found a low-mileage Crystal Red '11 Grand Sport... but again couldn't bring myself to part with that much cash. I then narrowed it down to a C5Z or C6 base (same price point). I prefer the body on the C6, but like the uniqueness of the C5Z. After missing out on an '04 Z16, I stumbled onto an '04 C5Z with only 8600 miles. I'm a sucker for immaculate, low-mileage cars... and the seller & I hit it off great. A price was agreed upon, & 4 days later, it was in my garage. There are faster cars... and there are slower cars. The C5Z was fast-enough for me. When I had my Cobra, I always had guys chasing me down wanting to race. Nope... not happening... not on the street. I could care less how fast my car is relative to someone else's... I don't need that kind of validation... but to each his own. Be Happy!

C5Z will destroy it on a road course...13yrs old and all

Only starting with fifth-gen Camaros (2010), and ending in 2015 (when the latest Mustangs came out). Before 2010 Camaros were all live axle. And the Mustang Cobras since 1999 had independent rear suspension which Camaros did not.

The latest 2015+ Mustangs handle very well, especially with independent rear suspension and all. Regardless, Camaros were never really known for their handling compared to other cars (especially non-American cars). Also, both Camaros and Mustangs are still very overweight cars, like many modern cars.

The majority of people out there who'd buy a NEW 2018 Mustang GT wouldn't consider a Corvette DEEP into it's need for replacement parts and just about a full decade out of warranty.

You may not see much difference and find reason to consider one car vs the other for pure performance reasons.........but no way can you convince me that the over-whelming majority of people would actually consider a new car an actual comparison for purchase against a car just about 15 years old.

It's an apples to oranges comparison for most buyers.:crazy2:

Very few people would call this a comparison for purchase they'd make.

More likely the older Corvette is a purchase made by the buyer who wants only a Corvette and isn't even going to consider a Mustang......chances are really good that he or she can't actually afford a newer Corvette........and they are willing to take on the potential for repairs and problems in an older car.

The New Mustang is likely going to be considered by someone who can't justify a New Corvette for it's price tag attached or it's lack of a back seat. New cars simply cost more........a lot more when you consider everything from massive depreciation to taxes and registration and insurance costs........but they make better reliable, fully warrantied daily drivers.....especially for the person who can't or doesn't want the head-aches that comes with a 15 year old car's need for upkeep and replacement of worn, tired pieces.

A 15 year old Z06 might be a great 3rd car in the garage for sunny day driving............but the new Mustang is without doubt the better choice as driver to get you to work and around town when you can't really handle the aggravations of reliability and repair issues,

There is enough difference here that if you can actually see two cars that match up well for comparison........... I think you're in a seriously small group of potential buyers of eithr car