Chevrolet Camaro v Ford Mustang 2018 Comparison

Red versus blue.

Holden versus Ford.

A tribal, time-honoured war, that’s been waged on Australian roads, tracks and dealer forecourts since well before Holden launched its first homegrown car, the 48-215 ‘FX’, in 1948.

The GM v Ford battle ramped up a notch when Ford Australia released its first Falcon in 1960, and hit top gear when Holden’s first Commodore arrived in 1978.

Now, after 40 years of Commodore versus Falcon rivalry, both Aussie automotive icons are dead. And for those of us bred on a diet of rear-drive and at least six cylinders, the clash between imported, front-drive four-cylinder Holden Commodores and Ford Mondeos doesn’t quite have the same attraction.

But a new rear-drive V8 grudge match has emerged between General Motors and Ford, and it’s as red-hot as ever.

This time it’s Chevrolet Camaro versus Ford Mustang battling Down Under. North America’s two most iconic muscle-cars, and arch-rivals in the US since the original (1964) Mustang was joined by the first Camaro in 1966, have moved their battle southwards.

The world’s two most popular pony cars may have arrived Down Under in disparate ways, times and price ranges, but these all-American coupes reignite a familiar V8 performance car contest between Henry and The General.

The 2018 Chevrolet Camaro comes to us from Holden Special Vehicles (HSV), which no longer hots up Commodores but instead converts American iron – including the Chevrolet Silverado pick-up — to right-hand drive.

Officially available via HSV/Holden dealers around Australia for the first time, the Chevrolet Camaro is offered here in a single automatic MY18 2SS Coupe spec, based on the sixth-generation model launched in the US in 2016 – not this year’s facelifted MY19 version.

HSV says 80 per cent of the 550 examples it will convert to RHD at its expansive new high-tech facility in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton until well into next year are already spoken for. So act soon, if you’re keen.

It uses the term ‘remanufactured’ to distinguish its Camaro from others offered by local converters with low-volume compliance, and to the highlight the fact it scores 357 new parts in a development program that has topped $10m.

But like Chevrolet’s all-new MY19 Silverado HD ute, HSV is yet to confirm when or even if it will make the upgraded MY19 Camaro available here, although the range-topping Camaro ZL1 is a likely local starter here eventually.

The facelifted US-market 2019 Camaro wears controversial new front-end styling which some say is the reason Camaro sales have slowed in the US, where it’s being thrashed in showrooms by the Mustang. It also gets more power, the same 10-speed automatic transmission as the Ford and a bunch of new safety and tech features.

Arguably then, the Chevrolet Camaro by HSV is already superseded. To make matters worse, the cost of local RHD conversion pushes its price to a sky-high (relatively) $85,990 plus on-road costs. That’s $23,000 more than the V8 Mustang GT.

The 2018 Chevrolet Camaro’s three-year/100,000km warranty doesn’t match the Mustang’s either. Like all new Fords (and Holdens), the Mustang includes five years of coverage.

However, spec for spec, the auto-only Camaro narrows the price gap to the equivalent Mustang GT Fastback auto tested here, which costs $66,259 plus ORCs – $19,731 less.

Clearly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, that hasn’t deterred a good number of GM, Holden, HSV and/or Chevy loving Aussies who’ve been disenfranchised by the end of V8 Commodore production and would never buy a Mustang.

After all, they’ve waited 42 years and six generations (one based on the same Australian-developed Zeta platform that underpinned the VE/VF Commodore) for the Camaro to become available through official GM channels here.

The 2018 Chevrolet Camaro comes here with a newer and more advanced version of GM’s small-block pushrod alloy V8 than any Holden or HSV.

Under the HCV Camaro’s bonnet, the 6.2-litre Gen V LT1 uses direct-injection and variable valve timing to knock out 339kW of power and 617Nm of torque.

On the safety front, the 2018 Chevrolet Camaro doesn’t come with an ANCAP crash rating, but HSV has obtained full-volume compliance in a process that included crash-testing four Camaros to comply with Australian Design Rules.

HSV announced full specs in September and the MY18 Camaro’s standard safety kit includes rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot monitoring, reversing camera and seven airbags.

The only option is metallic paint, at $850.

There’s no autonomous emergency braking (AEB) or lane-keeping assist tech. Nor is there satellite-navigation or a head-up display (both of which HSV initially listed as included), although there is Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity so you can access nav on your smartphone legally.

Other standard Camaro features include HID headlights, leather trim, dual-zone climate control, nine-speaker BOSE audio, 24 interior lighting colours, wireless phone charging, a 7.0-inch touch-screen and a powered sunroof.

There are also four drive modes – Tour, Sport, Track, Snow/Ice – that alter the stability control, electric steering, auto transmission, throttle and exhaust performance.

Staggered 20-inch alloys wear Goodyear Eagle run-flat tyres measuring 245/40 ZR20 up front and 275/85 ZR20 at rear.

Service intervals are 12,000km or nine months and HSV doesn’t offer capped-priced servicing. That’s unlikely to concern many Camaro owners; nor is the official fuel consumption figure of 11.5L/100km, aided by Active Fuel Management, which idles four cylinders on a light throttle.

Released in 2015 and built in LHD and RHD ex-factory, Ford’s first global Mustang is well documented.

It was upgraded this year with more power, a 10-speed auto and more safety gear, including AEB, which helped it to a (still arguably below-par) three-star ANCAP rating – one more than before.

The 2018 Ford Mustang is distinguished by a new-look front-end with LED headlights and a big prancing pony emblem, plus LED tail-lights, a new rear bumper and quad-tip exhaust outlets.

Inside, there’s a huge new tri-mode 12.4-inch digital instrument screen, but the big news the GT’s new, more powerful 5.0-litre 32-valve DOHC Coyote V8.

Now outputting 339kW of power at 7000rpm (up 33kW and matching the Camaro) and 556Nm of torque at 4600rpm (up 26Nm but 61Nm short of the Camaro), it scores port and direct fuel-injection, a four-mode active exhaust system and grows from 4951 to 5038cc (more than a litre shy of the Camaro’s 6162cc).

It’s slightly more efficient than before, officially consuming 12.7L/100km – 1.2L/100km more than the Camaro. Both cars run on 91 RON unleaded and have capless fuel fillers.

But the figures we recorded on this comparo were the other way round – 14.0L/100km for the Mustang and 14.5L/100km for the Camaro.

The 2018 Ford Mustang GT’s service intervals are longer than the Camaro at 12 months or 15,000km.

Servicing will cost you a total of $2385 for the initial five-year warranty period, which also includes map updates, free loan cars and roadside assist.

According to Redbook.com.au, a three-year-old Mustang GT retains 78 per cent of its new price when sold privately, or 70 per cent when traded in.

Thanks to its higher level of exclusivity, the Camaro’s resale value could be higher than that. It will need to be if you want to recoup the circa-$20K purchase price premium over the equivalent Mustang.

With almost 21,500 new-generation sold here since 2015 (including an annual high of 9165 last year), Ford Mustang has been Australia’s top-selling sports car for the past three years.

Sales are down 31.5 per cent this year, but Ford attributes that to the changeover to the MY18 model.

It’s clear that affordable rear-drive V8 lovers are flocking in their droves to the Mustang, which is now nearly as commonplace on our roads as Falcon XR8s and Commodore SSs. Indeed, there was a Mustang in every town we passed through on our two-day comparison drive…

For the record, Australia’s Mustang GT comes with a host of standard equipment from North America’s Premium model and the same market’s optional Performance package.

At the top of this list are staggered 19x9.0-inch front and 19x9.5-inch rear Ebony Black painted alloys with 255/40 R19 and 275/40 R19 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres (four-cylinder Mustang EcoBoost models stick with Pirelli P Zeros, which are less grippy when worn). These are one-inch smaller in diameter than the Camaro’s but wider at the front.

Neither car comes with a spare wheel.

The US-market Mustang GT Performance pack also gifts us Brembo six-piston front brake callipers with bigger rotors, heavy-duty front springs and strut tower K-Brace, larger rear anti-roll bar, larger radiator, Torsen diff with 3.55 ratio (shorter 3.73 for the manual) and unique chassis, stability control, antilock braking and power steering tuning.

Also standard for Australia’s Mustang is North America’s optional ‘Ford Safe & Smart Package’ comprising Pre-Collision Assist with pedestrian detection (AEB), Lane keeping assist + Lane keeping aid, Blind Spot Information System, Adaptive Cruise Control, auto high-beam and rain-sensing wipers.

We also get part of the US ‘Premium Plus Package’, which standardises a 12.4-inch digital instrument cluster, heated steering wheel, hand-stitched centre console and soft-touch knee bolster.

Local MY18 Ford Mustang GT Fastback standard features also include a four-mode active exhaust, selectable drive modes (Normal, Sport, Racetrack, Dragstrip, Winter/Snow), 8.0-inch SYNC3 touch-screen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth, 12-speaker audio, digital radio, embedded sat-nav and a reversing camera.

Our 2018 Ford Mustang GT Fastback auto was fitted with optional Recaro six-way power-adjustable front seats ($3000), MagneRide magnetorheological adaptive dampers (+$2750 from the Mustang GT350), forged alloys ($2500), single-wing rear spoiler ($750) and over-the-top stripes ($650).

While the GT manual is priced from $62,990 plus ORCs, add $3000 for the auto and $9650 for all the abovementioned and the as-tested price here is $75,640 plus ORCs -- just over $10K less than the Camaro.

As we discovered during our first drive, the conversion quality of the ‘HSV Camaro’ is first-class.

There’s almost no evidence of HSV’s handiwork -- no crook gaps between interior trims and attention to detail is obvious everywhere (like the small Camaro badge that covers the seat memory switch that was on the left-hand door, and a numbered HSV build plate on the radiator shroud under the bonnet).

The only real problem is the stock centre armrest, which forces drivers to rest their elbow in the cup-holders. But apart from the ugly wing mirror cowls, which make wind noise but were necessary to project the right angles because they weren’t flipped, you’d be hard pressed to pick this as an aftermarket RHD job.

In fact, the Mustang looks more like a conversion inside since its audio volume knob and manual handbrake (the Camaro has an electric item with central button) are on the wrong side of the centre console. However, unlike the Camaro, which presented a nasty intermittent squeak from behind the steering wheel cowl, The Mustang’s indicators are on the right (correct) side.

While neither 2+2 cabin is what you’d call classy, the Mustang’s soft-touch dashboard is a level above the Camaro’s hard plastic dash, glovebox and door armrests. And although both coupes are super dark inside and offer strictly limited rear vision, you sit lower in the Camaro’s more comfortable driver’s seat, which is fully electric, heated and ventilated.

You sit even lower in both back seats, which are kids-only zones and extremely claustrophobic. The Mustang wins the somewhat academic cargo war with a relatively massive 408-litre boot that’s capable of swallowing two golf bags (versus 260 litres for the Chevy), says Ford. But good luck squeezing them through the load opening, which looks as narrow as the Camaro’s.

Neither car offers many storage options up front. Both have paddle shifters on their reach/rake-adjustable steering wheels and plenty of front leg and head room – despite the Camaro’s standard sunroof.

Both central touch-screens look modern and work well, but the Mustang’s is bigger and its foot-long digital instrument cluster is super-fancy, even if Camaro offers a g-meter, lap timer and engine, transmission and tyre temp read-outs.

The dual-zone climate control systems coped equally well on a hot Victorian late spring day, but the Camaro’s centre vents are too low although the temperature is controlled by neat rotary rings.

Forget US muscle-cars of old, because both these coupes are proper sports cars that steer as well as they look and sound -- even if neither of them are featherweights.

But despite employing same basic chassis configurations (both cars run MacPherson struts up front, multi-link rear-ends, twin-tube dampers, limited-slip diffs and electric power steering), the difference between the ride/handling set-up of these arch-rivals is sizeable.

The Camaro is lighter (1710kg, versus 1784kg for the Mustang) but the Mustang has superior six-pot (versus four-pot) Brembo brakes up front and, as tested here, optional variable damping. So despite its extra mass, the Mustang brakes harder and always feels lighter on its feet, thanks also to more precise steering (that requires less effort in all modes) and a broader range of suspension capability.

In comparison, the Camaro’s steering always feels heavier (even in lightest Tour mode) and never feels quite as communicative as the Mustang’s, which is nicely weighted around centre and full of feel everywhere.

Indeed, the harder you press, the more the Ford Mustang rewards, while the Chevrolet Camaro’s steering tiller remains a bit lifeless and reluctant to work with you. The Chev also also presents a whiff of rack rattle on harsh mid-corner bumps.

The old-school chassis theme continue with the Camaro’s suspension, which is also much stiffer than the Mustang. The Ford never keels over in corners, but the Chev stays almost flat no matter how hard you peddle it.

While both cars present rear bump-steer when pushed hard, the Mustang is more compliant, never feels as unwieldy in bumpy bends and generates more grip and therefore more corner speed.

The icing on the cake is that the Ford Mustang’s superior dynamics don’t come at the expense of ride quality, which goes from supple and serene in Normal mode to firm and furious in Racetrack. This alone gives the Mustang a much broader breadth of ability.

In contrast to the flimsy Mustang convertible, both coupe bodies feel rock-solid and both V8s deliver enough urge to make power oversteer there for the taking in lower gears.

But while the Coyote V8 sounds glorious as it spins more freely and responsively to its 7000rpm redline, the LT1 is more subdued at low to middling revs where it does its best work.

Don’t get me wrong: aided by its slick-shifting 10-speed auto, which is busy but always in the right gear and shifts so quickly it feels more like a dual-clutch than a torque converter auto, the Mustang serves up enough power no matter what the road or engine speed. But the bigger-displacement Camaro V8’s trump card is its mid-range torque, which combines with firmer springs to test grip levels more readily, making it more a case of slow in, fast out.

The Chevrolet’s hairy-chested bellow is mellower, it may feel a little softer off idle and its eight-speed auto is slower to shift (often reluctant to change down – even in Track mode) but when its bi-modal exhaust flaps open, this big-bore two-valve pushrod bent eight is a fabulous thing to be behind.

Undoubtedly, Chevy’s latest small-block V8 is even better than the LS3, and the best part about the Camaro. Shame about the flimsy, plastic gearbox paddles.

Straight-line acceleration is what American pony cars have always been about and neither of these cars disappoint even if it’s their handling prowess that really steps up in this generation.

On paper, with the aid of launch control, the Camaro should hit 100km/h in less than 5sec and complete the quarter-mile (400m) in less than 13sec.

That’s about the same sort of pace produced by the last of the more powerful supercharged HSV LSA sedans, because the Camaro is 150kg lighter.

But while the Camaro did dip into the high 12s over 400m (beating the Mustang by just over a couple of tenths) and was also a tenth quicker to 100km/h in just under 6sec, it was nowhere near as quick or fast as previous HSV LSAs we’ve tested.

Chevrolet Camaro
0-100km/h: 5.984sec
0-400m: 12.983sec @ 179.531km/h

Ford Mustang
0-100km/h: 6.061sec
0-400m: 13.221sec @ 178.651km/h

Maybe that was due to the slick Heathcote dragstrip or the circa-30-degree temperature we tested it in, but on that day in those conditions it’s as fast as either car would go – regardless of drive mode, track position or how much (or little) we loaded up their throttles.

What our dragstrip testing proves is two things: both cars are genuinely quick V8 sports coupes; and the Chevrolet Camaro by HSV is the quickest.

Not only is the Camaro quicker thanks to more midrange and peak torque (enough to smoke its tyres even mid-strip), it also has far more exclusivity…

And, in my opinion, even more road presence than the Mustang.

The Mustang on the other hand is better value, higher-tech, more comfortable, more dynamic, more efficient, better sounding and comes with superior aftersales support. It is the more sensible daily driver and ownership proposition.

But since when was a V8 coupe a sensible purchase?

Regardless of your allegiance, what matters most to buyers in this market is how a car makes you feel.

And that makes the Camaro our new accessible rear-drive V8 muscle-car choice.

How much does the 2018 Ford Mustang GT Fastback cost?
Price: $75,640 (plus on-road costs, as tested)
Engine: 5.0-litre petrol V8
Output: 339kW/556Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel: 14.0L/100km (as tested)
Safety rating: Three-star (ANCAP 2017)

How much does the 2018 Chevrolet Camaro 2SS cost?
Price: $85,990 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 6.2-litre petrol V8
Output: 339kW/617Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel: 14.5L/100km (as tested)
Safety rating: N/A