Coke or Pepsi? Blondes or brunettes? East Coast or West Coast? Chevy Camaro or Ford Mustang?
Some rivalries will never end. In a ceaseless battle for pony car supremacy, Edmunds.com Inside Line has decided to take the 2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 outside to settle things once and for all, that is, until a new model comes around.
First, factory claims for the ZL1 are 580-hp at 6,000 rpm and 556 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,200 rpm from its 6.2 liter supercharged V8 engine. 0-to-60 mph comes in just 3.9 seconds, pulling relentlessly until a top speed of 184 mph. Meanwhile, the Shelby GT500 steps into the ring with a smaller displacement 5.8 liter supercharged V8. However, Shelby offers a greater punch, pound for pound. producing 662-hp and 631 lb.-ft. of torque, the GT500 rockets from 0-to-60 slightly quicker than the ZL1 at 3.7 seconds while its top speed figure blows the doors completely off of the Camaro at an excess of 200 mph, as Ford has proven to us yesterday at the Nardo circuit.
However, claims aren't enough for Edmunds and the crew brought it to themselves to take the pair of American icons up to the specialists at California's MD Automotive. The ZL1 and GT500 ran on the Dynojet chassis dyno under the supervision of the same operator on the same day. No doubt, Inside Line, and the rest of the world, is keen to discover the true performance figures of both vehicles.
Before the dyno tests, Inside Line already had a ballpark figure handy, predicting that the power difference should split the two by about 80-hp and 75 lb.-ft. of torque. However, the final printouts revealed something completely different.
As expected from the drivetrain's 15 percent parasitic loss, the Camaro charted 497-hp and 497 lb.-ft. of torque to the wheels. Similar drivetrain loss would theoretically register the GT500 at 570-hp at most. However, the GT500's printout revealed an incredible 595-hp to the wheels and an awesome 603 lb.-ft. of torque. GT500 would produce nearly 100 more horsepower.
In a category where raw power is more important than any other figure, the supercharged 2013 Shelby GT500 has got the 2013 Camaro ZL1 beat. But wherever your brand loyalty lies, one thing is for certain - both cars represent the most powerful factory model pony car each automaker has ever produced.
While Ford and Chevy will continue fighting over the title for king of the road, the true winners will be the enthusiasts!
Check out the dyno pulls below:
