We Ask: Are Today's Top American Muscle Cars Better Than Germany's Luxury Sports Cars?
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Try not to get too emotional.
Most
people would put American muscle cars and Germany’s luxury sports cars
into two separate classes. Muscle cars are known for being cheap and
featuring big V8s whereas Germany’s luxury sports cars are pricey and
put handling over straight-line speed (though they were still plenty
quick). But nowadays it seems like the two sets of cars are equal in all
areas except price. Or are they? To find the answer we’ve turned to our
own Gabriel Beita-Kiser (pro Germany) and Michael Hines (U-S-A, U-S-A)
for help.
If
you’re in the market for speed, why buy something fancy when it can go
as fast as a car that costs half as much? This is a tough issue to flesh
out when it comes down to raw performance numbers, but sit behind the
wheel of a German sports car and an American muscle car and the
differences in price become as clear as day.
Just look at the Viper SRT and the Audi R8 V10. Okay so the Audi costs
$105,000 more than the Dodge, but you're also getting a whole lot more
car. If you need something to adorn your McMansion, go with the Viper,
but if you actually want to drive, take the R8. Even though it weighs
360 pounds more than the Viper and has only 30 less horsepower, it
accelerates faster.
From
standstill, 60 mph comes 0.7 seconds quicker than in the Viper. And in
the R8 you can manhandle corners. The Dodge requires a life insurance
policy to even turn the wheel. These characteristics make speed more
accessible and puts German sports cars in another league. Thank me later
when you’re enjoying the scalpel-like precision of a Porsche 911 GTS
and not spending time complaining about how the ZL1 Camaro sucks to
drive around town. Speaking of the two, what does a $33,950 difference
between the two cars get? The Porsche has 210 horsepower less than the
Camaro, but it hits 60 mph from standstill 0.2 seconds quicker. The
Porsche will also turn more heads, handle gloriously, and come with
every electronic toy in the book.
This
serves to make city driving pleasurable while also letting you crush all
comers at the track. The truth is that, despite being fast, the selling
points of most muscle cars are just cheap and gimmicky add-ons. Chevy
makes a big deal about the aerodynamic "Flowtie" on the ZL1, but you
could buy a Mercedes AMG GT with a real active wing and stop playing.
Cheap American muscle tries to make up for the gap in quality with brute
force, but it just feels wrong when even the carbon fiber looks like a
pasted on afterthought. There's no problem with cutting costs and
maintaining power to meet a budget, but for those with the cash, splurge and live without regret.
The
automotive community is one of the most prejudiced groups of people on
the planet. Gearheads routinely judge cars based on badges alone. Yes,
automakers have established certain reputations over time, as have
certain models. Seismic shifts in the industry happen all the time, yet
people are slow to acknowledge them, if they do at all. One of these
shifts is the closing of the gap between America’s best muscle cars and
Germany’s luxury sport cars. In a recent episode of Motor Trend’s “Head 2
Head,” hosts Jason Cammisa and Jonny Lieberman both picked the new
Camaro SS over the BMW M4. The Camaro’s 6.2-liter V8 is bigger and more
powerful than the M4’s 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six at 455 hp and
455 lb-ft of torque vs. 425 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque.
The
BMW weighs 184 pounds less, though. Both are beauties, and there’s only
one major difference between them. As tested the M4 was $81,045 while
the Camaro SS was $46,095. That’s $35,000 for a badge and bragging
rights. Speaking of bragging rights, the Dodge Viper ACR, equipped with
the optional Extreme Aero Package, ran a faster lap
at Laguna Seca than the Porsche 918 Spyder. Price difference: around $1
million bucks. It’s very American to say “bigger is better.” But what
about things that you can’t measure in numbers, like quality? That gap
has closed too. The Corvette was best in its class (midsize premium sporty car) in J.D. Power and Associates 2015 Performance and Design Ratings & Awards.
It
beat out the Porsche 911 and the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class. With the
exception of the Challenger, today’s American muscle cars are leaner and
more athletic than ever before. They're just better all around. Even
the Germans have taken notice. There was that Corvette police car and that funny sales month in Germany (March 2016) when the Mustang beat out both the
Audi TT and Porsche 911 (and Cayman/Boxster) to be the country’s top
sports car. True, America still has a long way to go before its muscle
cars will be as highly regarded as Germany’s sports cars. But the gap
has shrunk drastically and in certain situations you could argue that it
doesn’t exist at all…or that it’s flipped entirely.