You’re forgiven if you feel you may have seen this movie before, because you probably have. Like Hamlet, or Macbeth, its core is a classic confrontation that never seems to get old, thanks to the arrival of new players and fresh productions, as one generation succeeds another.

You may be thinking, “New? Don’t see no new here.” With little more than a year in Chevy showrooms, the Camaros roll into summer unchanged. And it takes the experienced eye of a longtime Mustang cognoscente to see the updates for these 2011 models. The dashboard surface is revised, softened to make impacts with one’s head a little less unpleasant. There are also suspension tweaks aplenty, but the real giveaway is a 5.0 badge on the flanks of GT models.

View Photos JOHN ROE

That badge panders to hallowed memories of the Mustang’s revered old Windsor V-8 (1979–’95), which, as any member of the Mustang club will admit, fell 58 cc short of 5.0 liters. Ford’s 4.6-liter V-8s never seemed to eclipse memories of the not-quite-5.0, but it may be a different story with this barely 5.0 (4951 cc) successor. All aluminum, double overhead cams, 32 valves, variable valve timing on all four cams, a high compression ratio (11.0:1), four-bolt mains—the new V-8 shares bore centers but little else with the 4.6.

Ford stopped short of direct injection, saving about $200 per engine, but output is potent nevertheless: 412 horsepower at 6500 rpm, 390 pound-feet of torque at 4250—burlier by 97 horses and 65 pound-feet. There’s also a new V-6 for the base Mustang, a more vigorous version of the 3.7-liter aluminum engine found in the Lincoln MKS and MKT: 305 horses and 280 pound-feet of torque.

With Mustang’s power now comparable to Camaro’s across the board, these two longtime rivals needed another face-off. We rounded up our four-horse field in Los Angeles and drove to Buttonwillow Raceway Park, near Bakersfield. Some of the results were predictable. But there were surprises, too.



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Buyers strap themselves into V-6 pony cars because they like the look but don’t require V-8 muscle. Or, more accurately, they don’t need that power enough to fork over the additional seven or eight grand for two more cylinders.

In the past, this has meant a pony car severely deficient in giddyup, something particularly true of the base Mustang’s old boat anchor, the 4.0-liter V-6.

But these are no longer children of a lesser god. The V-6 Camaro and Mustang both come to the starting gate with more than 300 horsepower, as well as distinctly better fuel economy than their quicker stablemates.

So being thrifty no longer means having to give up fun to drive. But just how much of the FTD factor is retained? That’s what we set out to determine.

JOHN ROE

What you get here is the bad-ass, hunkered-down, assault-vehicle looks without the bad. The engine—a 3.6-liter, DOHC 24-valve aluminum V-6—is willing enough, but it’s tethered to a lot of Camaro: 3800 pounds. Mass plus big gear spacing plus the tallest rear end in the group equals relatively sluggish performance: distinctly slower than the Mustang in the sprints.

Handling responses were equally indifferent. Softer spring rates and slow steering made the mountain-road pursuits too much like work. To its credit, the RS was quiet, smooth, stable, and thoroughly predictable. It was quicker in the lane change than both Mustangs—go figure—and its braking performance was slightly better than the Brembo-equipped SS. But no test driver wrote the word “fun” in the Chevy’s logbook.

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Inside, the RS sports the same mix of engagingly offbeat design, supportive seats, and one or two trim touches that don’t quite work: the big hard plastic trim panels in the door panels, for example. And, of course, there’s that high beltline and low roof that some find too confining.

But if cruising in sinister comfort appeals to you, here’s a good place to do it.

We mentioned surprises, and this was the big one. Not so much because of the straight-ahead performance—305 horsepower in a 3520-pound car, the lightest in the group, produced about what we expected: 0-to-60 in 5.4 seconds, the quarter-mile in 14 flat at 104 mph.

The surprise was what this Mustang could do on mountain roads. Where the GT was nimble, the V-6 was eager, with a lighter touch and better balance. Our test car was a Premium version, equipped with 19-inch alloy wheels and those summer Pirellis, which helped it put up the best skidpad performance of the foursome: 0.95 g. We’re not entirely sure that you’ll be able to order this wheel-and-tire combo with either the Premium or American Mustang Club packages. But we’re sure that this car was the dancing champ on the high roads of the Los Padres National Forest, one of the most involving production Mustangs in our experience.

View Photos JOHN ROE

This makes the car’s lane-change behavior equally surprising—astonishing, in fact. For all its agility in decreasing-radius turns, switchbacks, and fast sweepers, the V-6 Mustang was almost unmanageable in this exercise, scattering cones galore. Further study indicated here.

Our V-6 test car was loaded with optional features—leather, Sync, audio upgrade, power driver’s seat—making it almost as expensive as the GT and a more pleasant place to be.

There were several minor kvetches in the logbook. As in last year’s comparo, the V-6 Mustang’s capless fuel filler leaked in hard cornering. Ford’s idea of a power seat still doesn’t include power adjustability for the seatback, and the development still doesn’t include a telescoping steering column. The black-tape accent on the sides had an aftermarket look to it, and the latticework grille doesn’t have the cachet of the classic floating pony that distinguishes the GT. We’re also curious as to why a car with Z-rated tires is limited to a top speed of 113 mph.

View Photos JOHN ROE

But these are minor flaws in a mostly brilliant product. With its lower base price, its excellent road manners, robust power, and its outstanding EPA fuel-economy ratings—19/29 manual, 19/31 automatic (our barnstorming average was 18, best in test)—the V-6 Mustang can satisfy just about anyone.

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