Car buying probably scares the enthusiast less than the average customer. We generally know what we want, we know what we’d like to pay, we know the specs and we even know what options to jettison and which ones to keep. I didn’t even sit in my new car until after I signed the papers. The only thing that makes us second-guess ourselves is that when a new model comes out, it promises to be faster, stickier and quieter than the one we just bought. It's also more expensive.

Case in point: the 2015 Ford Mustang GT.

See, I just bought a 2014 Mustang GT in March, on purpose. In my opinion, it’s the best bang for your enthusiast buck in the 30-40K range, or at least, it was until the more powerful, more refined, more IRS’d model was announced. That actually played into my purchase decision as I was thinking that I could get a better deal once the new cars were announced, which I did.

So, we happened to have a new 'Stang in for our annual “Best of the Best” testing, and I had the last model in my garage. We did what any self-respecting car enthusiast would do: took an entire day off to thrash the cars back to back, and to see if I should take my new car back to dealership or turn a few more laps.

We’ll start with the numbers, before getting into the more nebulous “feel” of the two cars.

Margaret, my 2014 Mustang GT, has 420 hp and 390 lb-ft of torque. It weighs 3,618 pounds, giving it a power to weight ratio of 8.61. I ordered the Recaro manual seats and GT Track Package, which includes the 19-inch wheels with summer tires, the Torsen limited-slip differential and the 3.73 rear axle ratio. Our test subject, the 2015 GT, makes 435 hp and 400 lb-ft. It weighs 3,705 pounds for a power to weight ratio of 8.51. Technically, the 2015 should feel faster. Complicating things, our test Mustang didn’t have the GT Performance Pack, which replaces the Track Pack for 2015, so no summer tires or good rear axle ratio. The comparo isn’t really apples to apples, so take that for what it’s worth.

We started by marking out a quarter mile with our Racelogic VBox on a flat, lengthy surface off-track at Michigan International Speedway. Once the 1,320 feet were marked with water-based paint, we took a few practice runs to get a feel for launching the new Mustang, and a couple more in my already-tracked 6-month-old coupe.

We did five runs, me in my Mustang and intern/quarter-mile expert Brad Wiley in the 2015. The new Mustang is good -- on a non-prepped surface -- for a quarter-time of 13 seconds flat @ 111.6 mph. My 2014 model could only muster 13.1 @ 110.7 mph. It was a win for the new model and a big one, considering the lack of stickier rubber and the 3.73 rear.

Moving from tire smoke to turn in, we jumped next to the slalom course. There the new Mustang again bested my six-month-old model. Its fastest time over the course was 7.06 seconds where the 2014 was two hundredths slower at 7.08. Not the result I was hoping for.

Lastly, we moved on to what I consider the truest, best test of a car: the road course. MIS has a 2-mile, eight-turn track that uses about a mile of the banked oval from turn three to turn one. It actually just went back into service last year for an SCCA race after sitting dormant since 1984.

Finally, a win for Margaret: It finished the course with a best time of 1 minute, 25.71 seconds. The sixth-gen Mustang was more than a half-second slower at 1 minute, 26.44 seconds. Margaret would have gained even more time if it weren’t for the brakes, which were showing their (mile)age after a handful of summer track days. On the oval I pushed the new model to about 155, where my car could only hit 145 while still making the first turn.

Those results were so close they could probably be attributed to the driver. If Brad and I switched in the drag race, or the slalom, the times could be reversed. And even though I drove both cars on the road course, I’m way more used to Margie than the new 'Stang. That includes pedal and gearbox feel, steering weight and braking.

After driving both, on and off the race course, I can say a few concrete things. The new Mustang is way more refined than the outgoing model. It’s quieter inside, which could be good or bad. It’s much smoother over the average road imperfections and the interior quality is far ahead of the last gen. However, that refined ride does lead to a little more body roll than the 2014, but the bouncy, solid-axle rear-end feel is long gone.

The new model also had the fancy MyFordTouch system with navigation, which makes day-to-day living with the car a much more agreeable proposition, as long as you’re good with a sometimes-finicky touchscreen.

The new Mustang lost points for the gearbox, which doesn’t feel as robust as the 2014’s. Also, from the 1-2 gate to the 5-6 gate, my shifter only travels about 2 inches, the new car feels as if it’s double that. The base steering ratio on the 2014 is just a tad quicker, too, and the summer tires only accentuated that feel.

Despite all that, and the road course lap times, we’d say the new Mustang GT is 20 percent better than the current model overall. But, before you go running to your local Ford dealership to plop down about 37K, including the GT Performance Package and Recaro seats, remember, the last model year of a generation is usually the best, and prices drop low when a new model is on its way. I paid about $8,000 under sticker price for my car with those options, putting it into the high 20K range, before taxes.

Is the 2015 Mustang better than the 2014? Demonstrably, yes. Is it eight grand better? I’d say no. And I think Margaret agrees.

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