+100000




The new Mustang is very nice. For the money - I'd take it over the M3

IMO the E46 > E90 though...

 

Great car for the money but it still has tween appeal, which is something I can't live with. It could have 10,000 hp, but the brand is still the brand, and who are we kidding, that matters.

 

Good job, Ford! Sounds like a great car for the price.

 

The brand appeal thing can get ridiculous, imo. Some porche owners don't want to go "back" to bmw's, and some ferrari owners don't wanna go "back" to porsche.
Personally, I think it's kinda cool to have a lot of money but choose a mustang GT, looks like a secure person to me...

 

Porsche > Ferrari.

Me? I just like cars.

 

For the price, the stang is a very capable platform, there's no denying that.

 

idk i guess if you have the money go ahead and get an M and if not get the stang....but there are people out there who have been "raised" loving M cars then there are the mustang fans and so on....i think every1 will have there differences and opinions when it comes down to competition and car manufactures... i think it will be cool to see what the new tuning capabilities with this new 5.0 motor that ford is rockin...just like the gtr now there are kits that can go up to 1000hp i think..... thinkning about it i wonder which car would win if you turbo both of them XD

 

http://www.insideline.com/bmw/m3/200...term-test.html

"For example, the M3 doesn't make a whole lot of sense for simple performance, since the 2011 Ford Mustang GT 5.0 keeps pace for about half the price, plus Sync is better than iDrive. But that's like saying Colt 45 malt liquor will get you just as drunk as Chateau Lafite Rothschild."

Couldn't have said it any better myself

 

Ok, so this thread is a year old, but I figure why not resurrect it!

If you’d asked me a month ago I would have said my next sports car was going to be a GTR.

Last week I bought a 2012 Mustang GT…

I was planning on driving my G35 for 2-3 more years before getting a GTR and something fuel efficient as a DD.

Then my G35 got totaled and plans changed a little.

I was now buying a car 2-3 years early than I wanted and since I don’t take out loans on toys I didn’t want to spend more than around 40-45k. After lots of research I realized that there wasn’t much that would be a step up in either performance or luxury from my G35.

The G37 to me was ruined by Infiniti. Its styling IMO is not nearly as nice as the G35 and they made it heavier and hardly increased power. It was a big no. The 370z while better in both looks and performance was just not enough performance for the ~40k price tag equipped how I would want it.

So then I looked at 1-2 year old Audi S5s and BMW M3s. I’ve always loved the looks of both and really was close to looking at a 2010 M3 but what changed my mind was a quick trip to the local book store and a thumb through consumer reports.

It was clear to me that the most bang for the buck in my price range was the new mustang 5.0. Is it a perfect car? No. Is it a better car than the M3? No. But it is better at things that were more important to me.

The badge whoring stuff is shallow and if you are a true car enthusiast it shouldn’t matter, that being said the only objective hits that I’ve heard against it are the quality of the interior and the handling.

I have the California Special Package and the interior is very comparable to my G35. I would consider it comparable to the m3 as well; there definitely isn’t a vast chasm between the two interiors.

The mustang does have noticeably more roll and dip than my G35, but it still has a very tight and stable feel too it overall. I plan to lower it an inch and that should help with the roll and dip. And as others have pointed out on a road course multiple magazines have tested it mere tenths of a second behind the M3.

As far as the 2012 M3 devastating the 2012 mustang, I guess we’ll have to wait and see, but I have a feeling that the performance gap won’t be nearly as large as the price differential.

So if perceptions and status symbols are more important to you the obvious choice is the M3, however, if performance is more important the mustang is definitely worth a test drive.

 

I bought a 09 E90 M3 DCT about five months but I was really tempted by the 2011 Mustang GT, so much bang for the buck. Plus Fords reliability is becoming very good, it would not surprise me if the 2011 GT ended up being more reliable than my M3. Not to mention better HWY MPG. Pretty good vid here:

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...son/index.html

 

If there is an expensive performance car, there is an equal performer in a different brand at a lower price and they are basically never actual competitors.

M3 vs GT. Equal specs, but different buyers. Rare will the same person consider both.

Ferrari 599 and Corvette ZR1 honestly look just about identical and perform that way. It's absurd to think a buyer for one would consider the other.

GTR vs Turbo. Same thing.

Cache matters. Even though it shouldn't

 

Obviously there are buyers that put a lot if not most emphasis on the badge.

But I disagree that cars like the m3 and mustang gt aren't competitors or that the GTR and Porsche Turbo aren't competitors.

I seriously doubt I'm the only person to ever have considered both a mustang gt and an m3.

And I seriously doubt that many haven't had to make a tough decision between a GTR and the Turbo.

 

The BOSS 302 Mustang should put a beating on the M3. Minus the fugly color scheme, I think the 302 would be a great choice for the money.

 

Who cares what a Stang is cabable of. At some point you have to get out and look at it......and realize.....you're still driving a ford......Which makes a GREAT TRUCK!!

 

Based on market share I’m pretty sure more people care what the mustang is capable of than the m3.