Quote: The Mustang is by far the best way to go. I hit the track at least twice per month, I'm an instructor with NASA and an automotive journalist which means I get to drive just about everything under the sun. Bang for the buck the Mustang cannot be beat. I purchased a new 2013 base model GT last year with the track pack and the Recaro's. It's been bullet proof and has the capacity in stock form to compete with much higher dollar cars.
Now... if you want to step your game up even more, look at a Camaro SS with the 1LE package. That will out handle the Mustang as it has better suspension and much wider meat all around. However it will run about 5-6k more.
Its hard to compete for about $30k the new Mustang GT is a hell of an all around car. The Recaro Seat and Big Brake packages up it to just under $40k but you're still getting mucho bang for the buck. If you do winter snow driving, I'd just stay with the regular brakes. (18" vs 19" wheels).
The next step up like Mike says is the 1LE Camaro. But like other say visibility is the worst of the Big Three (yes, I've been in all 3, driven all but the Camaro).
And if you judge these cars by road course track times, you'll see the Challenger trailing these, even in SRT trim.
I keep remembering a recent Hot Rod Magazine where Mark Steilow placed is most recent 1G camaro against a new one and the point of the article is how much $$$$$$ it would take to make the 1G perform like the 5G and it was like $200k.
That's a hell of an investment. Mopar does have a better starting point than the GM, but at what point do you say that's close enough? How much do you want your old car to act like a new car? A/C? Power everything? EFI?
The best thing that the old cars have is just the rawness they have. It's just the feeling you get when sit behind the wheel and how simple it is and how easy it is to get into trouble with no electronic aids.
One thing that stops me from getting a modern pony car is the fact that I would be driving it daily. There comes a time when you forget about what you're driving as you're doing 65 and a dirty construction truck ends up in front of you and you just want to get out from behind him and his crap peppering you. You end up bored behind the wheel and the car you bought to "treat" yourself on the weekends becomes another appliance. A friend of mine drove his blown, nitrous fed 98 Viper GTS so much he got bored with it (and sold it).
So I keep my old Mopar, play with it as much as possible. Realize that it will never perform as well as a new car (which only get better year after year) but the smiles it consistently puts on my face when I choose to drive it makes it all worth it.
You end up bored behind the wheel and the car you bought to "treat" yourself on the weekends becomes another appliance. A friend of mine drove his blown, nitrous fed 98 Viper GTS so much he got bored with it (and sold it).
