Well, it's been stated on here many times before, but teh general thought is that even thought the F-body is a superior performance car, the mustang is a better day to day driver for people. Personally, I love my car and have no problems with it being a daily driver, but the fact is that the long doors, small storage (the hatch may be technically larger, but the "pit" theme doesn't work good in real life), the seating position, and the infamous hump in the floor might have turned people away. As far as seating position, I love it IMO, I hate sitting up high, but the average driver doesn't like "falling" into their car.

 

Here are some links...
Camaro's are Forever...
http://launch.yahoo.com/track/15691658

Camaro Man...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/cl...485072-1604758

 

I think this statements is plain wrong. How many Yenko Firebirds were there? How about Berger, Doug Rippie, Lingenfelter, etc? They will modify your Firebird, but it certainly seems that the only reason they will is because the Firebird rides on the Camaros coattails. The Camaro or Corvette was/is usually the one in the spotlight of these tuners cars, and there was a reason for that. Guys didn't buy Firebirds to hot rod them, guys bought Firebirds to be seen in. Hot rod guys buy whatever they can afford to hot rod, be that as it may (although often with a brand bias in mind.)

 

I'm interested to see guionM respond.

At any rate;

Firebird > Camaro.

 

I concur.

The New Camaro had better be gorgeous with t-tops/Targa if I was to even consider buying it.

But until I see the New Camaro I would have to Say Gt500>Camaro

 

although the camaro/firebird were superior cars, the mustang has alway had something the f body dosnt. something like 50% of mustang buyers are women and lots of them. they normally spring for the 6 cylinder model but its still a mustang, that is the reason mustangs have outsold the fbody over the years and will probally cotinue to do so in the future. how many girls have you heard say camaros my favorite car, yeah maybe a few especially around here but ive heard lots more say that about the mustang. its been this way almost since the mustang was first released.

 

It's all a question of being customer friendly. Mustang was an excellent daily driver, Camaro is a great road car.

Mustangs were easier to get in & out of, had the illusion of bigger rear seating area, had a better seating position, and had an aftermarket to die for. Camaro, on the other hand, was a lowslung, 4 passenger Corvette.

The public is sold on the total package. Mustang did a better job. That's whay it's here & our car isn't.

 

Maybe "hot rodders" was the wrong term, since that implies do-it-yourselfers. I should have said the guys who wanted performance out the box.

My bad in that case.


Just the same, when one combines all the Yenkos, Bergers, Rippies, & Lingenfelters, then looks at the total sales of just the 2002 WS6 Trans Ams, things get into perspective.

Then there were also the Firehawks. Available off the showroom, complete with factory warranty.

Traditionally, Firebirds were quicker, faster, and had bigger engines than Camaros. 1st & 2nd gen production Trans Ams would outpace Z28s & SSs. 2nd gen T/As outran Camaros on top speed (not even mentioning the turbo T/A of '89). 4th gen WS6s at least looked much faster than Camaros. To add insult to injury, GM spent far more money changing cosmetics on the Firebird than the paltry changes the 4th gen Camaro recieved.

Camaro had more tuners than Firebird. But Firebird has usually been quicker out the box.

Actually, something like 40% of Mustang buyers are women (Camaro's are like 30-35%). There are also more men that buy Ford Mustang GTs alone then buy ALL Camaros and Firebirds combined. Women are an important factor (they fuel almost half of V6 Mustang sales), but men also prefer Mustangs over Camaros by embarassing margins.

Camaro's real problem is that a disporportionate number of buyers are hard core performance enthusiasts buying performance versions. However, there isn't enough performance enthusiasts to carry cars like these. You also have to bring in a ton of mainstream buyers. People who want a stylish, sporty daily driver that can be easily personalized with something out of a Mustang mag from a 7/11 to something from a J.C. Whitney catalogue to something the local car shop has in stock.

There's even a supercharger kit for the V6 Mustang, and (of all things) there's a V6 Mustang website, chock full of male tuners, do it yourselfers, and aftermarket types.

 

it also didnt help that the mustang was on a 20 year old platform and parts were cheaper than dirt.

 

there are also superchargers out for the 3.8L camaro. they pull very impressive numbers on the dyno. as for the V6 mustang site, there are a few V6 camaro sites. this guy tiago sailes has a turbo 3.4 that runs very low 13's. i know of an all bolt on 3.8L that ran 13.85. (http://www.fastrides.com/forums/4674/ShowPost.aspx) "chock full of male tuners, do it yourselfers, and aftermarket types" I really havent seen many women on ANY tuner / DIY muscle car websites... they must be comprised of the few men who ended up with a V6 and figured it would be worth it to spend thousands of dollars trying to keep up with the V8's.

 

On one hand, I think it's funny you can buy a low mi V6 Camaro/Firebird for like $5-$6K and spend about $3K on a bolton kit...

Or you can just spend $9-$10K on a V8 that will hold it's value better...

On the other hand...I think it's cool that people want to be different & have something other than a Z28 or a SS or a WS6, etc...

Makes for a cool *** sleeper...

Props to individuality -

 

Lol I like your sig-- hail the 'bird!

As for the 5th gen....

I just hope they keep in mind the two MOST IMPORTANT factors:

1. Look & Feel
2. Price

I dont want the Camaro to end up another darn Corvette with two extra seats...I like beating the pants off of cars with two extra seats, a couple hundred more pounds, for couple thousand less dollars.

The major deciding factor for me would be looks and feel. The price is definately a deciding factor, but if it's realllly cool, I wouldnt mind "ponying" up some extra dough. Seriously.

I will say this, though...it darn well better have whatever engine the base Vette has, otherwise I'll just keep my lowly 4th gen and pour more money into it and GM can try to get my money some other time.

Right now, I'd take the 6.0L...but the cool factor on that goes down I'm sure when the Vette gets a 6.2, or whatever it is they decide to put in it....