Kill Stories: Auto 2018 Mustang Takes on a Manual 2017 Camaro

Camaro holds the power advantage, but Ford’s automatic transmission wins this race.

This week’s Kill Story was originally shared to the forum in a thread by “swapped3vgt”, who shared a pair of videos of his 2018 Mustang GT taking on a friend’s 2017 Camaro SS. The video above comes from the Driven Lifestyle YouTube channel and was recorded from inside of the Chevy while the video below shows the same races from the perspective of the Mustang, with that clip coming from the 10r80 lifestyle YouTube channel.

The Competitors

The competitors in these two videos are a 2017 Chevrolet Camaro SS with the 6-speed manual transmission and a 2018 Ford Mustang GT with the 10-speed automatic transmission.

The Camaro has been upgraded with a cold air intake, headers, full exhaust, an MSD intake manifold, a ported throttle body and an E85 tune leading to wheel power figures of 481 horsepower and 460 lb-fft of torque.

The Mustang has been upgraded in the same fashion, including the cold air intake, headers, exhaust, ported throttle body and E85 tune, but where the Chevy has an aftermarket intake manifold, the Ford is working with a ported stock manifold. With this setup, the Mustang made 474 horsepower and 426 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels, so the Ford is slightly less power, but it weighs less, it has “slightly lighter wheels” and, most importantly, it has the quick-shifting 10-speed automatic transmission.

The Racing Action

In the videos here, the 2017 Camaro SS and 2018 Mustang GT go head-to-head from a roll four times with varying starting speeds.

In the first race, the two cars start at 50 miles per hour and early in the run, they are staying side by side. However, as the Camaro driver shifts, the Mustang hops ahead bit by bit. Even though the in-car footage lets us hear how quickly the Chevy gets from one gear to the next, the Ford’s automatic transmission gives it an advantage at every shift point. As a result, the Mustang slowly creeps away, but around 120 miles per hour, the Camaro closes and passes before they get to 145.

On the second and third runs, the Mustang hands the Camaro a pretty sound beating and on the fourth run, the Ford pulls away only to have the Chevy begin to close the gap up over 125, but they both lift before the LT1-powered muscle car has time to catch up to the Coyote.

ALSO SEE: Camaro SS Battles Mustang GT500

The fact that these two cars stay so even early in the race, with the Camaro pulling harder on the top end shows that the two are very evenly matched in terms of power and performance, but the Ford’s 10-speed automatic transmission allows it to pull away every time the Chevy driver has to shift.

Crank up your speakers and enjoy!

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com