Boosted Camaro Edges Nitrous Mustang in Rally, Autocross & Drag
Boosted fourth-gen Camaro has more power than the pony car, but these two budget builds prove to be closely matched.
By now, we’ve all seen a million drag races (or more) between LS-powered vehicles and pretty much everything else on the planet, as well as other LS-powered vehicles. The reasons for this are obvious – we are talking about one of the greatest line of engines ever conceived by anyone – but to be honest, it’s nice to see someone do something different every now and then. And that’s precisely what the folks behind the YouTube channel Gears and Gasoline recently did – take their turbocharged, LS1-powered fourth-gen Camaro and stack it up against a Mustang on nitrous – but this time, at a dirt, rally-style track, along with a regular autocross and drag strip.
These budget builds cost a mere $3,000-$5,000 each to build at home, in their owners’ garages, with a pretty simple goal – add power and give them better tires to handle the dirt, er, mud, in this case. The Mustang team, on the other hand, focused on upgrading the suspension with the hopes that the stock engine might be able to hold up to the abuse that it’s going to be subjected to, which is understandable. However, they did add a shot of nitrous, just in case they need a temporary boost.
After watching some Japanese cars set a few baseline runs, the American rally teams quickly discover that the key to winning this particular event isn’t about outrunning your opponent – but rather, who can avoid getting stuck in the mud. It’s a far cry from the stuff we’ve seen on TV, with cars flying around, up, and over all sorts of slippery obstacles, which makes us appreciate them even more. However, there’s no real “winner” in this first event.
Next up, these two pieces of American muscle head out to compete in a traditional autocross, where they’re obviously far more comfortable. In this case, the extra power put down by the fourth-gen Camaro proves to be more of a hinderance than a help, as it can’t quite match the times recorded by the less powerful pony car. Thus, it’s on to the drag strip, where the Chevy should hold a far more distinct advantage.
As one might imagine, the Camaro gets off the line quicker than the Mustang and also maintains a healthy lead the entire way down the track, finishing a half-second ahead, even though it’s bogging down a bit. The next run was mired with issues, but the Chevy still took home the win by a mere 0.04 seconds. However, the Camaro emitted a huge plume of white smoke on the third run, putting an end to these shenanigans.
Ultimately, it’s hard to choose a winner here, but honestly, we don’t even need one. This trifecta of events is so entertaining to watch that doing so is simply unnecessary, because we just appreciate watching cheap builds duke it out for brand glory – no matter the venue.
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