2024 Ford Mustang GT vs. 2023 Dodge Challenger Scat Pack: Old School Muscle or Modern Performance?

MotorTrend

In this Comparison Test

Transcript

00:00 (engine revving)

00:02 Hi there.

00:03 Do we have a fun comparison test for you today?

00:06 (engine revving)

00:08 That is the all new 2024 Ford Mustang GT.

00:23 Hats off to Ford because in the age of electrification,

00:27 they're still releasing an all new vehicle

00:30 that has a high revving V8, a manual transmission,

00:33 and rear wheel drive.

00:34 All the things that enthusiasts crave.

00:37 And because it's a 2024 model year car,

00:40 that means you'll be able to buy it new

00:42 through at least 2032.

00:45 On the other hand, this is the Dodge Challenger Shakedown.

00:50 It's the end of the line for the Challenger,

00:52 that makes some sense.

00:53 The design's over a decade old, so is the engine,

00:56 so is the transmission,

00:58 but the mentality behind this thing

01:00 goes all the way back to the 1960s.

01:03 This is the last pure muscle car on sale today.

01:08 The question becomes,

01:09 which one of these two all American icons should you buy?

01:13 Let's find out.

01:15 (upbeat music)

01:17 In a minute, we're gonna find out

01:20 if the new Mustang is mechanically any better

01:22 than the old Mustang.

01:24 But in terms of design, I can tell you,

01:26 it's a step backwards.

01:27 In fact, it's a step backwards and a step sideways.

01:31 Say whatever else you want about Mustangs,

01:33 they've always looked cool.

01:35 And this one doesn't.

01:37 This grill, that looks like a rejected Volvo design.

01:40 And then when they realized it,

01:42 they quickly struggled to put two big nostrils

01:45 on the front end.

01:46 And that looks like a Ram pickup truck.

01:48 I don't get it.

01:50 Headlights, Mustangs have big eyes, big round eyes.

01:53 And this one, they're squished.

01:55 And there's three bulbs in them.

01:58 Three bulbs, that's like a Citroen SM

02:00 or those aliens in the vending machine in "Toy Story."

02:04 You look at the side, hey, it looks a lot better.

02:06 But it's pretty easy to make a two-door coupe look good,

02:10 especially a rear drive one.

02:11 However, from the B pillar back,

02:13 this screams Chevy Camaro.

02:16 It looks just like the sixth gen Camaro,

02:19 but it's got a Ford badge.

02:20 Why?

02:22 Out back, it's a bit better.

02:23 You know, the taillights, graphically,

02:24 it looks like a Mustang, cool.

02:25 But then it's got that weird boomerang indent.

02:28 It's like half a cam back on the trunk lid.

02:30 Strange.

02:31 I mean, the wing's cool.

02:32 I like the tailpipes.

02:33 I like the diffuser.

02:35 But you know, overall, I just really feel this design

02:39 is a missed opportunity for Ford.

02:40 As for the design of the Dodge Challenger,

02:45 I mean, it rocks.

02:47 Look, when you have that long

02:49 to play with the design of a car,

02:51 you can make it look cooler and cooler and cooler.

02:53 And this final iteration, the Shakedown Challenger,

02:57 I mean, it's one of the best looking ones yet.

02:59 It's got the shaker hood.

03:01 That's that big air intake sticking up

03:02 out of the center of the hood.

03:04 It's got the cool stripes.

03:05 Admittedly, a little cheese ball there

03:07 on top of the paint, but whatever.

03:09 Hood pins, who doesn't love hood pins?

03:12 Cooler than the hood pins are the air intakes

03:15 in the headlights, just like the Hellcat.

03:18 Plus, this is a wide body.

03:19 Plus, look at those wheels.

03:21 I mean, they are gorgeous.

03:23 So yeah, the Dodge Challenger is one

03:26 of the best retro mod designs I've ever seen.

03:29 Hat tip to Ralph Gilles and his team.

03:32 It's just killer.

03:33 I mean, look at this thing.

03:34 It's sinister, it's imposing.

03:36 It's everything you want a muscle car to look like.

03:40 Just cool.

03:40 All right, I'm driving the new Mustang GT.

03:48 As far as the interior goes, I don't like the seats.

03:51 You can get Recaros.

03:53 I haven't sat in them, but they have to be better than these.

03:57 One of the things that people made a big deal about

03:59 when they announced the new Mustang is,

04:01 because it's got this huge curved screen,

04:03 you can do all kinds of different digital gauges,

04:06 including Fox Body Mustang gauges.

04:09 That said, while they're kind of cool,

04:11 the actual real gauges on the Challenger,

04:13 I would argue, are cooler.

04:16 Back to not cool, this handbrake.

04:18 I'm sorry, it's not a real handbrake.

04:20 It's an electric parking brake that is fashioned

04:23 to look like a handbrake.

04:24 Eh on that.

04:26 Look, the Mustang is a nice, modern, luxurious interior.

04:30 Some people will scream about the giant screen.

04:33 I happen to like it.

04:34 Talking about the interior

04:40 of the Dodge Challenger Shakedown here,

04:43 let me tell you, I had a Hellcat Charger in 2016 for a year.

04:48 This interior, identical.

04:51 Nothing has changed.

04:53 And you know, it's not that high quality.

04:55 I mean, the carbon fiber, fake.

04:58 The leather, suspect.

05:00 The screen, small, especially by today's standards.

05:04 And yet, it's just so great in this car.

05:07 I love it.

05:08 It just, I feel at home.

05:09 And part of that is I'm sitting on a Lazy Boy.

05:12 No, really, these are probably the largest,

05:14 most comfortable seats in the automotive kingdom.

05:18 I could complain about certain things,

05:20 but who's gonna listen?

05:22 As far as actually driving the Mustang goes,

05:35 it's a confused car.

05:37 It's not sure what it wants to be.

05:39 Am I a muscle car?

05:40 Am I a sports car?

05:41 So, like, it's a sports car that handles really well

05:46 with completely numb steering.

05:48 It's a muscle car that has an insanely long third gear.

05:52 I'm still in third, I'm still in third, I'm still in third.

05:55 You'll never get to fourth on a racetrack.

05:57 So, in other words, it has no torque.

05:58 It's not great as a track car.

06:00 So, I don't know.

06:01 You know, it sounds awesome.

06:03 It doesn't go that quick.

06:05 I should also mention the brakes

06:07 on the new Mustang are fantastic.

06:10 Hats off to Ford for giving the car the stopping power

06:14 it has always desired.

06:18 It has always yearned for.

06:19 I've yearned for, we've all yearned for.

06:21 It's just, you know, are you a luxury coupe?

06:23 Are you a GT?

06:24 Are you a sports car?

06:26 No one's sure.

06:27 Least of all, the Mustang itself.

06:29 As for performance, you know,

06:34 and the question isn't why does this thing understeer

06:38 or why aren't the brakes more powerful?

06:40 No, the question is, after all these years,

06:44 why are we still taking challengers on racetracks?

06:46 No, really, I went on the launch of this thing in 2010

06:51 at Sears Point and it made no sense then.

06:54 And now at the end of 2023, it still makes no sense.

06:59 But, get this thing pointed straight.

07:03 You open up that big fat V8

07:05 and you let the automatic transmission do what it's good at

07:09 and that's upshifting.

07:10 And man, do you have a car that knows exactly what it is

07:15 and exactly what it's supposed to be doing?

07:17 Just, that's what I like about it so much

07:21 is there's no confusion.

07:22 It's not trying to have one foot in two different worlds.

07:26 It's just a big, dumb muscle car.

07:28 And there's nothing wrong with that.

07:30 Oh, has any car ever been more at home

07:37 going in a straight line?

07:39 I don't think so.

07:41 I gotta admit, I'm having a hard time

07:44 picking a winner between these two.

07:47 Why?

07:48 They're just both fantastic.

07:49 I mean, they're loud, they're silly, they're juvenile,

07:52 they're fun, they make you smile.

07:53 It's what we want cars to be.

07:56 And I think we're running into a

07:58 heart versus mind type situation.

08:01 Because intellectually, Ford has built the better car.

08:05 In every way you can measure a vehicle,

08:07 the Mustang is better, including miles per gallon,

08:10 not that anyone buying these two cares, but it is true.

08:15 On the other hand, the heart wants what the heart wants.

08:18 And man, that Challenger is just so desirable.

08:22 If it were my money, I would go with the Dodge.

08:26 It's not my money we're talking about, it's your money.

08:29 And I have to advise you to do the right thing,

08:32 to buy the better car, and that's why

08:34 the winner of this Motor Trend Comparison Test

08:37 is the 2024 Ford Mustang GT.

08:44 But man, I like that Challenger.

08:48 (engine revving)

08:51 (whooshing)

08:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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