2015 Mustang GT v. E92 M3

[GMe90]

Hey gang,

I was watching a few Motor Trend Comparos on YouTube and was surprised to see that the 2015 Ford Mustang GT is three seconds faster than the E92 M3 on the Willow Springs Racetrack. Randy Pobst was the driver.

[backhill]

Not surprised at all. The 2015 GT PP has better numbers than the previous gen Boss 302 which gave the M a big run for it's money. The new Mustangs come with IRS (finally) and the PP comes with a higher rear diff ratio.

[REV1]

Where is this posted?

Why would they be comparing a new car to a car that came out 8 years ago?

I watched a video with Pobst was testing new M3 vs the Rc-F and the Lexus was fairly
Close in lap time. I'm not sure I'm buying that 100% either.

[GMe90]

Originally Posted by E92M3SG08

Where is this posted?

Why would they be comparing a new car to a car that came out 8 years ago?

I watched a video with Pobst was testing new M3 vs the Rc-F and the Lexus was fairly
Close in lap time. I'm not sure I'm buying that 100% either.

You have to do a bit of digging. You can find the track times for Willow Springs on the Internet, where all the times are posted. Also, look at the Motor Trend comparo between the 2011 Mustang GT and 2011 E92 M3 and then watch the comparo between the 2015 Ford Mustang GT and the Camaro 1LE. The cars are tracked by Pobst, and they tell you the official times at the end.

I am looking to buy an E92 M3 in the near future and was comparing it with the 2015 Mustang GT. Both are V8 and come with MT. And a new 2015 Ford Mustang GT costs about the same as an E92 M3.

[Billj747]

Streets of willow is a low speed, overgrown autocross and not a very good test track IMO. Especially since they greatly straightened out the downhill esses over the years which dropped lap times. That is probably why the E92s lap times were slower.

[MikeeM3]

even if the mustang is BRAN NEW... i would never buy one lol .. the M3 even if its 8yrs older is a better car overall compared to a mustang !!

[GMe90]

Originally Posted by Billj747

Streets of willow is a low speed, overgrown autocross and not a very good test track IMO. Especially since they greatly straightened out the downhill esses over the years which dropped lap times. That is probably why the E92s lap times were slower.

Do you know when the changes to the track were made? I was shocked to see a 3 second difference between the M3 (1:27) and the Mustang (1:24) That is huge on a sub 1:30 lap time. The Camaro 1LE is actually faster than the M4 on that track.

[Killerfish2012]

Originally Posted by E92M3SG08

Where is this posted?
Why would they be comparing a new car to a car that came out 8 years ago?

+1! I can't find this anywhere. And you're right, they would most certainly do a comparo with the M4. Not sure I'd want to see the results though, but just saying.

[SunnyD]

Agree, we should be comparing the 2015 M4 to the 2015 Mustang GT, not an 8 year old m3.

[GMe90]

The M4 is about 0.6 seconds faster than the 2015 Mustang GT on the same track driven by Pobst.

[GMe90]

Originally Posted by Killerfish2012

+1! I can't find this anywhere. And you're right, they would most certainly do a comparo with the M4. Not sure I'd want to see the results though, but just saying.

There is not a comparo between the 2015 Mustang GT and the E92 M3. Instead, I found two separate comparos (M3 v. '11 Mustang GT) and (2015 Mustang GT v. Camaro 1LE) and compared the track times. The 1LE is faster than all of them and is also faster than the M4. I'd never buy a Camaro.

[Killerfish2012]

Originally Posted by GMe90

There is not a comparo between the 2015 Mustang GT and the E92 M3. Instead, I found two separate comparos (M3 v. '11 Mustang GT) and (2015 Mustang GT v. Camaro 1LE) and compared the track times. The 1LE is faster than all of them and is also faster than the M4. I'd never buy a Camaro.

Nice, except you want to compare times on the same course, and on the same day. But you can use the times to have an idea of what you can expect.

[Billj747]

Originally Posted by GMe90

Do you know when the changes to the track were made? I was shocked to see a 3 second difference between the M3 (1:27) and the Mustang (1:24) That is huge on a sub 1:30 lap time. The Camaro 1LE is actually faster than the M4 on that track.

There have been gradual changes inbetween those time periods. The low speed nature of the track isn't great for benchmarking and you'd really need to have both cars on the track at the same time, and when you consider the changes to SOW, those times are useless to each other due to the track differences. They also repaved turn 3 and a few other segments in addition to straightening the eases.

[vsix]

Originally Posted by E92M3SG08

Where is this posted?

Why would they be comparing a new car to a car that came out 8 years ago?

I watched a video with Pobst was testing new M3 vs the Rc-F and the Lexus was fairly
Close in lap time. I'm not sure I'm buying that 100% either.

As for me I'm not buying it. First they claimed the 2013 Mustang GT 5.0 would be faster then the M3, then the internet got updated that it wasn't just an ordinary 5.0, they compared the Boss 302 and still the better car was the 2008 E92 M3.
I then purchased a brand new 2013 Mustang GT 5.0 only to find out that it wasn't the real deal, well at least for me. Then a buddy of mine came to my house with his M3 E92 and the overall car experience was for me the perfect fit.
I upgraded to the "older" 2008 E92 and since that day, I never took a look back.
To sum it up: I don't believe jazz, that the new 2015 comes CLOSE to the M3 E92. Yeah numbers...but at the end they will just be numbers and the perfect drive machine will still be our ...OLD... M3 E92.

[REV1]

^ Im buying that.

[Billj747]

S197 5.0 Mustangs tend to put down 30-40whp more than the 4.0L E9X M3 despite both cars having very similar bhp ratings. The 444bhp Boss 302's lap time benchmark was the E92 M3 and it was successful at being faster on track than the M3.

It does not take much to make a regular 5.0 Mustang as good as or better than a Boss 302 (and E9X M3) on a track. The interior of S197s are not up to the same caliber as the bimmer, but the M3 is also a lot more expensive. The new S550 2015 Mustang is pretty impressive and they made large strides in materials for the interior and finally put an IRS on it.

The M3 is still a more expensive car, but for performance and interior quality, Ford made the new S550 GT an even better value than the already goo S197. I made a lot more comparisons between the M3 and Mustangs in my review on MotoIQ:

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1067782

Check out my 2015 Mustang GT review on MotoIQ.com:


"I’m a little late to the party since there are already plenty of reviews on the all-new 2015 S550 Mustang GT, but this review will take a slightly different angle written by a MotoIQer for MotoIQers. Just the information you care about, how it compares to previous Mustangs, and how it stacks up as a sports car and not just a muscle car."





0.02

[xpunisherx]

Originally Posted by vsix

As for me I'm not buying it. First they claimed the 2013 Mustang GT 5.0 would be faster then the M3, then the internet got updated that it wasn't just an ordinary 5.0, they compared the Boss 302 and still the better car was the 2008 E92 M3.
I then purchased a brand new 2013 Mustang GT 5.0 only to find out that it wasn't the real deal, well at least for me. Then a buddy of mine came to my house with his M3 E92 and the overall car experience was for me the perfect fit.
I upgraded to the "older" 2008 E92 and since that day, I never took a look back.
To sum it up: I don't believe jazz, that the new 2015 comes CLOSE to the M3 E92. Yeah numbers...but at the end they will just be numbers and the perfect drive machine will still be our ...OLD... M3 E92.

I'll keep my E92 M3 too.

[REV1]

^ Me too. I'm good.

[Killerfish2012]

Originally Posted by Billj747

The M3 is still a more expensive car, but for performance and interior quality, Ford made the new S550 GT an even better value than the already goo S197.

There are still so many differences between the 2015 mustang and the E92 M3. Just a few that come to mind are quality of the metals, and underbody aerodynamics.

[Billj747]

Originally Posted by Killerfish2012

There are still so many differences between the 2015 mustang and the E92 M3. Just a few that come to mind are quality of the metals, and underbody aerodynamics.

The 2015 Mustang has a lot of new high-strength steel in its chassis and is a nice improvement in materials both in its chassis and inside the car. Of course its not to the same caliber as the BMW, but it's a lot closer and still much less expensive. The GT Performance package has front diffusers on the underside of the splitter. If you haven't already, check out my article.

[vsix]

Originally Posted by Billj747

The 2015 Mustang has a lot of new high-strength steel in its chassis and is a nice improvement in materials both in its chassis and inside the car. Of course its not to the same caliber as the BMW, but it's a lot closer and still much less expensive. The GT Performance package has front diffusers on the underside of the splitter. If you haven't already, check out my article.

Even if it had these fancy little thing's the truth is that the mustang comunity complain's about the fact that the S550 Mustang GT 5.0 platform is SLOWER then the previous gen. Alone that fact is pretty much devastating IMHO!
How can you built a new car slower then the previous generation ( 2013 ) and then start claiming it managed to outrun the 2013 5.0...as I already mentioned, ain't buying it!

[vsix]

Originally Posted by xpunisherx

I'll keep my E92 M3 too.

Originally Posted by E92M3SG08

^ Me too. I'm good.

I would say what we finally found with our car's is the very rare condition in the enthusiast's world, called "content".