No one can deny that America has been making a comeback in recent years and the manufacturers seem to be locked in another horsepower arms race.

So how do these modern muscle cars stack up?
According to Road&Track the current performance pecking order is as follows:

Chevrolet Corvette Z06
405hp
0-60: 4.4 seconds
1/4 mile: 12.7 @ 115.2 mph

Cadillac CTS-V
400hp
0-60: 5.0 seconds
1/4 mile: 13.4 @ 109.0 mph

Chevrolet Corvette
350hp
0-60: 4.9 seconds
1/4 mile: 13.4 @ 107.5 mph

Ford SVT Mustang Cobra
390hp
0-60: 5.0 seconds
1/4 mile: 13.4 @ 107.0 mph

Pontiac GTO
350hp
0-60: 5.4 seconds
1/4 mile: 13.9 @ 103.6 mph

Chrysler 300C
340hp
0-60: 5.6 seconds
1/4 mile: 14.1 @ 101.1 mph

Cadillac XLR
320hp
0-60: 5.8 seconds
1/4 mile: 14.1 @ 101.9 mph



Many of these are getting upgrades in the near future and I will update this thread as they are released, but as of today this is how they stack up in the published times.

You may notice that I excluded two other high-profile American cars. One was because it did not use the staple 'american V-8' and the other because it is twice the price of anything else on the list. At another time I will do an American SuperCar comparison (when the XLR-V comes out and will probably include the Mallett CTS-V):

Dodge Viper SRT-10
500 hp
0-60: 4.1 seconds
1/4 mile: 12.2 @ 119.6 mph

Ford GT
500 hp
0-60: 3.8 seconds
1/4 mile: 12.2 @ 121.6 mph

Of course, today's muscle car isn't all about Go (but that is still the entry consideration). Today's cars are also about how they handle.

Here is how they stack up in this area:

Chevrolet Corvette Z06
60-0 Braking: 107 ft.
SkidPad: 0.94g
Slalom: 68.5 mph

Cadillac CTS-V
60-0 Braking: 115 ft.
SkidPad: 0.87g
Slalom: 66.0 mph

Ford SVT Mustang Cobra
60-0 Braking: 121 ft.
SkidPad: 0.88g
Slalom: 65.6 mph

Cadillac XLR
60-0 Braking: 125 ft.
SkidPad: 0.87g
Slalom: 64.9 mph

Chevrolet Corvette
60-0 Braking: 134 ft.
SkidPad: 0.89g
Slalom: 62.4 mph

Pontiac GTO
60-0 Braking: 121 ft.
SkidPad: 0.84g
Slalom: 63.0 mph

Chrysler 300C
60-0 Braking: 126 ft.
SkidPad: 0.79g
Slalom: 62.4 mph

There are some surprises in this one. I will post Motor Trend's numbers next to see if a different reviewer gets the same results...

Motor Trend's engine performance results:

Chevrolet Corvette Z06
405hp
0-60: 4.3 seconds
1/4 mile: 12.4 @ 117.0 mph

Ford SVT Mustang Cobra
390hp
0-60: 4.8 seconds
1/4 mile: 13.0 @ 110.7 mph

Cadillac CTS-V
400hp
0-60: 5.1 seconds
1/4 mile: 13.5 @ 105.3 mph

Pontiac GTO
350hp
0-60: 5.3 seconds
1/4 mile: 13.6 @ 104.8 mph

Chrysler 300C
340hp
0-60: 5.8 seconds
1/4 mile: 14.3 @ 98.6 mph

Cadillac XLR
320hp
0-60: 6.0 seconds
1/4 mile: 14.2 @ 101.4 mph

You may notice I dropped one car:
Chevrolet Corvette
350hp
There Were No Test Results For This Car Within The Last Year By MT

Almost exactly the same as the results from R&T, so they seem to verify those results... in fact, other than the CTS-V and SVT Cobra swapping places, there was no change in the standings...



Motor Trend's handling numbers (no SkidPad given; not a real big loss though as it is more a test of the rubber grip than the suspension dynamics):

Chevrolet Corvette Z06
60-0 Braking: 105 ft.
Slalom: 70.2 mph

Ford SVT Mustang Cobra
60-0 Braking: 116 ft.
Slalom: 65.4 mph

Cadillac CTS-V
60-0 Braking: 121 ft. (suspiciously, their CTS V6 also does this; typo?)
Slalom: 65.0 mph

Cadillac XLR
60-0 Braking: 114 ft.
Slalom: 64.0 mph

Pontiac GTO
60-0 Braking: 120 ft.
Slalom: 63.5 mph

Chrysler 300C
60-0 Braking: 122 ft.
Slalom: 63.2 mph

I like the fact that half of those cars are luxury cars.. Also keep an eye out for Chryslers 300C SRT-8, 425hp. I don't like the fact that all this horsepower is going to make it cost more to have my car faster than them.

As the current debate on the forum seems to be CTS-V vs. SRT-8 vs. GTO vs. anything else with 400+hp... I figured it was time to update my muscle car pecking order list. In less than 6 months there have been many additions to the list:

Numbers from Feb 05 Motor Trend in order of performance:


Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (2004 C5)
405hp
0-60: 4.3 seconds
1/4 mile: 12.4 @ 117 mph

Chevrolet Corvette (2005 Z51 C6)
400hp
0-60: 4.4 seconds
1/4 mile: 12.6 @ 113.2 mph

Cadillac CTS-V (2005 w/o factory performance add-ons)
400hp
0-60: 4.7 seconds
1/4 mile: 13.1 @ 109.8 mph

Chrysler 300C SRT8 (2005)
425hp
0-60: 4.9
1/4 mile: 13.2 @ 108.1

Pontiac GTO (2005 LS2)
400hp
0-60: 5.0 seconds
1/4 mile: 13.3 @ 107 mph

Ford Mustang GT (2005)
300hp
0-60: 5.1 seconds
1/4 mile: 13.5 @ 103.6 mph

Cadillac XLR (2004)
320hp
0-60: 6.0 seconds
1/4 mile: 14.2 @ 101.4 mph

Cadillac STS (2005 w/ performance handling package)
320hp
0-60: 6.0
1/4 mile: 14.2 @ 97.5

Dodge Magnum RT (2005)
340hp
0-60: 6.2
1/4 mile: 14.4 @ 98.2

Chrysler 300C (2005)
340hp
0-60: 6.2 seconds
1/4 mile: 14.5 @ 97.5 mph

"Muscle car" of course is defined by go, but honestly anyone can drop a monster engine in a car and make it fast. What truly separates modern cars are their handling characteristics. The reason I chose Motor Trend for the comparison is that they have a new Figure Eight test that tests all the driving dynamics (acceleration, cornering, braking).

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (2004 C5)
60-0 Braking: 107ft.
Slalom: 70.2mph
Figure Eight: NA
Average Figure Eight g: NA

Chevrolet Corvette (2005 Z51 C6)
60-0 Braking: 113ft.
Slalom: 68.9mph
Figure Eight: 25.2
Average Figure Eight g: 0.76

Cadillac CTS-V (2005 w/o factory performance add-ons)
60-0 Braking: 111ft.
Slalom: 66.8mph
Figure Eight: 25.6
Average Figure Eight g: 0.72

Chrysler 300C SRT8 (2005)
60-0 Braking: 113ft.
Slalom: 67.3mph
Figure Eight: 26.3
Average Figure Eight g: 0.70

Pontiac GTO (2005 LS2)
60-0 Braking: 121ft.
Slalom: 63.6mph
Figure Eight: 26.1
Average Figure Eight g: 0.68

Ford Mustang GT (2005)
60-0 Braking: 125ft.
Slalom: 65.4mph
Figure Eight: 26.4
Average Figure Eight g: 0.69

Cadillac STS (2005 w/ performance handling package)
60-0 Braking: 113ft.
Slalom: 64.4mph
Figure Eight: 26.7
Average Figure Eight g: 0.66

Cadillac XLR (2004)
60-0 Braking: 114ft.
Slalom: 64.0mph
Figure Eight: 27.1
Average Figure Eight g: 0.66

Dodge Magnum RT (2005)
60-0 Braking: 129ft.
Slalom: 61.2mph
Figure Eight: 26.9
Average Figure Eight g: 0.65

Chrysler 300C (2005)
60-0 Braking: 133ft.
Slalom: 61.1mph
Figure Eight: 27.8
Average Figure Eight g: 0.62


The list will update again in about another 6 months to include:
Cadillac STS-V (440hp SuperCharged Northstar)
Cadillac XLR-V (440hp SuperCharged Northstar)
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (500hp LS7)
Dodge Charger (300 and 425hp Hemi's)

Thank you. I love reading stuff like this. :)

Cool thread!

One more addition to the "Coming Soon" list:

The Chrysler Firepower! (the exclamation mark is part of the name), if put into production, will be the first Chrysler I have ever really desired. The SRT-8's 6.1L 425hp Hemi V8 in a 2 door coupe whose sheetmetal looks to be an American Aston Martin? Sign me up. This thing is just beautiful. :)

Good thread.

Nice thread. I think we're also getting more efficient cars. For vehicles with all that power most of the cars listed estimate over 20 mpg highway. Not bad IMO. :)

You should throw some stats in for cars like the Chevy Aveo and Daihatsu Charade just for contrast. :)

Gothicaliegh where have you been!
You always bring interest things to this forum

2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
500 hp!!
manufacturers performance ratings
0-60: 3.8 s
1/4 mile: 11.7s @ 127mph

and still has an estimated 16mpg city, 22mpg highway

est. from car and driver

0-100: 7.7s