FANBOY SPOILER ALERT: This post contains both good and bad news about the 370Z. Do not read if this upsets you.
About 3 weeks ago I replaced my 370Z Touring Sport with a 2013 Mustang GT. As I posted before, I made the change because I was having trouble with using the car as my DD (noise and the low seat position--getting older
). This change put me in a very good position to compare the two rides.
First off, the Ford is my first American car in decades. I owned the original 240Z and loved it. After that, I went to MR2, Eclipse, etc. The first car I ever owned was a Pontiac GTO. In those days, muscle cars had horsepower (the GTO 335hp), and sports cars could turn. Since then the line has blurred considerably. My Z had 332 horses; that's a muscle car number, AND it could turn; that's a sports car trait. The combination of performance and handling made the Z a joy to own. It was a pleasure on the track. My coach said the Z was a "deep car". I agree. Also the Z is in my opinion, one of the most beautiful cars ever built.
A while ago
Road & Track (or
Car & Driver) did a compare between the 370 and the Mustang. To my great surprise, the Mustang actually had better lap times than the Z. When the magazine analyzed the turn-by-turn data, the Mustang and the Z tied in the ability to take turns. The Mustang won only because its greater horsepower gave it faster straights.
So, when I finally decided to give up my Z, it was natural to look at the Mustangs. I ended up with a 2013 GT Premium (picture attached). It too is a truly beautiful car. I won't be getting it on the track until next year. The rainy season is starting here and I want to have a couple of thousand miles on the car before banging around a track. So, my data is limited to freeway (70mph) and road use.
In terms of drive feel, the Z with its hydraulic steering gives more feedback from the road. The Mustang has electric power steering. However, it can be set to "Sport" which gives pretty good feedback and a much firmer feel in the turns. I have to say that both the Z and the Mustang take turns beautifully. I call it a tie. One negative about the Mustang is that unlike the Z, it is normal car height. This is why I bought it. That increase in height definitely takes away some of the fun.
The Mustang weighs 3,500 lbs. My old Z, 3,300. The Z has 332 hp. and the Mustang 436 in my configuration. So, zero to sixty is almost .4 seconds faster in the Mustang. In normal driving this extra power, combined with gearing to take advantage of the extra horsepower, makes the Mustang feel more effortless when accelerating. (I had AT with the Z and AT with the Mustang). The Z always "paused" a bit in first. The Mustang just goes like a jet. Ok, it is a muscle car after all.
The Ford wins hands-down in the interior feature department. My Z had navigation, rear view camera, the touring sound system, etc. I added the rear view camera since it wasn't offered in 2010. The Mustang has Microsoft Sync. This is really cool. For example, when you plug your iPod into the USB port, Sync automatically indexes all your content so that you can use voice control to call up artists, titles, genres, etc. The premium sound system is great.
Perhaps the most fun thing in the cockpit is a 4 1/2 inch screen between the speedometer and the tachometer. This display is controlled by some buttons on the steering wheel. It has a fuel economy display much like the Z's "Status" screen. The trip meters are amazing. They record miles driven, elapsed time, fuel economy (just for the miles in the trip), and get this: gas consumed! I had to test that. So when I filled my tank, I set the trip meter to 0. At the next fillup, I didn't look at the trip meter before I filled the tank. When I looked at it, the trip meter said I used 10.7 gallons of gas. That is exactly how much I just bought!
In addition that little screen shows a bunch of track apps including accelerometer, 0-60 timer, and some other cool stuff. Also it has electronic gauges that measure air/fuel ratio, cylinder head temperature, etc. Nissan should take a cue from Ford on this.
There is one other significant difference between Ford and Nissan: Ford Racing. Ford Racing offers some interesting add-ons. The one I purchased is the "GT Performance Kit". This contains axil backs and a new tune for the car. The tune was created by the same engineers who designed the car. This tune adds about 17 hp and 7 ft lbs. of torque. More importantly, it recalibrates the car's response so that it feels amazingly powerful.
Since tuning involves understanding a very large set of data, factory tunes can be much more reliable, not to mention that the warranty isn't affected. In fact, my dealer will perform the tune and axil back installs.
In summary, I still think that the 370 Z is the most fun car I have ever driven. It always put a big smile on my face, especially at the track. The Mustang is also fun to drive and for a Z owner, no real learning curve is needed to push the car hard. The Mustang has extended my ability to have a high performance car. The quieter cabin and more old-guy-friendly seats have improved my life. Assuming you can't afford a supercar, and for one reason or another, the Z isn't right for you, the 2013 Mustang GT is a great choice.