Tested: 2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1 vs 2023 Nissan Z Performance (Car and Driver)
Stick against stick and twin-turbo V-6 against V-8, the new Z goes up against Ford's fast pony.
If this was an '80s movie, the new kid, the 2023 Nissan Z, would spend the first half of the film getting pummeled by our bully, the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1. Then there would be a montage of the Z lifting weights, running, and doing high kicks — maybe while wearing a cropped sweatshirt and some wristbands — and at the end, it would come back and teach the Ford, and all of us, a lesson about perseverance in the face of adversity. That lesson will have to wait, because while the Z makes a valiant effort, there aren't enough terrycloth sweatbands in the world to help it beat out the muscular Mach 1's deft moves and deep-voiced soundtrack.
(photo credit: Car and Driver)
