How the Ford Mustang Mach 1 Stacks Up to the Shelby GT350 and GT500 (MotorTrend)
Five years after the GT350 made its debut, does the Mach 1 get close?
There are few things that somehow get better as they age. Tom Brady, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and the Ford Mustang are three examples of Father Time seemingly taking a hands-off approach. The new Ford Mustang Mach 1 is excellent, and it represents the tippy-top of the non-Shelby Mustangs — it essentially replaces the GT350. We've gone on record as saying it's "a GT350 with a lower redline" — high praise.
But just how does the new Mach 1 stack up against its Shelby-badged siblings from this generation? The GT350s and GT500s might catch all the headlines, but according to our instrumented testing, the Mach 1 is surprisingly close to the snake-wearing 'Stangs. That makes the Mach 1 a truly excellent sports car, but there's another, even cheaper option that puts the Mach 1 — and most Shelbys — in its rear-view mirror.
What The Numbers Mean — And How We Get Them
Before we dig into the gritty-nitty, it's worth explaining what our test numbers are all about. First up, we hit the drag strip — except, we don't. MotorTrend doesn't use a prepped surface for any of its 0-60 acceleration testing. We instead test on a regular surface to mimic real-world conditions.
Then comes a gamut of braking and handling tests. The numbers generated by these tests give us an idea of what these cars are capable of once we hit the road. They're an invaluable tool for determining what a car can really do … Now, about those Mustangs.
(photo credit: MotorTrend)
