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(Enlarge photo)
Witness the latest in American automotive firepower: Dodge Viper GTS ACR, Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and Ford SVT Mustang Cobra R.
(Photo by Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor)
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A racetrack is one of the few places these cars can be taken to their limits.
(Photo by Scott Jacobs)
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Road Test: Comparison Test
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American Exotics Comparison Test
So Much Horsepower, It Hurts
By
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor
Date posted: 03-01-2001
Every so often, the planets align, the Los Angeles smog clears and somebody
on the Edmunds.com editorial staff gets a good fortune cookie at the local
Chinese place. The fortune reads, "Your minivans and econoboxes will go
away, and you will be rewarded with cars that make big boffo horsepower."
It's a good fortune to have, and it recently came true, providing us with
a comparison test between the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, the Dodge Viper
GTS ACR and the Ford SVT Mustang Cobra R. We came up with the idea for
this test after driving the Corvette Z06. New for 2001, the latest Corvette
incarnation is arguably the best ever, better than any L88-powered Vette
or the ZR1. We were impressed by the car in isolation but wondered how
it would fare when put head-to-head against the competition.
While its performance allows the Z06 to scrum against stratospheric cars
like the Ferrari 360 Modena and the Porsche 911 Turbo, we felt a more
realistic test would be against the two vehicles most likely to serve
as competitors in the marketplace: the Dodge Viper GTS ACR and the Ford
SVT Mustang Cobra R. The Viper, despite its age and upcoming redesign,
is still one of the fastest production cars ever built. From the Blue
Oval comes the Mustang Cobra R, a hot rodder's wet dream if there ever
was one. In collection, each vehicle is the fastest production vehicle
from each of the Big Three. While not automotive exotics in the truest
sense of the word, they are certainly American exotics, vehicles capable
of getting a thumbs up and a smile in every big city and township from
California to Rhode Island.
Despite the cars' exclusive natures, we compared these vehicles using
the same testing regimen that we use for every other Edmunds.com comparison
test. This means we evaluated the vehicles in terms of price, performance,
feature content, functionality and subjective observations from our editors.
In addition to our normal test loops on public roads, we also booked time
at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park, a road course located
about an hour drive north of Los Angeles. Using the smaller and more technical
1.5-mile Streets of Willow track, we were able to further evaluate the
performance envelope of each vehicle in a safe, controlled environment.
Of course, this test was a load of fun to perform, and we hope that even
if you don't have the financial wherewithal to buy any of these vehicles
(Lord knows we don't) you'll enjoy reading the bits of HTML coding we've
arranged. This is also the first comparison test to have supplementary
video coverage, allowing you to get even closer to the action and see
these sickeningly fast cars in action. We encourage you to check it out
if you have broadband access. So without further ado, let the big smoky
burnouts begin.
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