Camaro and Mustang turbo fours beat their old V6s

MotorWeek's retro review of the 1993 Chevrolet Camaro V6 turned up a number worth sitting with. Jalopnik reports that the base Camaro, four-speed automatic and all, needed 8.8 seconds to reach 60 mph. In MotorWeek's own testing that was more than half a second behind a 1993 Nissan Altima of the same model year, and the Altima had a manual.

Jalopnik's argument is that today's base muscle cars take grief for running turbocharged fours instead of sixes, and that the grief is out of date. The stopwatch backs that up.

Same badge, quicker base

The Camaro's most recent generation arrived in 2016. Jalopnik notes its base engine was a turbocharged 2.0-liter four with 274 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. Car and Driver took a 2016 Camaro 2.0T to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds with the six-speed manual. Jalopnik reports that is more than half a second ahead of a V6 Altima from that period, and that the lighter car drew praise for its handling. The Camaro has since been discontinued again.

The Mustang plays the same trick, and the EcoBoost version is still on sale. Jalopnik lists a turbocharged 2.3-liter four rated at 315 horsepower and 350 lb-ft, sold only with a 10-speed automatic. Car and Driver's testing produced 4.5 seconds to 60 mph, a full second clear of a Honda Accord 2.0T by Jalopnik's account.

The old base cars were not close. MotorWeek's test of a 1997 Mustang V6 convertible returned 10.1 seconds, with a four-speed automatic doing the shifting. A 2015 Mustang EcoBoost convertible, automatic and already a generation behind, came in at 6.1 seconds in Car and Driver's testing.

Four cylinders, 4.5 seconds, and a base car that no longer needs an apology.

What the buyer should weigh

The efficiency case is real but conditional. Jalopnik writes that turbo fours generally beat V6s on fuel when driven reasonably, and that the edge can disappear once the boost is used. That matters to a household budget in a way a 0-to-60 time does not.

Jalopnik also points out that Mercedes-AMG replaced a V8 with a four-cylinder in a performance car and did not get the sales it wanted. That is a caution about badge and sound, not about speed. Buyers who want eight cylinders will not be talked out of it by a stopwatch, and nobody is trying to.

For a shopper, the practical read is narrower. If the base car in your price range now runs 4.5 to 5.4 seconds to 60 mph, the V8 above it is a preference rather than a requirement. If you want the V8 note and the V8 identity, the four is not a substitute, and Jalopnik is not arguing that it is.

• Car and Driver
• Chevrolet Camaro
• Ford Mustang
• MotorWeek
• turbo fours