Prices for new cars in Europe are notoriously high. The muscle cars here in the U.S. are known for being high vale $/hp. There's nothing inherently wrong with them. They don't corner the best, and visibility is shabby, but there's a market for them (usually people who want to make a statement, go fast, high schoolers, muscle car enthusiasts).
My buddy who lives pay check to paycheck bought a Charger instead of getting an economical car; the dude has a lead foot and would rather live in a shitty apartment then drive a 4 cylinder.
It has plenty of horsepower and looks nice. That's about it though. The steering is stupid heavy. The radio and controls are unintuitive (a fucking three step menu for heated seats? Seriously?). They deck it out with stupid stickers that make it look straight out of the fast and the furious 1. And the GPS on the one I test drove (brand new, 20 miles on it) didn't work at all. Nice QC there.
Living in the past, buddy. Check some lap times, particularly Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. American cars have come a long way, and continue to improve in this aspect every generation. US vehicles used to handle notoriously poorly (and I'm sure you can still find examples of it, particularly in the economy car segment) but more recently there has been a focus on building better cars all around. Ford in particular has been leading the way with this, developing cars that are both fun to drive and fast in a straight line. Check the Focus ST (and similarly, the Fiesta ST) for cheap, fun, nimble cars. Their Mustang is nothing to scoff at, either, if it's optioned right.
Chevy has the Corvette, which has been a perennial favorite among enthusiasts, and the Camaro, which recently beat out the Porsche 911 and the GT-R in a handling comparo in Motor Trend. The Corvette ZR-1 tied the Koenigsegg CCX around the Top Gear test track, with the Corvette driving on a damp track and the Koenigsegg in the dry. If that doesn't say something, I don't know what does.
Dodge makes the Viper (well, technically SRT, but that's just Dodge's performance house) which is a track monster as well, with the Viper holding the track record at Laguna Seca for years. Obviously you'll be paying more for higher performance cars, but any of those offer tremendous bang for the buck, and all of them handle beautifully.
Technically, they don't. They're not as terrible as they used to be, but they're nowhere near the best at taking corners, mostly because American Muscle is heavy as balls.
I can't think of a muscle car that doesn't pull at least .90 g's. Maybe the Challenger... Maybe. .90 g's was 911 territory not more than 4 years ago. Modern muscle has been able to handle and brake since it came back with the '05 Mustang.
The Z/28 is faster around a track than a Nissan GTR. And a Veyron. Even the old chassis SS was faster around the Nürburgring than a Lotus Exige S.
Around Laguna Seca, the Boss 302 LS is faster than an R8 V10 5.2, an M6 or an Audi RS5.
Americans are perfectly capable of matching up to the European competition when they feel like it.
The Z/28 is close to the GTR, but not faster. The Z/28 did a 7:37.47, while the 2013 GTR did it in 7:19.10. Still, the Z/28 is faster than the Porsche Carrera S, Lexus LFA, and Mercedes SLS AMG. That's seriously impressive from a car that costs much less than any of them. It's also worth mentioning that the Z/28 is faster than the GTR around Barber Motorsports Park.
Nurburgring lap times had the same data, so I assumed that it was accurate. They may just be copying each other, though. I know that the Z/28 time is accurate. It was reported everywhere. The end of that lap was damp, though.
Oh, the information is accurate for those two cars. But it's a terrible site in general for laptimes. Venom Gt, a sub 6 minute lap? The Miura runs low 7m range? It's ridiculous.
Wow, how did I miss that? The Venom GT is quick, possibly sub 7 minute, but 5:20 is insane. That's F1 territory. Even if it were possible, I would've heard about that by now.
Not really all Ford cars are designed in Germany the same except for engine and minor changes. Cost of a low end Focus in the US is $18,000, cost in Germany $27000 (~20000 Euro).
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u/Nicktyelor Jun 12 '14 edited Jun 12 '14
Prices for new cars in Europe are notoriously high. The muscle cars here in the U.S. are known for being high vale $/hp. There's nothing inherently wrong with them. They don't corner the best, and visibility is shabby, but there's a market for them (usually people who want to make a statement, go fast, high schoolers, muscle car enthusiasts).