When Ford engineers set off to begin development of the 2015 Mustang, several high-performance cars were set as benchmarks. The BMW M3, Nissan GT-R, and Porsche 911 were just a few. However, one significant car was ignored completely because those engineers felt the existing Mustang was "already superior" to it, so why bother wasting time. That car was the Chevrolet Camaro. Yep. There's plenty of competition among engineering teams.

Mustang chief engineer Dave Pericak told CarAdvice that "it's (the Camaro) a competitor obviously, we're in showrooms against them, but we haven't targeted Camaro for many years." Pericak further added that he didn't want the new Mustang to be a 911 or any of those aforementioned cars. They were targeted "because they handled conditions in a unique way and there are things to learn from all that." To be clear, Pericak doesn't claim the new Mustang is a direct competitor to those benchmarked cars, but rather they served as "a stretch target for us as we try to develop a $40,000 car."

In regards to the Camaro, however, Pericak had this to say: "I'm not putting down Camaro but I believe Mustang is superior to Camaro in its driving dynamics and therefore I wouldn't want to target something I already believe we're better than." Talking smack. It's fun to do. That is until the 2016 Camaro arrives.