Camaro vs. Mustang Animations

The cover story for the May 2006 issue of Motor Trend Magazine pits the Chevrolet Camaro Concept car vs. the 2006 Ford Mustang, where, in the words of author Frank Markus, "we're not afraid to cozy up to the experts who developed the best software..." [that's Mechanical Simulation and CarSim!] Click here for the story from the Motor Trend web site.

To prepare the article, Phil Mather of Mechanical Simulation helped Markus estimate parameters for three possible versions of the Camaro that might exist in 2009, along with parameters of comparable Mustangs (see the "making of" story here).

The three pairs of vehicles ran through four tests used by Motor Trend for their regular testing process: a slalom, a figure-8 race, acceleration, and braking.

In the table below, you can view the tests three ways. Click Image under the test name for a static image of the test, taken from the animator. If you have a Windows PC and permission to download EXE files, click SurfAnim for the full, self-contained animation. It's spectacular! You can zoom, fly around, see slow motion and other effects as described in the SurfAnim hints. If you do not have a Windows PC, you can view a low-res QuickTime movie made for some of the animations. (Of course, QuickTime must be installed to view the QuickTime movies.)