Mustang Vs Challenger Vs Camaro: Muscle’s Holy Trinity Drag Race

In Europe we had the so-called holy trinity; the LaFerrari, The McLaren P1 and the Porsche 918 Spyder. All were legends in their own time. The story is the same in the USA for three muscle-bound V8 heavyweights: the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, the Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye and the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

Until now no one has been able to bring the top-spec, fastest automatic versions of each of them together in a formal drag race. On a cold morning, with a private piece of asphalt to play with, Edmunds presenters Carlos Lago, Elana Scherr and Kurt Niebuhr have run a race we’ve been waiting for.

The Camaro is the lightest and least powerful of the three. In ZL1 1LE guise the Camaro packs 650bhp and 650lb ft from a 6.2-litre supercharged engine, pushing 1765kg (3892lb). The Challenger, in Redeye Widebody spec, matches the Camaro’s 6.2 litres but hits with 797bhp and 707lb ft. On the other hand, it’s chubbier at 2053kg (4527lb).

Third on the list is the 1841kg Shelby GT500 with its Carbonfibre Track Pack. It sits in the middle both in weight and power, developing 760bhp and 625lb ft – but from a ‘mere’ 5.2 supercharged litres. Which one is your money on?