There are multiple ways in which you can pair rivals together—based on tradition, based on price, based on performance—and they're all just as valid. The holy grail is a pair that ticks all the boxes, but that's getting harder and harder to come by.
The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1 and the 2021 Lexus RC F Track Edition certainly only fulfill one of the mentioned criteria: performance. The two brands are by no means traditional rivals, and the Japanese car costs way more than the American model, so there's no comparison to be made there either.
In terms of engines, though, they are very evenly matched. That's because they both use 5.0-liter naturally aspirated V8 units to great effect, with the Mach 1 developing 480 hp and 420 lb-ft (569 Nm) of maximum torque, while the Lexus trails that by just 8 hp and 25 lb-ft (34 Nm) of torque. If that's not in the same ballpark, then we don't know what is.
To make matters even clearer, both cars are developed with a little bit of track action in mind; in fact, the Lexus even says so in its name: RC F Track Edition. To support these claims, the pair has aggressive aero (that front splitter on the Mustang is just ridiculous) designed to enhance handling at higher speeds, including a set of rear wings that show how you can have the same result using two very different solutions.
However, there is one very big difference between these two, and we don't mean the color of the upholstery (the Lexus gets a kinky red one, in case you missed it). No, it's all about the transmission. Starting with the least fortunate of the pair, the RC F has an eight-speed automatic. As if the fact it lacks the engagement of a stick shift wasn't enough, the unit in the Lexus isn't even particularly of the good automatic kind. The best way to describe it would be "meh," especially in a car that's supposed to be a track machine.
The Mustang, on the other hand, gets the six-speed manual from the now-defunct Shelby GT350, and that's all you need to know. The two presenters sing its praises throughout the clip, and it even turns out to be the decisive feature that hands the Mustang the win.
It single-handedly makes the Mach 1 more fun, and that's despite the RC F's tendency to lose traction and go sideways at the slightest sight of a bend in the road. Do the Japanese even know there are other ways to drive on a track than sliding from one corner to another?
Throughout the clip, Yuri and Jacob, the two hosts, keep awarding points to one car or the other for various features (wheels, exhaust, sound, interior, handling, comfort, etc.). Unfortunately, they don't provide us with a final score, but it just goes to show that, in the end, it doesn't even matter because a car is not the sum of its parts.
The RC F could be winning by ten points, but if it doesn't score them where it counts, they could end up meaning close to nothing in the final decision. It's not the case here as it's a close call—so close, in fact, that it would have gone the other way if it weren't for the wonderful transmission.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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