1. It's too late because the whole "lets put a bigger blower on it" has been done to death. There is nothing inovative with this car. The Demon has a box that comes with a computer to run race fuel, drag radials from the factory, they send the liquid secondary from the intercooler to the A/C. These are things I can geek out about. The ZL1 was the first pony car that was a triple threat. The Camaro had dual-mode exhuast and magnetic ride well before the Mustang, and the Mustang still doesn't have a torque vectoring diff. The GT350 has a unique FPC high revving V8 and CF wheels. The Corvette went mid-engine and puts exotic layout with a Chevy small block in the hands of normal Joe's. These cars inovated, and give me something to talk about, they bring excitement from an engineering standpoint. You can talk to your buddies and say, "hey, did you see the new 'vette? It went mid-engine!!!". The GT500 formula has been done, other than the DCT, but I just can't get all that excited about a DCT, other than the fact that Ford finally went with Tremec, so hopefully it won't fail like the DCTs in the Fiesta and Focus. I'm not going up to anyone and saying "hey, did you see the new GT500, they gave it a bigger blower and a DCT." Yawn...
2. The prices are not exactly similar, a 3LT (that they used in the test) is $15k more than a 1LT which is not a performance option, and you have to pay ADMs on the GT500, so the GT500 is more expensive by tens of thousands of dollars that a freaking Corvette. You can get a 1LT with the Magnetic ride and Z51 performance package for $67, and no ADMs. Not to mention, the GT500 would be $10k cheaper if the Ford faithfull would stop paying ADMs. Let's face it, most folks that are buying a GT500 right now are going to add a few optipons like the handling package and the technology package which brings the MSRP to $78,500. A few more ticks of the options list, and we are conservitavely at $80,000. Add some ADM and that's $90k or so. At that price, I would just wait for the C8 Z06. If this were two years ago, and the price were a little lower, we wouldn't even have the C8 to compare to, it would make more sense.
3. As I said, VIR full course is an HP track. Put those two on most any other track, and the 'vette will probably win, with several hundred HP less. And again, wait a year, and the Z06 'vette will be competitively priced to a GT500, and will blow the GT500 away on a track.
4. It's also too late because here you are, a Mustang guy, on a car forum of a car that is going away, no longer in development, saying, wow, we finally beat you after you gave up! Whatever makes you fell better, but that's pretty pethetic. We all know that if Chevy kept interest in the Camaro, they would be showing off an updated ZL1 with the ZR1 engine (LT5), and I can guarantee you, it would blow the GT500 off of any track. They could be offering it as a 2020 MY because the LT5 is no longer used in any car. Plus, they would probably still offer a manual as well. But, the Mustang crowd gets a win because Chevy gave up on the Camaro. Enjoy!
5. Which one would I pick? In reality, neither. I'm plenty happy with my Camaro right now, and in the near future. It's my daily driver, and weekend road course car. But, if I was in the market, I would pick up a used (pre-ugly-refresh) SS1LE. I could get one for less than half of the price of the cars we are talking about, and then get a boat with the difference. If the GT500 and C8 were my only choices, I would pick the C8 without even thinking. To me, it's an exotic with a Chevy small block at Chevy prices. I have no need for 8 billion HP for a daily driver, I am already frustrated I can't get into my 455 HP car's throttle that often. I don't 1/4 mile, I don't roll race, stoplight race, or street race of any type. I am not a big fan of the power band of FI engines and prefer N/A. The interior and exterior of the C8 is MUCH better looking, in my opinion. In fact, I hate the black bumper thing on the the front of the GT500, it looks as ugly as the latest Camaro refresh. The GT350 is a better looking Mustang (and the best looking Mustang in years), in my opinion. So, yeah, C8 all day and twice on Sunday. It's not like I would take that thing to a road course and say, wow this thing is too slow, I better get a GT500.
But, if you like the GT500 more, I respect that, and for Ford guys and Mustang guys, it's a solid car. I would be frustrated it took so long to comeout, and I would be pissed to have to pay ADM or search for a deal, or wait even longer for a deal to appear. The only thing I would ask for if I were a Mustang guy, was a manual transmission option. Not that I hate a DCT, but it would be nice to have the option. Same could be said for the C8 too.