Reviewer Consensus · Head to Head
Comparisons
Every matchup is built from real reviewers driving both cars — their head-to-head verdicts, aggregated.
comparison videos analyzed · hours watched
matchups written up so far
compare › Mustang S650 vs Nissan Z RZ34
Ford Mustang S650 vs Nissan Z RZ34
10 reviewers · 14 videos · updated Raitis Rides · 4·ThatDudeinBlue · 2·Kirk Kreifels · 1·Savagegeese · 1
// the short answer
We watched 14 videos from 10 reviewers. Want the V8 and the better manual? Mustang, and it's the easier one to drive every day. Want the lighter, more agile car? That's the Z, and it gets the nod on value.
Counts are head-to-head calls: each time a reviewer picked one car over the other.
// who each one is for
// category by category
№ 01
Performance
Mustang wins4–1clear
Mustang GT wins on raw power with its 5.0L V8.
“In a Mustang GT, you do have the 5-liter V8. It does pump out 460 horsepower standard... This though has 400 horsepower.”
“the 5-liter I think it's one of the best feeling non-special exotic engines you could buy”
№ 02
Handling
Nissan Z wins5–1clear
Z wins on agility due to being significantly lighter.
№ 03
Fun to drive
Mustang wins3–0thin
Dark Horse has a superior manual transmission.
№ 04
Daily drivability
Mustang wins3–0thin
Has a usable back seat, unlike the Z.
Where reviewers split. Reviewers genuinely split. ThatDudeinBlue would 'definitely take the S650 over the new Z'; Raitis Rides goes both ways: in one Z NISMO video he says his Mustang GT drive 'put a bigger smile on my face', yet one of his titles calls the Z Performance the better sports car than a Mustang GT and another calls the Dark Horse the better one than a Z NISMO. Even the engines split them: TheStraightPipes finds the Z 'way torquier' down low while the Coyote has to be revved out, but Raitis credits the V8 with the linear low-end torque its turbocharged rivals lack. Most of this comes from single-car reviews measuring one against the other; Savagegeese's is the only dedicated head-to-head.
“those two options don't have a back seat at all so even though this back seat's pretty tight it is infinitely bigger than the lack of a back seat we find in the nissan or the toyota”
№ 05
Value
Nissan Z wins3–0thin
Z interior feels more luxurious than the Mustang.
№ 06// the footage
Hear it in the reviewer’s words
Savagegeese
Posted Aug 31, 2023Open on YouTube
Moments worth your time
RevMatchTV
Posted Oct 4, 2022Open on YouTube
Moments worth your time
Raitis Rides
Posted Apr 27, 2026Open on YouTube
Moments worth your time
// the long version
“Two ways to spend the same money on a rear-drive coupe with a stick: the Mustang is the big-hearted 5.0 Coyote V8 with a back seat, and the RZ34 Z is the lighter, sharper-steering twin-turbo that drives more like a sports car.
The Mustang wins the noise and the shove. Its 5.0 V8 makes 460 hp to the Z's 400, Savagegeese calls it 'one of the best feeling non-special exotic engines you could buy', and RevMatchTV calls it the faster car outright: 'the power to weight ratio is better it's got more power it's got more torque.' Add a usable back seat and better mid-corner stability on exit.
The Z wins on the road. It's about 600 lb lighter than a Mustang GT, the turn-in is sharper and the steering more communicative, and its VR30 twin-turbo V6 delivers its punch low instead of asking you to wring it out like the Coyote. The cabin feels a cut above too — Kirk Kreifels finds the Mustang 'very cheap, even in the Dark Horse'.
The trade: the Z sounds 'way worse' than the Mustang and gives up the back seat; the Mustang is 'big. Big.' and a boat on back roads without MagneRide.