When the Boss Mustang first hit the streets back in the late ‘60’s, it was one badass machine. From its Trans Am racing heritage to its thoroughly modern 302 V8 engine, it exuded power and poise from every angle. Of course, as we now know, automakers were a bit generous with their power ratings, and those “modern engines” don’t hold a candle to the computerized power plants of today’s cars.

The Truth About Cars reports that Consumer Reports compared the classic 1970 Boss Mustang with today’s 2011 Mustang V6. The results aren’t what we expected.

The two Mustangs, separated by 40 years, are surprisingly similar in a number of aspects. For one thing, the “official” horsepower ratings are very similar, though they used different testing methods. The ’70 Boss Mustang was rated at 290 “gross” horsepower, while the 2011 V6 Mustang has a 305 horsepower “net” rating. The Boss had a 4-speed manual transmission, while the V6 Mustang has six-speed manual or automatic transmissions.

The cars are surprisingly similar in weight too, with the Boss tipping the scales at around 3,355 pounds. The 2011 V6 weighs in at over 3,500 pounds. The numbers we care most about though are the ¼ mile times. The Boss Mustang, when tested by consumer reports in 1970, ran the ¼ mile in 16 seconds at 91 mph. The 2011 Mustang V6? 14. 8 seconds at 98 mph from a much smaller engine. About the only thing the Boss Mustang beats the V6 in is, surprisingly, braking, coming to a stop from 60 mph in just 114 feet. The V6 Mustang needs 130 feet. Technology sure has come a long way, hasn’t it?