Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast1
I am planning on installing the Belanger headers as soon as I hit the 1000 mile mark. I know they were on the Viper vs. Viper car and that is good enough for me. However, IF I do break something in what I consider should be a bullet proof motor, I will consider it to be Dodge's fault for not building the flagship car that is advertised to be a race car for the street (ACR, COMP COUPE) (STREET and RACING TECHNOLOGY) strong enough to handle it. This thread should be turned around as FALSE ADVERTISEMENT on Dodge's part. The Dodge Viper has a racing heritage and it should be engineered to keep it that way. The SRT engineers are car guys that like to modify their cars so why did they not see that Viper owners would more than likely be modifying this car. For a couple of hundred dollars extra I would rather have a forged piston option than a dumbas* center console piece of plastic with a cheap looking pattern design on it.
DODGE KNOWS WE RACE MODIFY OUR CARS AND THEY ADVERTISE IT THAT WAY, IF THEY BUILT THE CAR ON THE RAGGED EDGE TO SAVE MONEY IT IS THEIR FAULT!!!
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Well, I am a lawyer and unfortunately you are wrong about literally everything you said--other than the fact that probably all of us would gladly pay a little extra for forged pistons, etc. to make our motors stronger.
It is unrealistic for manufacturers to design-in tolerances and cover under warranties modifications they did not create. There is a Federal Warranty Act (Magnusson-Moss, etc. or something like that) which covers this area. Essentially, if the modification caused the failure/problem, then it is not covered by the warranty and the mfg. can deny coverage. Fair enough.
Given the current economic state, more and more mfgs. are putting a new spin on warranty matters. Instead of handling matters case-by-case giving dealers great discretion, the mfgs. are now beginning to issue bulletins stating that if certain modifications are made such as computer tuning, then the entire warranty is void. Techically, this is a violation of Federal Law, but effectively, it will be up to the consumer to bear the cost of overturning this decision.
So, while I agree with you that most of us do like to mod to some degree, we must be prepare to pay if there is a failure. Like most here, it seems to me that headers do not constitute a major mod and should be OK in terms of warranty. If you add computer tuning it certainly pushes matters a bit more.
Fortunately, Dodge gave us a 600hp motor right out of the box so we have great power already.