Clutch and Engine durability question.

[rmani]

Couple of basic questions from a prospective buyer:

How long does a clutch usually last on a viper?
Assuming the engine has not been abused how long does the engine usually last?
What are the major service intervals for the car?

[BLWNASP]

it's basically the same with most manuals. Take care of You're Viper. Change the oil every 3K miles, but most importantly check the oil OFTEN. Vipers do burn more oil than other cars do so keep the level where it should be. The transmission and engine are very durable and strong generally speaking. These cars are meant to be driven and driven hard. They can take spirited driving so long as you're not stupid with it, or you run through higher RPM's (on a drive in 2nd instead of 3rd) for extended time.

That is because these engine's get hot and in the case of track time, or on a VCA drive the temp needs to be kept an eye on. Overall in the couple of years of Viper ownership I have not had one problem except for mistakes I made on my own.

A very solid car.

[rmani]

OK thanks. So buying one with 30k miles or so it's probably pretty unlikely it'll need a new clutch anytime soon then right?

Another amateur question but I'm looking at a GTS between MY 97-2000. None of these models had ABS right? What about power steering?

[JonB - PartsRack]

All Vipers have PS. ABS began in all Viper in 2001. RUle of thumb: 30k miles = 30% clutch gone in a 50-50 city-hiway Viper, not raced. Vipers average only about 4000mi/year....most are driven weekends and seasonally. I woild prefer a 98-99 to a 2000, but a 2001 to a 1999. Especially for a newbee. Be careful, the torque WILL bite you faster than U can notice it.....

[rmani]

I am only interested in an GTS though and I thought I read somewhere that the GTS' all got ABS in 97 or 98 but I wasn't sure about that.

Thanks for the warning I have a som experience with racing cars (both auto-X and road courses) and even more experience with high hp sportbikes so I know the dos and don'ts. =)

[RTTTTed]

If the car is stock the clutch should be good for nearly the cars life. My stock clutch got replaced @20,000miles because it has been raced with BFG drag radials and has 720rwhp.

Ted

[ViperJon]

Depends on how and who drove it.
My clutch was fried by the previous owner in 9K miles, tranny had to be rebuilt to.

[2002_Viper_GTS_ACR]

OK, so i dont agree with the vipers eating oil. I'm on my 3rd one, personally clocked over 80k miles on my cars, and i havent had an oil consumption issue yet. Matter of fact, even my blower 06 doesnt even use oil at any noticable amount.

oh well.. maybe someone got a bad one..

Jon

[CitySnake]

Originally Posted by rmani

I am only interested in an GTS though and I thought I read somewhere that the GTS' all got ABS in 97 or 98 but I wasn't sure about that.

Thanks for the warning I have a som experience with racing cars (both auto-X and road courses) and even more experience with high hp sportbikes so I know the dos and don'ts. =)

That's probably not the right attitude. The difference is the TQ, not necessary the HP. It's most likely, despite your experience, that you have NOT had much of it in a car with more TQ at 2G's than most "race" cars have at redline. Just friendly advice.