Viper In car video @ Autobahn Country Club road course

[SVS Turbo]

For you road race guys

In car vid of a practice session at the Autobahn Country Club. The fastest car of the day was a Porsche GT3 Cup car that was running a 2:32. I was knocking out 2:40 in lap traffic with a great deal left on the table This was our first testing at the track with our 96RT-10 Road Race Viper. 3400lbs race weight & 500rwhp. The slicks I was running were 6 years old but still had a little life in them. With proper tires and a clean qualifying lap I think we could play beneath 2:35

I left the vid go longer because I wanted to show the team units that are being built around the track, the timing and scoring and general members building in the pit area.

When exiting the track (pit in towards the end of the vid) you'll see a large team unit building (10,000sf that is owned by a member) that will house road race toys and be used for his personnal entertainment.

There will be a total of about 40 member owned team unit buildings around the perimeter of the track.

The track is awesome and when the entire facility is built out the ACC will be one of the coolest road course facilities in the country.

The vid is 26meg but you can stream it if you don't want to download it

Autobahn Practice Session

[Vintage Racer]

Ron

I enjoyed all ten minutes of your track time. Where is this track you ran? It sure is flat and I didn't notice any off camber turns. Speaking of turns, there's a lot of them. Too bad they don't have a least one good long straightaway so that you could really let the legs out on your Viper. Didn't seem like you ever got to use fourth gear. And, you do love to get up on those curbs. I saw some pretty quick steering when you got the car upset doing that.

The fellow racers looked very aware and courteous, though the guy in the BMW made you work for it a little to get by him. Too bad you couldn't go out and run with the next group that was sitting on the grid. You probably would have had more fun with the Formula car and the two sports racers.

Now get you some new tires on that car and go tear it up.

[Bill Pemberton]

Heh, Ron Hunior, appreciate the posting as my son and I thought we were going to make an SCCA later this month, but ye olde schedule wouldn't allow (of course the fact that they are only running the 1.4 mile course also held sway ). Looks like a technical little beast, and your brief runs into fourth, suggest you only got to around 120 a couple of times? Looks like good run off areas, and it should be super safe if the rumors that Viper Days will be there next year transpire.

Appreciate you taking the time to show us all around, and I figure with new tires you could be down , to say..............uh, a 2:31!!!!

[SVS Turbo]

Ron

I enjoyed all ten minutes of your track time. Where is this track you ran? It sure is flat and I didn't notice any off camber turns. Speaking of turns, there's a lot of them. Too bad they don't have a least one good long straightaway so that you could really let the legs out on your Viper. Didn't seem like you ever got to use fourth gear. And, you do love to get up on those curbs. I saw some pretty quick steering when you got the car upset doing that.

The fellow racers looked very aware and courteous, though the guy in the BMW made you work for it a little to get by him. Too bad you couldn't go out and run with the next group that was sitting on the grid. You probably would have had more fun with the Formula car and the two sports racers.

Now get you some new tires on that car and go tear it up.

I'm glad you enjoyed it

The Autobahn Country Club is in Joliet IL., 2 miles west of Route 66 Dragstrip. The track is brand new and there's a great deal of info on their website Autobahn Country Club

I was running a 3:73 gear and hitting close to maybe 5200? in 5th gear. Coming out of the turns I was in 3rd and never went below that. The longest straight is the one in the very beggining of the vid and it's 1850ft. The next straight after that is 1600ft. They're nice straightaways but at the end of both they pitch down and don't allow you to carry as much speed all the way to the turn. Besides the tires being old they were also a different compound from front to rear.

Everyone at the club has been very courteous on the track during sessions and while hanging out at the facility. Mark Boden (owner of Fall-Line Motorsports) was driving the BMW and is a very accomplished racer in SCCA. George Biskup is also a member and was there driving his Mopar sponsored SRT-4 T2 rocket.

If you look close, one of the the sport racers in the next group is a Ferrari 333 I don't think I would have seen much of him but maybe the others

This was only my first practice session at the track in the Viper and I was being overly courteous myself. Next time I run with new tires I won't have time to wave while I'm passing

[Vic]

Boy that BMW sure caught up to you easily on the last lap. Hah hah, just kidding.....:-D

Nice driving there! Thats not a turbo car, right?

Thanks for the vid!

[FrankBarba]

JR. You back to running road courses? Guess we will have to meet up again .....

[Cal Cobra]

Ron looked like a great time, it was great to see you blow by all of the Porches. What was the first car you passed in the video, a Boss Mustang??

Also I noticed some good fish tailing around corners, is this pretty normal for the Vipers? It's very easy to do on the street, but was just curious about it on the track.

Also I really like the rear view mirror setup, as I'm starting to find that the factory mirror location is a blind spot.

Cal

[Vintage Racer]

Ron

Ron

With the 3:73 rear end I understand why I misread what gears you were using. Anyway, it was great to see you have such a fun time on the track.

I still can't get used to the braking points I see people use in these cars. I'm always saying to myself "you should go deeper into that braking zone" but hauling in 3400 lbs of car versus a 950 lb. formula car is a whole different game.

Make sure to post your video when you run with some new tires.

[SVS Turbo]

Ron looked like a great time, it was great to see you blow by all of the Porches. What was the first car you passed in the video, a Boss Mustang??

Also I noticed some good fish tailing around corners, is this pretty normal for the Vipers? It's very easy to do on the street, but was just curious about it on the track.

Also I really like the rear view mirror setup, as I'm starting to find that the factory mirror location is a blind spot.

Cal

Going to the playground is always a good time! Yes, it's a race prepared Boss Mustang that's very fast.

The fish tailing was due to a few things:

I was testing as much as I could while practicing. Turning in early, late, bouncing off the curbs and testing the edge of the car. Finding out what was there and where I could go gave me a good idea of what the car/track had available. A few of the tighter/shorter turns I needed to be more patient. I was working on getting full throttle by the apex and couldn't quite get there. This Viper also has an extreme lightweight flywheel and 7 1/4" triple disc Quatermaster racing clutch pack. Shifting and getting in the throttle is quicker but can get you in trouble quicker too. It's difficult but alot of fun trying to figure out all these things in one session.

The tires are 6 year old Dunlop slicks that are different compounds from front to rear. The front had more grip and the rear was unforgiving. The front stuttered when you found the edge of traction and the rear was like no warning slipping on ice. The overall balance was timid and nothing close to being on "rails". The torque in the Viper is great for getting out of the turns yet it's a balancing act of smooth delivery to the throttle.

The mirror helps tremendously and allows a much quicker asessment of your surroundings. Once you use it on the track you'll always want it in the car .

[SVS Turbo]

Heh, Ron Hunior, appreciate the posting as my son and I thought we were going to make an SCCA later this month, but ye olde schedule wouldn't allow (of course the fact that they are only running the 1.4 mile course also held sway ). Looks like a technical little beast, and your brief runs into fourth, suggest you only got to around 120 a couple of times? Looks like good run off areas, and it should be super safe if the rumors that Viper Days will be there next year transpire.

Appreciate you taking the time to show us all around, and I figure with new tires you could be down , to say..............uh, a 2:31!!!!

Viper Days in the backyard.....Oh Yeah

What was I thinking? Of course we will capture a 2:31 !!!!!

Hope to see you there Billy Pemberto

[Tom, F&L GoR]

Very cool, especially to see a Gen 1 dash.

What kind of brakes? I think lots of what was left on the table was under braking, too.

[Rich Wesorick]

Ron:

Was that the South track? Ben and I are headed there on 7/23 - any chance you be out there that day?

Rich

[Bill Pemberton]

Actually Ron, if the track is 2.4 miles long, was it actually around 1.31?

Just trying to figure as you mentioned you were getting into 5th ,and a 2 minute time 31 second time is about what a good running stock Viper can do around the 4 miles of Road America.

[Viperfreak2]

Mustang toast. 911 Toast. Ferrari TOAST. M3? took a while to catch, and to rid him from the rearview, but still toast! Looks fun.

[Joel]

Nice down changes Ron, aided no doubt by the excellent SVSi pedal adjustment kit.......Thats a definite Skunk recommendation......every Viper owner who likes to heel and toe should have this mod

[Early93Viper]

Really enjoyed the video. Would like to know what all you have done to your 96 RT/10.

[Tom86ZT]

Nice down changes Ron, aided no doubt by the excellent SVSi pedal adjustment kit.......Thats a definite Skunk recommendation......every Viper owner who likes to heel and toe should have this mod

That M3 is pretty quick, thats the Fall Line Me (races T2 in SCCA and does rather well). Goes to show when you take a weaker car with a good driver the differences it makes (by that I mean look how ron toasted the Ferrari, 911, and mustang, (cars that should be faster than a stock M3) but the M3 made them look weak.

ACC has a couple of great tracks.

good job Ron

[LETHAL GTS]

First of all I like to say thanks for sharing that video! I wish there was more video's like this. If you have anymore, especially race vid's, please post them. When I'm not driving or racing my Snake I love to watch these.
Thanks again!

[SVS Turbo]

Ron

Ron

With the 3:73 rear end I understand why I misread what gears you were using. Anyway, it was great to see you have such a fun time on the track.

I still can't get used to the braking points I see people use in these cars. I'm always saying to myself "you should go deeper into that braking zone" but hauling in 3400 lbs of car versus a 950 lb. formula car is a whole different game.

Make sure to post your video when you run with some new tires.

The pics in your gallery of the Vintage Super Vee are very cool! What is the power/weight ratio? Is it difficult to find spares or parts? Open wheel is a fun drive and I bet you can go deep under braking with that racer

Congrats on your Championship

[JGK95]

Jr.

Were you out there this past weekend? Any new vids?

Jay K.

[SVS Turbo]

Very cool, especially to see a Gen 1 dash.

What kind of brakes? I think lots of what was left on the table was under braking, too.

The brakes need some tweaking also. I just couldn't get the "harder bite" I was looking for. It took way too much effort to only get a slipping feel out of the brakes. You would think it would stop on a dime with 8 piston brembo monoblock calipers and 15" rotors The master cylinder sizes on the 2 seperate master cylinders (front and rear) were sized for a 4 piston brembo race caliper in the front. I installed the bigger calipers in the hopes that they would be better but the bite was less. I did get quite a bit of "milky" looking fluid after they were bled that indicates some water in the system. The pads are an older 83 compound yet they should pop your eyes out under braking

After making all the necessary changes from the shakedown runs I think we'll get great improvements under braking

The goal is fast in fast out and everything needs to be in harmony to consistenly produce those results

[SVS Turbo]

Ron:

Was that the South track? Ben and I are headed there on 7/23 - any chance you be out there that day?

Rich

RW,

It's the full track (3.56 miles)

I now have a great reason to be there 7/23 and it's marked on my calender. The south course is more technical than the north course and it's easier to have an OCE, yet the runoff is all safe. We need some Viper Speed to show up and have the equipment to hunt down all the Porsche GT3's

Look forward to seeing you there!

[SVS Turbo]

Actually Ron, if the track is 2.4 miles long, was it actually around 1.31?

Just trying to figure as you mentioned you were getting into 5th ,and a 2 minute time 31 second time is about what a good running stock Viper can do around the 4 miles of Road America.

The video is the full course (3.56 miles) The fastest I ran at R/A with this Viper was a 2:24 and change.

R/A would seem to be a faster track compared to the ACC?

Road America track map

Autobahn Country Club track map

[SVS Turbo]

Nice down changes Ron, aided no doubt by the excellent SVSi pedal adjustment kit.......Thats a definite Skunk recommendation......every Viper owner who likes to heel and toe should have this mod

Thanks Joel

It sure does make it easier to manage the pedals on a roadcourse

[SVS Turbo]

Really enjoyed the video. Would like to know what all you have done to your 96 RT/10.

Heads, cam, balanced/blueprinted bottom end, slightly higher compression, SVS headers/exhaust, racing power steering pump w/ remote resevoir, accusump, modified cool air intake

Vapor seperation fuel system, (return system), Weldon main pump, 2 holley pumps feeding the vapor seperation tank

JRZ suspension, hypercoil springs, greaseable delrin bushings, adjustable swaybars

Extreme lightweight quartermaster flywheel and 7 1/4" triple disc racing clutch pak, stock trans, SVS shifter, stock diff (currently 3:73) w/ diff cooler.

SVS lightweight carbon fiber hood and fascia. Mopar spoiler. Autoform hardtop.

Brembo mono block racing calipers front/rear, dual master cylinder assembly, SS brake lines, brake cooling ducts

Full cage, fire supression system, racing seats, SVS pedal kit

18" BBS magnesium racing wheels

Basically it's a gutted race prepared 96RT-10

[Tom86ZT]

Ron is it the same car that was in Car and Driver Years ago in a tuner shootout?

[SVS Turbo]

Jr.

Were you out there this past weekend? Any new vids?

Jay K.

I was there yesterday instructing with the Porsche Exchange. About 50 drivers and many well prepared Porsches. I was so busy helping instruct/talking with drivers that I forgot to take pictures or video. We drove the full course again and it was a beautiful day for being at the track.

Working with drivers and watching them "get it" is very rewarding......when they let me show them the edge is when I get to "get it"

[SVS Turbo]

Ron is it the same car that was in Car and Driver Years ago in a tuner shootout?

Same Viper but changed tremendously since then. I have some good stories about that shootout. Remind me the next time we are in the same local.

[Bill Pemberton]

Wow, now I am excited , as everything I read said the long course was only 2.4 miles long, not over 3!! Sounds real fun now, and I will definitely be there if Viper Days has it scheduled next year.

Bill Pemberton
1-800-889-1893

[Rich Wesorick]

Ron:

Glad to hear you'll be there on 7/23 as we'll need someone to show us the fast way around the South course. We should have the '97 GTS, the '03 CompCoupe, and the SRT-4 with us. We raced the Vipers against GT-3's at Sebring and found them to be very formable competition...

For those who don't know, Ron's little 'ol '96 RT/10 is one bad-a$$ machine. All the right road racing goodies, plus a whole lotta motor!

See you shortly,
Rich