Another Newbie!

Sweet Ride

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Posts
806
Reaction score
0
Location
Denver, CO
So here I am after drooling and fantasizing over Vipers since I was 10 years old and finally realizing my dream! :D Last Friday I purchased a Red/Black 1997 GTS. It currently has 20,000 miles on the clock. Oh yeah, and it has a Paxton blower and Corsa cat-back exhaust. It was "conservatively" dyno tuned to 589 hp at the rear wheels. OMG!!! This car is everything I hoped for and more.

Here's the rest of the story (long version):
I finally decided on a Viper after about a year of looking at Mustangs and Chargers. I had a price in mind and decided that if I could spend that much on a Charger, I could spend that much on a Viper. I have been perusing the VCA classifieds and Autotrader for about 8 months now. I had recently found a '98 GTS at Palmer Dodge in Roswell, GA. It was a pretty nice car and it was priced well. After getting a run around from a couple of sales guys I put my $1000 deposit on the car. I called back three days later to finish up the deal and the GM told me that one of their guys had sold the car. ***!!! :curse: So after a cooling off period I asked them about another car they had on the lot. About the same time, I received a PM from 97GTSMonster. He mentioned that he was about to list his car and wanted to know if I was interested. After getting all the stats I decided to go for it.

So last Friday, my wife and I flew out to Tampa to pick the car up. After a nice meet and greet I checked the car out and gave it a nice little test drive. I fell in love almost immediately. I had to have it! So I called my bank, made the transfer, and within a couple of hours we were on our way back to AZ. I was thrilled to be able to get a chance to spend the next 2200 miles with my new toy. :drive: What a great drive! It started raining about 4 hours into the drive. The rain lasted for about 3 hours. It was a pleasant introduction to the wonders and amusement of hydroplaning. I had to drop my speed down below 45mph at times due to the tendency of the car to want to drive me off the road. Great fun! Pulled into Pensacola and spent the night.

On the road bright and early (10:00 A.M.) Saturday morning. Finished out Florida. Put Alabama and Mississippi in the rear view mirror. Hit Louisiana later in the day. Drove through New Orleans and was almost brought to tears at the sad state of that city. It was really heartbreaking. :sadpace: Got through Louisiana and on to the never ending stretch of Texas. For those of you that have not had the pleasure, you enter Texas at mile marker 880. Ugh! It's especially depressing because we had traversed into and out of 5 states in one day, yet the bulk of the rest of the trip was spent in one giant, featureless state. (Sorry Texans...) Made it through San Antonio late Saturday night. On the stretch out of San Antonio I was within a lane change and a few feet of hitting a deer. That would have ruined the trip. I figured it was as good a time as any to bed down for the night.

Up early again (10:00 A.M.) Sunday morning. Are we really still in Texas? :dunno: I was a little tired so I handed the reigns over to my wife. I don't think she enjoys the car as much as I do. I must also take the opportunity to say that sleeping upright in the passenger seat for about 300 miles is not the most comfortable thing I have ever done. Still in Texas.... I have never been more happy to see mile marker 1 on any road trip I have ever been on. Finally into New Mexico. I hooked up with a couple other speeders and we made quick work of New Mexico. Back into Arizona. A stop in Tucson to show off the car to my dad and finally back to Phoenix.

In summary, it was a pretty decent trip. I thoroughly enjoyed the car. The power is amazing. The attention is great. Texas is huge.

And now the endless list of thank you's: :thankyou:
My mom and dad for teaching me the value of a dollar and hard work. Without those lessons I wouldn't be living this dream. :hail:

God for daily breath and this life. :spin:

My wife for actually going along with all this nonsense and pretending to enjoy it. Extra thanks to you honey! ;)

Every Aries, Omni, Caravan, Monaco, and Diplomat owner that allowed Dodge to get to the point where they could sell such an amazing low production super car. :bigsmile:

VCA members 97GTSMonster, XLR8, Joseph Dell, and V10SpeedLuvr for all of their help and knowledge. :beer:

Whoever wrote on page 19 of the owners manual the following passage: "In a collision, an unrestrained child, even a tiny baby, can become a missile inside the vehicle." Absolutely priceless statement that makes me chuckle every time I think about it. Baby = Missile. Funny stuff. :rolaugh:

Palmer Dodge for hiring the most inept sales people on the planet. Without them I never would have had the chance to land the car that I did. :mf:

The Florida Highway Patrol officer that gave me a warning for going 88 in a 70 zone instead of a ticket. :nono:

And thank you to someone for the following inventions: the internal combustion engine, energy drinks, HoHo's, 80mph speed limits, the Ipod, loud exhaust, and freedom!

Check out the pics of the car here: Login | Facebook

Did I mention this is going to be my daily driver? It puts a smile on my face every time I think about it. :headbang:

Now stop reading this and go give your Viper a hug..... :hug:

Talk to you all later.

Tom
:newbie:
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
S

Sweet Ride

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Posts
806
Reaction score
0
Location
Denver, CO
A couple things I forgot to mention:

Click on the facebook link for pictures. You don't have to have a facebook account to check them out.

Don't tell Al Gore, but I burned through 113.312 gallons of dinosaur juice with an average of about 19.42 miles per gallon. It's alot better mileage that I had counted on.

I forgot to thank the guy in the silver Z06 outside of Housotn. He reminded me how much of a posuer (most) Corvette owners are. If you must ask, I won!
 

97gtsmonster

Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 29, 2007
Posts
33
Reaction score
0
Location
tampa fl
hey Tom im glad you had a good drive.. hope you enjoy it.. i will be back in the game sooner or later..
 

mike & juli

Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 21, 2005
Posts
11,715
Reaction score
0
Location
Upstate NY
WELCOME Tom!!! GREAT write-up!! That is one GORGEOUS GTS!!! LOVE red w/black stripes...don't see that around that often (ViperJon notwithstanding!!). TOTALLY ENJOY! ~juli
 

SSG CHIC

Viper Owner
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Posts
463
Reaction score
0
Congrats on your car! I, too, went to Palmer Dodge just to check out the Vipers and make sure I could reach the pedals and see over the steering wheel. (Don't laugh guys, I'm 5' tall and this is a problem with some cars.) They proceeded to tell me that a 99 Viper was a '06 Viper. I laughed at them and left (after making sure I could see over the steering wheel). Be glad you didn't buy from these guys. They called us a couple of times and told a different lie every time.

Nice car and glad you made it back safely!
 

tbsviper

Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 25, 2007
Posts
502
Reaction score
0
Great story Sweet Ride! Congratulations ... sounds like you are off to a great start.:2tu: Certainly nice of the Florida patrolman to give you a break:)
 
OP
OP
S

Sweet Ride

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Posts
806
Reaction score
0
Location
Denver, CO
Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome! It's great to be part of the best car club I have seen!

A few other responses:

Red Snake: What other mods have you done? You are rocking about 100 more ft lbs than me.

Juli: I think the only color combo I like more is Blue/White. I am partial to the GT2 White/Blue look as well. I am way impressed with how well the black stripes look on this car. And of course red with black stripes are the fastest Vipers out there! Thanks for the props! :2tu:

SSG Chic: At least you walked away before you gave them any money. It was like going through hell to get my "refundable" deposit back. It took almost two weeks and a call to the GM's cell phone (thanks Joseph Dell) to finally get it all taken care of. The guys at that dealership are a piece of work. I don't know how they sell anything. I was considering starting another thread about bad dealership experiences. Of course I have to do a search first. I don't want to get yelled at for a double post... :rolleyes:

tbsviper: Unfortunately for me the Texas patrolman wasn't as pleasant. He hit me with 85 in a 65. That's impossible! I had to have been going waaaaay faster! :lmao:

I'm surprised that Dave6666 hasn't chimed in on this. I have made mention of Texas at least 6 times now... :dunno:
 
Last edited:

RTTTTed

Viper Owner
Joined
Jun 6, 2007
Posts
6,438
Reaction score
0
Last Feb. 07, when I bought my 98 GTS I got a warnign ticket from a higway patrolman in Wisconson. Did you know that their minimium ticket is $182? That if you can't pay immediately, on the side of the road you get a free trip to jail? Can't imagine what it would have cost you for more than 20mph over speed limit. Waited until state line before I started speeding again. Didn't really have to, since the next state to the west is 70/75mph.

When I bought my last GTS in Ohio I stopped at the first Walmart and bought a cheap radar detector to get me home. Now I run an SRX and tell everyone it's for "safety codes" ( fire truck, ambulance, road closed, construction, etc. 65 safety codes.



Ted
 

2snakes4us

Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 29, 2007
Posts
1,299
Reaction score
0
Location
Nixa , MO
Welcome! Good color combo there. You can read in your post your fired up :D. and that grin will be there for some time.
congrats on the sweet ride.:2tu:
And your right..Texas is a looooooong state.
 

Red Snake

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Posts
2,048
Reaction score
0
Location
NashVegas
Red Snake: What other mods have you done? You are rocking about 100 more ft lbs than me. :dunno:
I have Roe 8# pulley, MSD Boost a pump, Belanger headers, no cats, Corsa track exhaust, water **** injection, T&D roller rockers and tuned by Joe Donovan (Mod probably worth 50 hp/50 ft pounds :D).

I could probably make more on this setup with a better fuel pump. I am maxing out the stocker.:nono:
 

mike & juli

Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 21, 2005
Posts
11,715
Reaction score
0
Location
Upstate NY
Sweet Ride...yes, the B/W GTS is the epitome of Vipers, I've always said that~! Definitely...and yeah, the white w/blue VOI edition is stunning as well. Since you are interested in the blue/white GTS, have you checked out ViperJon's 2 Vipers???? You will be pleasantly surprised!!! ENJOY~~~juli
 

Freddog11

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 24, 2007
Posts
292
Reaction score
0
Location
Higley AZ
Welcome to another AZ Viper owner, one that actually drives it so I might see you around town. I bought mine in San Antonio a year ago and drove it home. I had half the drive you did (half the fun) and I'm glad I drove it instead of transporting. Hope to see you around sometime, maybe the Pavilions on a Saturday night, I never see a Viper there besides mine. Congrats!!!
 
OP
OP
S

Sweet Ride

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Posts
806
Reaction score
0
Location
Denver, CO
Welcome to another AZ Viper owner, one that actually drives it so I might see you around town. I bought mine in San Antonio a year ago and drove it home. I had half the drive you did (half the fun) and I'm glad I drove it instead of transporting. Hope to see you around sometime, maybe the Pavilions on a Saturday night, I never see a Viper there besides mine. Congrats!!!

Thanks for the welcome. I was actually thinking about hitting up the Pavilions show in a week or two. I can't make it this Saturday but possibly on the 15th. PM me. Maybe we can meet up, and/or get some of the other local guys to come out.

Half the fun indeed! I think the drive back was 2200 miles of the best motoring experience I have ever had. It was waaaay better than getting it shipped. I still smile when I drive it around. :drive: What a great car! :D

Love your color combo. I'm a sucker for white/blue and blue/white. We'll see you around...
 

Freddog11

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 24, 2007
Posts
292
Reaction score
0
Location
Higley AZ
Sounds cool. I'm gonna be out of town on vacation on the 15th. I don't hit the Pavilions that often but about once a month I like to go there and check out the cars there. Sometimes on the bike, sometimes the car. It's a fun way to spend the afternoon, I'll just be happy to see another Viper there. I'm sure you've noticed that you rarely see a Viper around town here, I think there only a couple guys that actually drive 'em and two of them are on this board. Check out the AZ section and you'll see what I mean. See ya soon.:drive:
 

ViperGTS

Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 15, 2001
Posts
5,016
Reaction score
0
Welcome - you will never regret having bought a Viper.

A SMILE is planted to your face for the rest of your life.

ENJOY ................... and keep your speed down in the rain and with cold tires.
 

NukedGTS

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 5, 2008
Posts
409
Reaction score
0
Location
New Hampshire
A couple things I forgot to mention:

Click on the facebook link for pictures. You don't have to have a facebook account to check them out.

Don't tell Al Gore, but I burned through 113.312 gallons of dinosaur juice with an average of about 19.42 miles per gallon. It's alot better mileage that I had counted on.

I forgot to thank the guy in the silver Z06 outside of Housotn. He reminded me how much of a posuer (most) Corvette owners are. If you must ask, I won !

I would venture to say 75% of us on here owned a Vette at one time or another (and some still do). I don't think we become different people just because we decided to try owning a Viper. Wwelcome to Viper ownership. Personally, I'm still getting used to all the Vette bashing. I'm sure I'll get used to it.
 
OP
OP
S

Sweet Ride

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Posts
806
Reaction score
0
Location
Denver, CO
A couple things I forgot to mention:

Click on the facebook link for pictures. You don't have to have a facebook account to check them out.

Don't tell Al Gore, but I burned through 113.312 gallons of dinosaur juice with an average of about 19.42 miles per gallon. It's alot better mileage that I had counted on.

I forgot to thank the guy in the silver Z06 outside of Housotn. He reminded me how much of a posuer (most) Corvette owners are. If you must ask, I won !

I would venture to say 75% of us on here owned a Vette at one time or another (and some still do). I don't think we become different people just because we decided to try owning a Viper. Wwelcome to Viper ownership. Personally, I'm still getting used to all the Vette bashing. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

I know, I know... I just had to take a jab at Vette owners. Coming from the Mustang camp where it was a constant battle with the Camaro guys, I thought it would be fun to stir the ***.

Don't tell anyone, but I still like Vettes. I have a friend that owns a few and they are all pretty nice cars... Don't tell anyone I said that...:nono:
 
Top