Viper/Ferrari days in the North East ?

[Clint Sever]

Ohh, please tell me that aero kit is functional! It kind of looks like a riced-out Testarossa. But I love the side scoop w/out the grille, it adds a lot to the car! Good luck with it!! Clint

[99t1]

Ask Skip Thomas (skip@viperdays.com)if he is running a Viper Ferrari War this year

or Chris Barone (bbwendy@email.msn.com) about the Viper/Ferrari event at Pocono.

[Tom Shapiro]

The Viper/Ferrari War was an Illinois VCA event that took place in August. The past few years not enough Ferraris' attended the event, so this year the name has been changed to the Viper Wars.

[Mike H]

Well if you want to get wupped on bring that machine to Pocono race track on Friday April 9th and Snake Pit Racing and our five Vipers will be out with the NJ viper club test and tuning, but better than that come on May 4th, a Friday, and our Vipers will be ready to race along with the Ferrari's from Ny....that is if you think that Countach is really all that...

Mike H
Snake Pit Racing

Ps: always nice to meet some new car guys....so come on down!

[Supercharged Vipermad]

Assuming drivers are equal, the only Ferrari that has a chance against a Viper on a real roadcoarse is the 360. The F355, 512TR and 550 wouldn't stand a chance against a GTS. Of course the F40 & F50 will more than do the job, but it's very rare that somebody will take those to the track and not baby them.

[Mike H]

Im with you on that on Paul....bring em on....Vipers take on all comers...

[Jon 98GTS]

Hmmmm... Mumdodge says that the 360 has a chance against a Viper on a "real roadcourse" with equal drivers?

I'll probably get flamed for disagreeing with the Gospel according to St. Paul but I'll do it anyways: Road & Track clocked Steve Millen around Thunderhill in a stock 360 at 2:07.65. But didn't some pinoche driver in the bone-stock Viper Days class get timed at a 2:07.454 at Thunderhill last weekend?

Two-tenths isn't a big difference in time but I'd be willing to bet that there's a HUGE difference in the driver ability. Get rid of that amateur weenie driver in the Viper and put in a driver with Millen's skill and the Viper will embarass the 360 all day long.

Or maybe Mumford doesn't think that Thunderhill is a "real roadcoarse." Is that why he didn't show up? (Or are we going to get some lame excuse about being afraid of getting his Hoosiers wet?)

I agree with Paul about the F40 and F50 though.

[99t1]

A 355 Challenge car will give a (sans Mumford) stock GTS a run especially in the braking zone. Have you looked at the monster brake set up on a Challenge car. Someone said it was the same as the F40. A GTS will slightly pull away on the straights.

[Supercharged Vipermad]

Listen here Jon '98 GTS from San Jose--whoever you are! On a "real" racetrack like Thunderhill, I too, would take the Viper over a 360. But on a psuedo-track (streets of Willow, Texas Motorsports Ranch), I think I'd go the 360 route. A F355 would get worked over in every aspect but brakes. Brakes don't make for fast lap times unless you're talking about a long race. At Willow Springs the F355 Challenge cars would get pummelled by a Viper, but the 360 Challenge cars would in turn pummel a stock Viper. It's a moot point, though, because Challenge cars aren't street legal and aren't really even that close to their street legal versions. If you're comparing the non-legal versions, I'm sure the GTS-R would handily annihilate a Challenge car.

I wouldn't lend too much credence to beating the magazines. Car and Driver just recently went 1:34.98 in an ACR and Motor Trend got an even more absurd 1:42 in a Z06. While you were tooling around in the rain, Big Daddy Straight-line Brett Mayes was pulling 1:42s in his Integra-R (hardly a Z06) and a certain somebody launched a low 1:29 Scud on the field in an ACR with Michellin Pilots (even 275 fronts) and just headers.

I was actually at Willow Springs the day Motor Trend had the Z06 at the track and it was rather entertaining watching them attempt to get around the track. The Ford test driver was pulling 1:38s or so in the Viper and was awfully proud of himself because in his mind he thought he was getting every last ounce out of the Viper. It was all I could do to not steal Ford's Viper and give them all a lesson.

A couple of years ago, a similar thing happened when Car and Driver raced a Viper against a YZF1000 at Willow Springs. They had some Dom Deluise look alike from Cycle World tool the YZF around Willow to the tune of 1:36 and declared the Viper a faster track vehicle. Put a decent rider on that bike and it wouldn't be hard to go 1:36 in the rain! But somehow the world assumed cars are quicker than bikes thanks to his gross incompetence.

So mystery man Jon '98 GTS the moral of the story is...Steve Millen or not, I bet if you drop Bontempi in the 360 it would be a whole different story.

WAR CRAPPY JOURNALISTS......ERRRRRRRR RACERS!!!!!!!!!

[Jon 98GTS]

Now, you listen here, Mumford from Yorba Linda! If you've ever heard me rag on the editors of my local newspaper for sucking up to algore, you would know that I'm the LAST person to believe something just because it's in print...

I would be embarassed to call myself a "Motor Trend Test Driver" if all I could manage was a 1:38 in a Viper or a 1:42 in a Z06. We all know that Car and Driver left a lot on the table with their 1:34 in an ACR (Michael Weinrab ran a 1:32 in his ACR back in January). And a 1:36 on a bike is truly pathetic.

But don't even bring up a "certain somebody" and their scud-launching 1:29!! I heard about that... but I also heard he couldn't even beat a couple of trucks out there that day!

I tend to agree with you about the 360 being faster on the "pseudo-tracks." Bontempi in a 360 will be faster than an amateur pinoche in a Viper at Motorsports Ranch or Firebird. But Adelberg in a shifter-kart would be faster than both those driver/car combinations at a Malibu Grand Prix track. (Well, MAYBE he would be faster -- I may have to backpedal away from that statement...)

[Viperrick]

Dear Mr. Countach you are welcome to come out to the one and ONLY Viper-Ferrari War, (held by the Illinois Viper Club)on August 18 and 19th at GingerMan Raceway in western Michigan. This event

[Supercharged Vipermad]

Dear Brad,

See "real" roadcourse above. Not too many racetracks have 38 second lap times that I know of. Also, i seem to remember that the tire on the Viper blew out and they mismatched the tires or something on it. An F355 would get stomped into oblivion by a Viper GTS, no question.

Now at Malibu Grand Prix where 38 second laps are common (even for Adelberg in his shifter kart) my 'lil scooter would be a match for a Viper.

Also, if you had been at Willow the day when Ford and Motor Trend had a Z06, Viper (Ford owned), FR500 Mustang, Super Ford Focus Turbo, etc. you'd have a new found respect for just how crappy those guys drive. All of us at the shifter kart track were marvelling in the new-fangled apexes that these guys were trying to carve. A real treat!

Again, I'd take a 360 over a Viper on a 38 second racetrack anyday (never a F355 though), but you'd never find me on a 38 second racetrack in the first place. Go to an open track event and you'll see first hand just how fast Vipers really are.

One more question...Do you need to be a certain height (like Disneyland) to get on a 38 second racetrack?

[Supercharged Vipermad]

P.S. - Jon '98 GTS (if that's your real name),

Yes there was A Chevy truck that gave Adelberg and me "the business", but we all know not to mess with Chevy trucks. I was referring strictly to Ferraris. Now, if you're looking for trouble I'll wheel out my 2000 Chevy Silverado Z-71 and there will be hell to pay!

[Mike H]

Mumford....get em....LOL....Its always interesting when people compare "challenge" type cars with "street" Vipers. Stock versus stock, GO AWAY FERRARI, GTSR Viper vrs Challenge Ferrari 360...LET ME# REPEAT MYSELF!!!!!GO AWAY FERRARI...
And these magazine guys, let us get in em and torture test these cars, I think the Viper might get a whole new lease on life when the real numbers are posted.

Really now, IS this the start of a new series?..or a grudge match?...LOL