Completing my Due Diligence on the Viper

[Turbo63]

I am new to the Forum and respectfully request your patience and advice. I have owned 5 Vettes including my current ride a 2005 C6 Corvette. To be quite frank I am in search of something unique and exotic under $100k and have been very intrigued by the Viper now for the past several months. I went to a nation-leading Viper dealer in Pa (Barbera Dodge) and test drove a 2005 SRT-10. An incredible car indeed! I would be purchasing the car as a weekend toy -- hardly no intentions of running the car at a track -- it would be around town, to the beach, the club -- a weekend toy roadster but with some balls. The Vettes are nice but really giving me a yawn especially after I purchased my C6 only to see about 8 of them in the following weeks post my acqusition. Now to the point and to some real world questions as a test drive isnt that long:

1) getting used to the SRT-10 ~ for those that have done this before me how do you compare the two vehicles in terms of ride and performance?

2) Pedal placement ~ the clutch, brake and gas are close to one another -- how tough is it to get used to the feel?

3) Tire spin ~ I plan to take my wife and girls (12 and 14 and one at a time) out for the occasional spin around town -- I have read a ton of stories regarding tire spins and "hello to the rear end" kinda stuff -- is the car controllable or does it have a mind of its own? I know it does not have traction control or active handling -- but can it be managed appropriately?

4) Any other advice that can be offered to a newbie would be appreciated greatly either on this forum or through a PM.

I live in the Northeast part of the country and would be making the purchase in February right before the warm weather curve of premium car pricing. The Vette would be going by-by as well ~ only room for 1 toy in the household.

Thanks folks!

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

1. My first and last Vette was a 69 so the Viper is like a luxury ride. Sorry not to have a more current comparison.
2. Pedal position comfort is a matter of seat time.
3. The car has no car control feature or CPU. The driver has to control the car. Before taking anyone for a ride take a Skip Barber Performance driving school. The Viper's massive torque is the feature that will get a driver in serious trouble who lacks car control skills.
4. Warning, Viper ownership can be very addictive.

Advance Welcome to the Viper Commmunity.

[redsrt03]

I've never driven a 'vette, but I bought my Viper new in April of 2004.

This is what I've learned.

a) The ride is uncomfortable. It is hot and bounces you around like a wooden roller coaster.

b) The car is hard to drive. Crusing the freeway at 65MPH and hit some patched pavement and it's all you can do to keep it on the road.

c) The car is unforgiving. Get on it and make a bad shift and you are in a ditch (at least 2 or 3 people have totaled their new Vipers by shifting back into 2d (or 1st) when they wanted to go to 4th (or 3rd).

Bottom line. The Viper is a dangerous car!

BUT,

It can be awesome fun to drive.

Take off hard from a red light and get sideways in first, at 60MPH shift into 2d and nail it. Shift to third as you start to go sideways again. Look in your rear view mirror and look at all the other cars a 1/2 mile behind you.

Get on an open freeway with good pavement and cruise at 80MPH. Whenever some kid in a modded-out import tries to tailgate you, get it on it and watch him disappear as you accelerate hard through 100MPH and beyond.

At 20 MPH (in 2d) slowly drive onto a freeway from the merge lane as a semi-truck going 65MPH barrels toward you. Nail the Viper hard just before you get in the truck's lane, and watch the eyes of the trucker as he thinks he's getting ready to cream you, but you accelerate in front of him at a phenomenal rate.

Drive it so that your wife doesn't want to ride in it with you anymore.

Now your having fun.

it

[madman]

Here is my mix of experience (05 model):

1. drove C5, not C6. C5 'floats', Viper's steering crystal crisp. C5 holds the straight line, YOU control the viper on 'less then perfect roads'.

2. As Fred said... It's very comfortable for me

3. Everything depends on the RPM. Play with it around 2000-4500 RPM and you get tons of fun and feeling that the beast is very tame (= not dangerous) with tons of power/torque. Above 4500RPM you should know what you doing. It's V10 and 8L = the engine has huge resistance=> match RPM when going from 3rd to 2nd at these RPMs

4. If you buy new 05 like I did - let it go for some time and don't put performance upgrades on it right from the start. I noticed that the car was hot but now with 1200 miles on it I don't see no heat no more. Get RB1 navigation from dealer or off ebay - easy swap and great added value.

And yes, it won't be your weekend driver, you bet it won't. Better look for addiction relief counseling

[SRTJOE]

redsrt03

"Drive it so that your wife doesn't want to ride in it with you anymore".

That's funny you said that, The second time my wife went
on a cruise with me I went around a 25mph curve at about
55mph scared the sh!t out of here and she will not get in my car anymore! Its better that way!!!

Turbo63,

To me the Vette is an everyday driver but when you get
into the Viper you come to LIFE!!!!

[JohninFL]

My two cents:

#1 Buy an SRT:10 if you are thinking this hard about it you will regret that you did not pull the trigger.

#2 Could not agree more with the above posts. As an experienced sports car pilot you will have no problem with a Gen III viper. This car is fun to drive slowly. No need to go 90 mph + to get a thrill . Nail it in 2nd and a smile appears and stays. My 9 year old daughter asked last night if she could sleep in it after a beautiful drive to the beach at sunset. (boys waving at her probably had something to do with it).

#3 It is truly a work of art and science combined. It has an hard edge which makes you feel special. The c6 is technologically compelling but what a yawn. There is a pride of ownership with a viper and a source of wonder for passers-by that is hard to duplicate.

#4 I bought a pristine 03 with less than 1,000 miles two mos ago for 22k under an 05 sticker. You might consider shopping for an 03 or 04.

#5 Your daughters friends will talk about you respectfully and you have a better chance of staying golden for a few more years.

#6 Just do it: Life is too short to not reach out and take something you really want.

[Turbo63]

Sure appreciate the insight and quite frankly the replies cause more concern then comfort. Again I have owned Vettes for a long time (clearly not a Viper I know) but I would hope driving it carefully and respecting the torque would yield a fun and safe experience. I dont need to blast the thing around the area at 100+mph -- simply want a change from a Vette to a Viper to enjoy the exotic, rare nature of the car, the look, the feel and when familiar, of course the power. If used responsibily can the Snake be managed safely without a Viper Days series of sessions (not saying I wont do that eventually but....) Thanks for the help and other insightful comments!

[madman]

Hey folks, stop scaring him :-) SRT is not really that bad. I came to it from little S2k, my torque available grew 4 (!!!) times and see - still well and alive even with the driving through the latest Bay Area storms.

You will find that SRT is a very tame beast, especially with the experience from already strong engine. That handling is not a big deal, just have hands (at least one) on the steering wheel all the time. In reward you get crisp steering you would never get in vette. Good luck!

[SnakeEye]

Hey folks, stop scaring him :-) ...

LOL Good point madman.
Turbo63...The SRT-10 is quite tractable in stock form. Being accustomed to C5's as you are, you most likely will be pleasantly surprised with the handling limits even despite its lack of traction control. Heck, I modded my Snake to 3.55's for even more torque on tap and then the Paxton after that. Mabybe you too in time will find that regardleess of the extreme limits of stock Viper you may still want more. First step to having the ride of your life is to pick up an SRT-10. Hope to see you as an Owner in the Viper community soon. Cheers.

[sal3coach]

If you are really worried go drive one at the Skip Barber High Performance Driving school. Two days of fun and a lot of Viper seat time.

[redsrt03]

Turbo63,

One last thing about the Vipers. They suffer from poor workmanship and are frought with mechanical problems.
They rattle and klunking noises come from the rear end.

My own Viper, which I bought new in April 04, had to have the clutch replaced at 4000 miles. Even though the warranty specifically covers clutch disks for 12months/12k miles, Dodge refused to honor the warranty since I couldn't prove the failure was due to a defective part, assembly, etc. It wind up costing me $2000.00 in repairs. The car also had the differential replaced and the cat converters and resonators. It was in the shop from 29 OCT 04 - 16 DEC 04.

Other owners have reported (in this forum) problems with bolts falling our or being loose (crankshaft, pressure plate, etc.), differentials breaking (at least 2 people), clutch problems, loose or missing body panels, etc.

So in short, it's like having a beautiful wife who sleeps around. You have to be extremely motivated to put up with her and have to accept VD as a normal part of your life.

As for me, I enjoy my Viper as I like to drive fast (I've had it in triple digits dozens of times in the first 6 months of ownership), but I will never buy another Dodge product and as soon as Toyota comes out with a 500hp sports car in the Viper's price range, the Viper is history.

[29OUTLAW]

Turbo63,

It was in the shop from 29 OCT 04 - 16 DEC 04.

If your car's out of service for 30 days in the first 12,000 miles you can lemon-law protection. Shifts burden of proof from buyer to manufacturer. Just a thought.

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

I have purchased five Vipers and still have three.

The quality is very good form my ownership own and the experience of VCA members I know. Have there been an occasional problem? Yes! Have they been corrected by DC Yes!

A clutch is like a brake pad to me. It wears based on usage. If someone is slipping the clutch it will fail and should not be considered a manufacturing defect. I can destroy a set of stock brake pads in a day and that would not be manufacturing defect.

In my opinion Vipers are much more reliable then other exotic High Performance cars.

I would not have purchased my 2nd Viper if I had quality problems that were not corrected to my satisfaction. And I do not blame a manufacture for not making a car that can not be damaged by the driver.

My $.02

[Janni]

You'll be find - don't drive like an idiot. Be smooth. Gradually get used to the torque. You ought to be very careful during break in anyway - and slowly ratcheting up your RPMs and no full throttle stuff. That should give you a good feel for the car.

DON'T power shift. Don't "show off" - get the adrenaline flowing and you tend to miss shifts or catch 2nd when you want 4th and that's a "bad thing".

Take the car to an autocross.

The SRT is a VERY well planted car. Coming from a GTS, I am continually amazed how well it holds the road and does all it does without a lot of hoopla.

I've driven the car hard and I honestly don't understand how people do some of the amazing feats of 360's, curb hopping, airborne launches that they do.

You'll be fine. Bottom line, you can't drive this car like a 4 cylinder rental car - but you already know that. I swear some folks don't.....

[Turbo63]

what happens if you catch 2nd and not 4th? Thanks Janni for you insight!