Took the ACR out to Fontana to do a few autocross runs to get familiar with the car as this is the first front engined sports car I have had in quite a while. Here's the car's initial setup:
Ride Height: 100mm front, 130mm rear
Front Shocks: 5 clicks from stiffest for both compression and rebound
Rear Shocks: 4 clicks from stiffest for both comp and reb.
Weather: mild day w/ temps in the 70's in the AM.
First run, first turn: with no warning at all, the tail came around and I did a 180 but didn't hit any cones. I didn't brake nor lift nor goose the throttle but car came around nonetheless. Later on, found out because I took a later apex than most others and I got on a very dusty part of the course.
Understeer:
The car was pushing somewhat (less than say a 996 GT3 w/ stock alignment and more than a Ferrari Challenge Stradale) so after a couple of runs, I went to 7 clicks from stiffest in the front for compression, didn't change rebound as I couldn't get to the know without busting out the jack. The car then got more neutral with this setting, and by the way, after I got home I soften the front's reboudn by 2 more clicks to match that of the compression and I found this setting a very good compromise for the street also. Once more negative is dialed in with an alignment, I think the car can rotate very well. The rear of the car is very planted once the PSC's got some heat into them but I don't think I ever reach 150F during the short course so I was pretty much running with cold tires all day. Would have to change tires if I were to autox this car on a regular basis.
Turn-in:
I am happy with the turn-in so I don't know if the car needs the sterring rack bushings. But still not as good as my 996 GT3 and Lotus Elise, better than my Ford GT. Sterring effort is heavier than all my other cars except the Lotus which is non power-assisted.
Power:
I ran the whole course in first gear as I wanted to get familiar with power-on oversteer of the car in a safe environment and found the car much easy to power out of tight corners under part (don't even think using WOT unless you are pointing dead straight) throttle than my 996 GT3 (see last few seconds before finish in the video). Car has plenty of explosive power, even with the 3.07 OEM gears. I am trying to compare this to my Ford GT which I autocrossed last month and think the Viper really isn't that much slower than the GT which has 700 RWHP on 91 octane.
Brake Modulation:
Very liner and very easy to modulate. But autox is not a venue to test brakes in.
Here's a video:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTrPdcBRBiw[/media]
Ride Height: 100mm front, 130mm rear
Front Shocks: 5 clicks from stiffest for both compression and rebound
Rear Shocks: 4 clicks from stiffest for both comp and reb.
Weather: mild day w/ temps in the 70's in the AM.
First run, first turn: with no warning at all, the tail came around and I did a 180 but didn't hit any cones. I didn't brake nor lift nor goose the throttle but car came around nonetheless. Later on, found out because I took a later apex than most others and I got on a very dusty part of the course.
Understeer:
The car was pushing somewhat (less than say a 996 GT3 w/ stock alignment and more than a Ferrari Challenge Stradale) so after a couple of runs, I went to 7 clicks from stiffest in the front for compression, didn't change rebound as I couldn't get to the know without busting out the jack. The car then got more neutral with this setting, and by the way, after I got home I soften the front's reboudn by 2 more clicks to match that of the compression and I found this setting a very good compromise for the street also. Once more negative is dialed in with an alignment, I think the car can rotate very well. The rear of the car is very planted once the PSC's got some heat into them but I don't think I ever reach 150F during the short course so I was pretty much running with cold tires all day. Would have to change tires if I were to autox this car on a regular basis.
Turn-in:
I am happy with the turn-in so I don't know if the car needs the sterring rack bushings. But still not as good as my 996 GT3 and Lotus Elise, better than my Ford GT. Sterring effort is heavier than all my other cars except the Lotus which is non power-assisted.
Power:
I ran the whole course in first gear as I wanted to get familiar with power-on oversteer of the car in a safe environment and found the car much easy to power out of tight corners under part (don't even think using WOT unless you are pointing dead straight) throttle than my 996 GT3 (see last few seconds before finish in the video). Car has plenty of explosive power, even with the 3.07 OEM gears. I am trying to compare this to my Ford GT which I autocrossed last month and think the Viper really isn't that much slower than the GT which has 700 RWHP on 91 octane.
Brake Modulation:
Very liner and very easy to modulate. But autox is not a venue to test brakes in.
Here's a video:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTrPdcBRBiw[/media]
