Gen V Convertible?

cashcorn

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I was hoping(wishing) for this summer.. Anybody have any news coming down the pipeline? I really want one!:cool:
 

01sapphirebob

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I wouldn't expect to see anything till late this year early next year. What they showed us at VOI was saweeeet!
 

DMan

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I hope is a power top.....

Yea not from what we saw, unless it would open the trunk for you. Mechanics looked to be the same as current design. But since that wasn't approved at that time, any changes are possible, just hard to think it'll be substantially different, easiest design would be the easiest to deliver on. Personally I have no issues with the current manual design, very easy to use. If they could improve the sealing between the windows and the top for less wind noise when the top is up it would be nice.
 

ROCKET62

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Current design is more than acceptable and adds little weight. If you go power - do you also go to a carbon fiber hard top?

The only change I would make would be to clean up the look of the top when it is down - as mine ALWAYS is. You should not need to add the tonneau boot cover (which looks great) to hide the hinge assemblies.
 

DMan

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Is everyone forgetting SRT has built these on barely a budget?

I'd rather SRT invest money elsewhere rather than a fancy power top for the vert model.

I agree, keep it simple IMO. I still long for the RT/10 design, it was my favorite, but that's not going to happen, the only I really really hope they offer is a factory ROLP of some kind, just a simple real bar for God's sake. I do think that even in previous gen's it's amazing the Viper at it's price point and power can't come with, even as an option, real rollbars or ROLPS.

I'm one who really likes the new C7 design in a coupe, as a convertible I hate it, it's night & day, the whole lines of that car are ruined in the vert, what a shame, looks like a flying wedge from Cadillac in the vert.
 

MoparMap

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I agree, keep it simple IMO. I still long for the RT/10 design, it was my favorite, but that's not going to happen, the only I really really hope they offer is a factory ROLP of some kind, just a simple real bar for God's sake. I do think that even in previous gen's it's amazing the Viper at it's price point and power can't come with, even as an option, real rollbars or ROLPS.

I'm one who really likes the new C7 design in a coupe, as a convertible I hate it, it's night & day, the whole lines of that car are ruined in the vert, what a shame, looks like a flying wedge from Cadillac in the vert.

The factory bars are really more robust than people give them credit for. I asked over in the Grail Trail forum about them and heard sort of what I was expecting. The problem with calling it an "approved" roll bar is difficult. Firstly, while one race sanctioning group might approve the design (like SCCA), it might not meet another's standard (like NHRA). On top of that, if the factory approves it as a roll bar then they would be liable for it in case of failure. It's a lot easier to slap a sticker on a car that says it's not approved than to deal with lawyers when some yahoo flips one doing 120 on a highway. The bars in the SRT-10 are intended to provide protection in the event of a rollover, they just can't design them to meet every race standard for all different sizes of drivers and crash conditions.
 
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Indy

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RT10 design would be the way to go....hopefully they will at least have something behind the seats to make it not look like a bathtub on wheels :) The lines just flow better if there is that hint of a targa bar behind the seats....Ferrari found a nice solution and I'm sure it can be done with a softtop as well, although a hardtop would be even sweeter. Best of both worlds. Just make it carbon fiber and the weight will be the same as for a softtop.
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Policy Limits

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that italia rocks!! I have 2 friends that build these spiders & cant wait to see them this season!
 

DMan

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The factory bars are really more robust than people give them credit for. I asked over in the Grail Trail forum about them and heard sort of what I was expecting. The problem with calling it an "approved" roll bar is difficult. Firstly, while one race sanctioning group might approve the design (like SCCA), it might not meet another's standard (like NHRA). On top of that, if the factory approves it as a roll bar then they would be liable for it in case of failure. It's a lot easier to slap a sticker on a car that says it's not approved than to deal with lawyers when some yahoo flips one doing 120 on a highway. The bars in the SRT-10 are intended to provide protection in the event of a rollover, they just can't design them to meet every race standard for all different sizes of drivers and crash conditions.

Have you taken them out and looked at them, they're hollow pieces of crap bolted to the only the deck by 2 little bolts, as in one bolt per side, they might help if you gently used a tow truck to roll the car over but at any speed they are worthless, they're just for looks. A factory ROLPS is approved by nearly all trackday holders, like those in $35K BMW verts, the bars need to be tied to the chassis, it's not rocket science or even hugely debated. NHRA is very straight forward also, but you need the side bar running from mid-upper arm to mid-shin, and racing sanctioning events have their own standards. But we're just talking about a chassis based ROLPS, like any upper priced convertible has. As for liability, BMW, Merc Benz, etc all manage to do it on cheaper cars than the Viper so I don't get that either as an excuse. An autoform is a 3-4 hr install and ties to the chassis, very simple solution, and a ton of security on the street or trackday. I just wish we didn't have to put thes ein ourselves for a car that has an S R T badge on it, but my guess is, we will, again I'm assuming simpler is the way they go. But whatever, it's not like it keeps me from the purchase, thank God for the aftermarket.
 

MoparMap

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Yeah, I've had them out plenty of times taking the back panel off. The thing is that those bolts will rarely ever get that stressed in an accident. If you try to bend the hoops forward or back while mounted on the car you're trying to bend the whole mounting foot that the tube slides into, the bolts see fairly little loading. Those stock hoops are chassis mounted though. There's a crossbar that goes between the frame rails behind the seats and in front of the gas thank. That's what those mounting feet are attached to with some pretty heft socket heads bolts. It's not like they just put some bolts through sheet metal. I tried looking up pictures of Viper accidents to see what sort of condition the roll bars were in after damage like that and for the most part they look like they hold just just fine. I don't recall finding a single picture with a bar completely missing, but it can be hard to see through the wreckage. One of the ones I saw any kind of damage on was a wreck on the Autobahn at high speed. The passenger bar was bent slightly backward, but not much and was still fully attached.
 
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JAY

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This would make a great option , carbon fibre panel center 2pc. , easily removable ,low wieght, low cost business case . And still maintain the Nice profile ! :2tu::2tu::D:D
 

Indy

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Would even be a nice option for the coupe, like with the targa Vettes. And have the roadsters come with an automatic hardtop like the 458.....
 

VENOM V

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This would make a great option , carbon fibre panel center 2pc. , easily removable ,low wieght, low cost business case . And still maintain the Nice profile ! :2tu::2tu::D:D

Agree 100%. I would take that over a vert. Structural rigidity and light if done right, good looks and sunshine.
 

01sapphirebob

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There is no excuse not to have a power top, even a Miata has one...

Yes but our cars were not designed with one in mind. I dint think its needed. Not to mention the extra weight added with the motor and moving parts of a power top. Manual top works fine for me. :)
 

HyperViper

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Power top would be nice and agree with Rocket, if manual can we do better than the tonneau cover on the Gen 3 & 4.

Weight is not an issue, if you want to go racing buy a coupe and god knows, most of us could loose a few pounds if we are that worried about weight, start at the dinner table.
 

Newport Viper

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and god knows, most of us could loose a few pounds if we are that worried about weight, start at the dinner table.

Yep remember the taco buffet last saturday? Just left the Doc today with bad LDL news... so I will be a lot trimmer by the time the Vert gets here... starting tonight :(
 

VYPR BYT 94

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I agree 100% with Jay... this is viper.

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Bob, this is the picture I was telling you about at the Ohio party. :D
I was gonna email it to you but Jay posted it first.
 

VYPR BYT 94

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Indy, I'm with you on the fact that this is a sweet design cue... I really like it.
However, it won't work with viper. You see, vipers are like Jimmy Durante - They're both 75% nose. :lmao:
See where the driver is seated in a mid-engine and compare to where the viper driver is seated... there simply insn't enough room for it without changing the look of (and spirit) of the viper.
 

InjectTheVenom

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I agree, keep it simple IMO. I still long for the RT/10 design, it was my favorite

There were a few photoshops by ArnarFB of how that looked on this forum a while back, unfortunately the links are no longer active. GOD that looked good!
 

viper67wife

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Not a stock option - I had one, and it was completely manual roof - and not a cheap modification - they completely changed the entire trunk and roof mounting system in the trunk.. The rear window that dropped at the touch of a button was nice....

Diane
If you want to see a funny way of making the removal of a targa top automatic, check out this video.....and this is a CHEAP car and still has fancy electronics. And if you leave the rear trunk lid up, it's an ACR wing as well :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4LJAbGMnGM
 

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