Are Vipers GRM yet?

Parked next to this beast yesterday. When do we start seeing these in the pages of GRM?

Oh and yes, parked like an asshat. Will post to that thread as well.

When a Viper door opens, I expect something like this to emerge:

Woody wrote: When a Viper door opens, I expect something like this to emerge:

Hey now that's corvette owners. Lets not get to nasty with viper owners.

Of course I hate to say it most viper owners actually do look like this. The ones at the track seem to be from better breeding stock.

Can't see the pic.

I did a Viper day once at Barber, and it was interesting. One guy I rode with had a few Hemi somethings, and obviously had some cash, but he couldn't drive; at all. He gripped the wheel on top with both hands and jerked it everywhere, even at 120 plus on the straight. Every suggestion you made he ignored you and said he knew what he was doing. I got out of the car thinking I was lucky to be alive and never got back in. He said he had won a few Viper races, but I don't see how. He couldn't brake, turn or even go straight.

That was my Viper introduction, but fortunately others weren't so bad.

IIRC, there was a "Budget Supercars" article a couple years back that had a Viper in it.

So unless viper prices went back up since the last time i checked, it seems like there is some overlap between cheap viper and c5 z06 prices. Everyone says the c5 z06 is one of the best performance values. I wonder how much slower/worse the cheapest viper performs than a c5 z06? Nevermind for now the fact that an r/t10 viper would make a E36 M3ty DD compared to the z06..

A Vette impresses at the track, a Viper impresses at cruise night.

racerdave600 wrote: I did a Viper day once at Barber, and it was interesting. One guy I rode with had a few Hemi somethings, and obviously had some cash, but he couldn't drive; at all. He gripped the wheel on top with both hands and jerked it everywhere, even at 120 plus on the straight. Every suggestion you made he ignored you and said he knew what he was doing. I got out of the car thinking I was lucky to be alive and never got back in. He said he had won a few Viper races, but I don't see how. He couldn't brake, turn or even go straight. That was my Viper introduction, but fortunately others weren't so bad.

You could have writen "BMW Club', 'Ferrari club', 'Porsche', 'Honda', 'Shelby' etc etc in the same paragraph. Asshats drive every model of car ever made. Ditto awesome guys have driven them all too.

Without beating the old ‘Grassroots doesn’t have to equal cheap’ thing again, I’d say they’ve been grassroots for years. Tim has raced them and written about it. They’ve been featured many times over the years in the magazine and are regulars at the magazines own UTCC. I think their crowning grassroots moment came when the late great Paul Mumford won in the old Speed world challenge back in 03 as a private guy against all the big money teams. He also got pushrods banned from the old SCC ultimate car competition.

Gearheadotaku wrote: A Vette impresses at the track, a Viper impresses at cruise night.

Disagree - Vipers are enormously capable on track with good rubber.

racerdave600 wrote: He gripped the wheel on top with both hands and jerked it everywhere,

My uncle does this. Drives me absolutely crazy. But he doesn't fool himself into thinking he is a racecar driver at least, he just drives his Hyundai to work (Dr.) and his Porsche to the golf club.

The main thing that keeps me from considering cars of this ilk is the enormous consumables (I imagine insurance is crazy as well). Keep thinking of my friend running his Birkin against a turbo Viper in Super Unlimited at a Willow Springs enduro. The Viper passed him about five times, and he assumed that he was getting spanked. What he didn't realize until the race was over was that they were usually on the same lap, but the Viper was busy burning through thousands of dollars worth of gas and rubber.

I think buying something at the bottom of its depreciation curve is the next best thing to buying cheaply. I dont see Viper prices going much lower, and in fact given that i didnt see any in the low 20s on ebay today, they may have already started to go back up.

I have to admit to glancing more that a little at a blue GTS with white stripe; they're a nice looking car I feel. Would I want one? Mmm, no, too large, and as was said, consumables would be a constant painful reminder of the shear bulk of the beast.

Until I rode in one I agreed with the too big comment. They feel much smaller. And they need the monster steam roller rubber out back.

the first Vipers were made with extra truck front suspension and steering pieces with bigger brakes grafted on, and the engine was an aluminum version of a truck engine...

and they didn't have ABS, traction control, or side windows...

how is that not "grassroots"?

kb58 wrote: I have to admit to glancing more that a little at a blue GTS with white stripe; they're a nice looking car I feel. Would I want one? Mmm, no, too large, and as was said, consumables would be a constant painful reminder of the shear bulk of the beast.

Come to the dark side we have cookies.

They are surprisingly small. about the same length as a modern 911.

[URL=http://s865.photobucket.com/user/wearymicrobe/media/WP_20130504_002_zpsf122943d.jpg.html][/URL]

If I sell my supercharged C5, a Viper would be on the top of the list.

The only turn-off to me is parts availability. I can throw a rock and it will hit C5 Corvette parts, Viper stuff is a little tougher to come by.

93gsxturbo wrote: If I sell my supercharged C5, a Viper would be on the top of the list. The only turn-off to me is parts availability. I can throw a rock and it will hit C5 Corvette parts, Viper stuff is a little tougher to come by.

Its also mostly crap.

I don't know what it is about the viper but almost every single aftermarket parts supplier is on some new higher level of brain dead. Timelines, quality you name it all out the window.

In reply to wearymicrobe:

Probably because they're under the impression most owners care more about bragging about how much they've spent on upgrades and how good the part looks than how well it fits or works.

I can't have a Viper for the same reason I can't have a Vette - while one would fit in my garage, I wouldn't be able to open the doors.

I'd look into the cost of replacement parts.

A few years back, a big time Mopar collector that I know mentioned that he was on the lookout for a wrecked Viper. He said that he already had a hood and at the time they were something like 14 grand.

This is definitely GRM for bonerific

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodge-Viper-Base-Convertible-2-Door-1994-Dodge-Viper-Base-Convertible-2-Door-8-0L-/281127090757?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item41747afa45&vxp=mtr

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodge-Viper-CONV-1994-Dodge-Viper-Base-Convertible-2-Door-8-0L-/321148179160?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item4ac5ec52d8&vxp=mtr

Bad boy Hennessey

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HENNESSEY-VENOM-1000-Twin-Turbo-510-CI-STROKER-Aero-Body-Upgrades-1600-RWHP-/300923555664?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item4610710f50