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Sean Malone
10-25-07, 09:51 AM
(No, this isn’t about Scott Sharp or Buddy Lazier. ;) )

“It’s too ‘cartoonish’”, “It’s unrefined”, “It’s unbalanced”, “My pickup called, it wants it’s engine back”, “It’s a Dodge!”

I’ve read and heard all of these and more regarding the Dodge Viper, one of my all time favorite “dream machines”. Since its debut back in ’93 (and actually prior with the debut of the prototype show car), I’ve wanted a Viper. Hell, at least I’d like to put one through its paces.

I finally got my chance this summer. My brother-in-law was in town and we went across the street to play some 9 ball at the pool hall. He asked a buddy of his to join us and told me to I’d be very interested in meeting this guy. I told him I wasn’t gay and reminded him I was married to his sister (he’s not that bright).
Anyway, half an hour rolls by and a fellow walks in and says to the table next to us “there’s a cool Viper out front”. My bro-in-law stands up and says “that’s my buddy, come on”.
Parked out front and drawing a small crowd sat the ugliest Viper GTS coupe I’ve ever seen. Root beer brown with metallic copper stripes, tan and brown interior with copper colored seat piping. GAG!! Just make mine the blue with the two white racing stripes and a black interior please.

After a quick introduction my bro-in-law urges his buddy to give us rides.
I gotta hand it to this guy, he didn’t buy this car to pick up chicks or take to the local car show in the grocery market parking lot. Bro-in-law gets first ride, it is his friend after all.
(a quick sideline about bro-in-law. He has raced amateur motorcross for 12 or so years and has owned several ‘hot rods’. Getting into the Viper was 1, not a dream he shared with me nor was he intimidated by it, and 2, he didn’t really know what to expect. Maybe a nice little slow cruise around the block to wave at the girls.)

His buddy pulls out onto the main road and before the car is even straight in the lane he brings the rev full to the limiter and drops the clutch. For the next ten seconds he’s completely sideways with white smoke bellowing from the massive 335 Michelins for about the length of a football field. He let off and, zoom, they disappeared around the corner. Five minutes pass and from the other direction comes the brown Viper. Door opens and a shaking bro-in-law gets out. Literally, he’s shaking. His hands, his legs. He had to sit down on the curb! This is a guy who can jump 35 feet in the air on his Kawasaki 250.

With a huge grin he looks up at me and says “you’re turn!”. Now I’m apprehensive. I’m one of those control freak guys. Putting myself in the hands of a guy who I have no idea what his skill level is, in a car that has 600hp (turns out the ugly brown Viper is full of Hennessey mods) and weighs less than a ton. Palms sweating, I climb into this thing (literally, its easily 12” from the seat to the door.). I’ve sat in a few Vipers at the dealer so the interior was nothing to gawk at. But the glove like snugness of the seat felt nice and confidence inspiring. The driver fired up the engine and turned and said with a grin “ya better put your seatbelt on. You never know”. Great. He’s going to go out of his way to make this a “let me out of here!” kinda ride.

He told me that his tires are up to temp now so he’ll spare me the white smoky burnout and see if we can’t “hook up”. We pull out onto the four lane highway and he slowly edges it up to about 15mph in 1rst and then nails it. With the force of a locomotive I’m stuck to the back of the seat. I couldn’t move if I tried. He violently hammers it into 2nd while I’m watching the speedo climb like the core temperature of a Russian nuclear submarine. The speedo is just below 70 when he throws the shifter up and out to catch 3rd…which he doesn’t. His foot is on the floor, the rpm’s climb past redline and the grinding sound couldn’t have been good. A single expletive and he gets it back into 3rd, now slightly embarrassed and slightly pissed. I watch the speedo climb past the century mark and he grabs 4rth. The acceleration g’s have subsided a bit but the force that is pushing me back into the seat is still more than most ‘fast’ cars produce in 1rst gear. He easily pushes it up to the 140 mark…enter act 2.

The light up ahead turns red and both lanes have two or three cars. He keeps his foot into it way past the point I thought he would. I kept thinking, “ok, he’ll let off now. (he doesn’t), ok, he’ll let off now (and he doesn’t) x 10. I can practically read the license plates on the stopped cars ahead when he finally takes his foot off the gas (keep in mind it was still nailed) and stands on the brake. This thing hauled itself down from 140+ faster than Tony George can say “um”. I’m pretty sure I was actually zero gravity there for a split second, being held only by the seat belt. We gently pull behind the other cars with out even a squeal of the tires.

I’ve had some fast cars, I have a fast motorcycle where I top 130mph on a weekly basis. But never have I experienced such visceral, violent, earth moving torque monster car than this Viper.

We pull back into the parking lot and while I’m getting out of the car the owner says to me with a grin “Your turn”. I was happy just getting the ride, but actually getting to stomp on the gas myself was awesome! My trip was almost the same as my ride but I didn’t miss 3rd (which I think he was miffed about) and I only topped 110mph. Hey, it wasn’t my car!


Pros and cons; keeping in mind this was an older 2003 GTS (It has the curvier body and less refined interior than its newer version), sitting in the Viper even at a dead stop was…cool. Like I mentioned, the seats were excellent even though the driver position with the steering wheel is a bit skewed. I actually thought the passenger side felt better. Shifting gears is like shifting a ’78 International dump truck or a ’94 to ‘05 Mustang. The throw was too far for my taste and the over all “feel” wasn’t crisp and notchy like I like. The clutch was very heavy (hell, it is a V10 truck engine after all!) and the engagement was mushy (the shifter and clutch I hear is better with the new Viper). The engine does sound like a UPS truck on steroids as one wag once put it. I couldn’t imagine doing laps in this beast at a closed course.

There are few things on the road, that I encounter, faster than my GSX-R, this is one of them and the experience of the torque is something most other cars (and especially motorcycles) can’t even come close to, let alone equal.
Now if I only had an ’08 to compare this one too.

Say what you will about a Viper, if you ever get a chance to drive one or ride in one, take it. It’s fun!



:thumbup:

devilmaster
10-25-07, 10:11 AM
I fell in love with the Viper when I first saw the proto at the NAIAS.

Someday..... Someday..... :thumbup:

great story, too :cool:

G.
10-25-07, 10:12 AM
Great read!:thumbup:


(PS: If your talking about Coiled Snakes, don't you need lots of bad grammar and misspellings?)

Easy
10-25-07, 11:30 AM
I remember reading a lot of negatives about the Viper's handling and braking, basically the reviews said it had a lot of sack and nothing else. I got to drive an 03 (I think) GTS and it handled well, felt nimble despite its dimensions and brakes like a 911. Oh and it definitely has a lot of sack. 143mph on US41 up near the Wisco border.

RichK
10-25-07, 12:17 PM
Awesome "review"! :thumbup:

I took my wife for a ride like that in my RX-7 (indicated 157mph), and got passed by a Viper (driven by a young woman) like I was standing still. She never lets me forget that I got passed by a girl in a Viper.

I've slowed down on public roads in my old age, but it's always good to have a story or two like yours!

Sean Malone
10-25-07, 12:39 PM
I remember reading a lot of negatives about the Viper's handling and braking, basically the reviews said it had a lot of sack and nothing else. I got to drive an 03 (I think) GTS and it handled well, felt nimble despite its dimensions and brakes like a 911. Oh and it definitely has a lot of sack. 143mph on US41 up near the Wisco border.

I would love to toss one around a track in order to really see where the rear lets go, something I wouldn't do on a public street. The strange thing about the '03 Viper I drove is that it feels big and small at the same time. It feels big because of the huge front end and small because of the the tightness in the cockpit. I had the same feeling in my dads '71 Vette.

I've never been a Chevy fan but I actually found myself respecting the new Vette even more after my Viper drive. Your wife (and you) can use a new Vette to go get groceries or commute to work, and then you can open 'er up to blow past most things with ease while drinking your coffee.
The Viper is all about 'experience'. I've read that the Chrysler Viper Team came very, very close to putting the new 5.7 V8 HEMI in the latest Viper but decided not to because that would be taking away what the Viper is all about and opening it up to compare with cars that are waaaaaay more refined.

Sean O'Gorman
10-25-07, 02:28 PM
Heh, fun stuff. :thumbup:

The first time I drove something with some serious horsepower was a Z06. I was amazed at how huge tires make a difference when it comes to putting the power down.

SteveH
10-25-07, 02:46 PM
I'd love to try out a Viper. Those cars just look mean. And no other car sounds like one, either.

I did also drive a 2007 Z06 last year. Amazing car to drive. Almost docile until you put your foot into it. Then hold on. Very easy to drive this car around town. And very easy to break every speed law in the state, also. I had some trouble getting used to the 6 speed but with the torque it puts out if you upshifted into the wrong gear, the engine just pulled through it with little problem. I was just ready to shift into 3rd at 97mph when I hit a little standing water on the road. A little bit of a wiggle at that speed will put racing stripes in your underwear. At ~$70K, this is probably one of the better values in performance cars in the world. I need one.

Sean Malone
10-25-07, 02:51 PM
Heh, fun stuff. :thumbup:

The first time I drove something with some serious horsepower was a Z06. I was amazed at how huge tires make a difference when it comes to putting the power down.

Yeah, it was way fun. And to think that that car has the same hp as some top level racing series. I have a feeling I would have been tip towing the Viper around a closed course.

The rears on a Viper are ridiculously wide and that truck engine has no problem spinning them as easy as something that um, spins easy. :gomer:

Coincidentally the '08 Viper just debuted. The article I read says it has 600hp from the factory and handles better than the '06.

Sean Malone
10-25-07, 02:55 PM
I'd love to try out a Viper. Those cars just look mean. And no other car sounds like one, either.

I did also drive a 2007 Z06 last year. Amazing car to drive. Almost docile until you put your foot into it. Then hold on. Very easy to drive this car around town. And very easy to break every speed law in the state, also. I had some trouble getting used to the 6 speed but with the torque it puts out if you upshifted into the wrong gear, the engine just pulled through it with little problem. I was just ready to shift into 3rd at 97mph when I hit a little standing water on the road. A little bit of a wiggle at that speed will put racing stripes in your underwear. At ~$70K, this is probably one of the better values in performance cars in the world. I need one.

yeah, I would be hard pressed not to get a Vette over a Viper if money were an object. heck, I think you can get a base Vette for $52K new and a dime a dozen used. If money were no object I'd put a Viper next to my F40 and 911 Turbo. :D

oddlycalm
10-25-07, 07:28 PM
Coincidentally the '08 Viper just debuted. The article I read says it has 600hp from the factory and handles better than the '06. Yep, fun to jump in and step on the loud button. :thumbup: :D

I gotta agree with your assessment regarding the linkage and overall feel of the car. I thought about getting one for around 10 seconds back when I got the 'M3 cab in '02 and drove one that was well broken it. As you say, a bit of a blunt instrument; a Sunday car only with no pretense of being anything else.

oc

Sean Malone
10-26-07, 10:48 AM
Anyone remember that C&D article about 10 years ago where the journalist fulfilled a dream of testing a Champ Car (it might have been Egan)? I think it was the Forsyth that accommodated. It was a neat article. He mentioned how nervous he was and how he had been told that everyone, even pro-drivers always stall it the first time out and he was determined that he was going to NOT stall it. He ruminated about it for weeks and visualized exactly what he needed to do to leave the pits just like a real Champ Car driver...he stalled it.
If I remember he also spun it off the track too but it was a cool article.