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345s-bspinnin

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I didn't think 6th gear was usable in any race/top speed applications in a stock Viper. So many comparos on TV and in magazines where the Viper would be leading until shifted into 6th and the other car catching up and passing (giving the appearance of the Viper running out of power or hitting a wall). Will going to lower gears (3:55 or 3:33s') allow a stock Viper to pull in 6th gear and attain a higher top end?

5th gear on a Gen III and early Gen IV pull till 225mph, well past the drag limited topspeed. Journalist who shift into 6th in a Viper don't know how to drive. Even on a new Viper, 5th gear is good to well past 175mph!

Changing a lower final gear still doesn't make 6th gear a usable gear unless you go way extreme. Remember that gearing multiplies engine torque up or down. A stock 5th gear and final will multiply engine torque by 2.24x (.73x3.07). If you go with a rock crawling 4.56, you can barely make more usable that the OEM 5th since the final torque multiply level is 2.28 (.5x4.56). If you go that extreme, your 1-5 will be useless.
 

Richard Koch

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I ran it in 5th gear and was at 5,700 rpm when I went through the traps. I still had a few rpm left and perhaps if I had made a better launch I could have coaxed a couple of more mph out of the old girl.
 

TrackAire

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Nice run!! Don't worry about the launch, really won't make much difference at all on mile plus runs with your hp level. The only time it will matter is if you're racing side by side and the first one to cross the line wins. Your speed will pretty much be the same through the traps.

Cheers,
George
 

BAD BOYZZ GARAGE

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I ran it in 5th gear and was at 5,700 rpm when I went through the traps. I still had a few rpm left and perhaps if I had made a better launch I could have coaxed a couple of more mph out of the old girl.

Good solid run!!

Loved the hell out my GTS, makes me want to build another one with a Gen 4 under the hood..:D

Bad Boyzz Garage:usa:
Toddy
 

Camfab

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I ran it in 5th gear and was at 5,700 rpm when I went through the traps. I still had a few rpm left and perhaps if I had made a better launch I could have coaxed a couple of more mph out of the old girl.

I'm interested in this event, well the mile not the mile and a half you did. Did they put you in the SSE catagory for tech inspection. I'm assuming you have no cage. I think it would be fun, but I don't want to cage the car. Maybe they would give me an exception due to the factory five point system on the ACR's.
 

345s-bspinnin

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I'm interested in this event, well the mile not the mile and a half you did. Did they put you in the SSE catagory for tech inspection. I'm assuming you have no cage. I think it would be fun, but I don't want to cage the car. Maybe they would give me an exception due to the factory five point system on the ACR's.

It would be nice to see another heads/cam car out there. I was allowed to run pretty fast on my vert with only a autoform roll bar and 6pt harness.
 

Camfab

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I guess I should give them a call and see what they have to say. From an appearance stand point my car looks stock other than a set of headers. It's not as though I don't care about safety, because I certainly due, It's just the fact that putting a cage in the car pretty much sends it over the originality ship. Nothing I've done to the car can't be reversed. Other than the fact that I did the nutsert mod for the sidesills, the car has never seen anything drilled, cut, no wire splices, nothing. Anyway besides that my main concern is what the GTS feels like at highspeed. My car sits a bit high all around, I'm wondering if I'd have to lower the car as a precaution as well (minimizing lift).

Was your run basically Rookie run + 1 pass. If so, how fast did they allow you to go.
 

345s-bspinnin

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I guess I should give them a call and see what they have to say. From an appearance stand point my car looks stock other than a set of headers. It's not as though I don't care about safety, because I certainly due, It's just the fact that putting a cage in the car pretty much sends it over the originality ship. Nothing I've done to the car can't be reversed. Other than the fact that I did the nutsert mod for the sidesills, the car has never seen anything drilled, cut, no wire splices, nothing. Anyway besides that my main concern is what the GTS feels like at highspeed. My car sits a bit high all around, I'm wondering if I'd have to lower the car as a precaution as well (minimizing lift).

Was your run basically Rookie run + 1 pass. If so, how fast did they allow you to go.

Not quite rookie. I have ran the standing miles for a few years ago. For my first run back in 2010, I only had stock safety system and ran +176mph on my headers/tune Gen III. We were limited to 190mph on OEM safety equipment. I added my roll bar and other equipment in late '11 for my 2012 run were I knew I would encroach on +190mph (ran 191.5mph that time)

The Texas Mile imposed a new licencing system just last year. I forget the exact details, but basically you do a run below 165, then less than 190, then I was allowed to run in the 190-215mph category. The aforementioned applied to driver only. As for the car, I was allowed to run in the 190-215 class after I added a roll bar, 6 pt harness, and full racing attire (racing suit, shoes, gloves, arm restraints [b/c vert]. Other basic safety equipment like Y rated tires, fire extinguisher, etc. were already on the car.
 
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