Your 'reason' is because the Viper is a few years older and that makes it an unfair comparo? OMG... We're all reasonable people regardless of our love for one car over another but doesn't that sound kinda silly?
The C6 coupe has already been out a little bit and the Z is their latest creation... same C6 generation but they dont share a lot of parts with the coupe and vert... 427 LS7, ALUMINUM FRAME, magnesium roof structure, CF bodywork, etc.
The Viper may be a couple of years older but the coupe is their latest creation and DC could have done anything they wanted with it (like new frame or engine upgrade, suspension, etc).
So the Gen3 is long in the tooth after 3 years? You make it sound like the war is over until Gen4 comes out.
IMO, there's just too much thought about about how and why when I think it simply comes down to this...
It's the best that GM has to offer RIGHT NOW against the best DC has to offer RIGHT NOW and the numbers point in favor to the Z this time around.
I guess it just takes time but instead of coming up with reasons, I would think it'd be better to discuss what kind of things DC has up their sleeve or do mad posting of what you want to see in the next update to counter.
It's good for both camps.
don
Don, think about it for a second. The Gen 3 Viper has been in existance probably since at least 2001. It's not like DC just waived a magic wand and it appeared in 2003. Have you been watching too much Harry Potter??? Considering that the Gen 3 was being created (at least) 2 or 3 years before it was released, that means that GM has had at least 5 years to prepare its following generation Z06 Vette, now this latest generation, to finally be caught up with the Viper. And that's obviously what they did.
Now, as far the the latest Viper Coupe, it is based on the current generation 3 Viper, or the SRT-10. It is generally the same time frame to come out with a newer generation vehicle of ANY kind from ANY manufacturer, as people generally have in a car loan, being typically 5 or 6 years now for the average American. The latest Viper, the Coupe, is not meant to be a new generation that's been reworked with a new engine design and all . . . it's simply an SRT-10 "Coupe" with different wheels.
Car makers will make small changes to its current generation vehicles from year to year, as they see neccessary in providing better reliability, without hopefully needing to go through any recalls. But don't look at DC as having made this major letdown with the Coupe by comparing it with this new Z06.
Since the Coupe was based on the current Generation Viper / SRT-10, [it] should have been introduced much sooner than it was, or it should not have been introduced at all. Most likely, it will have a life of 2 or 3 years instead of the average 5 or 6, but it will not be around of course when the next generation Viper comes out, which will probably be in another 2 or 3 more years. Basically, all DC will loose in the Coupe design costs for a short run period, is the body, since pretty much everything else is SRT-10.
Bottom line, GM probably has known about the SRT-10 since at least 2001 . . . or 2002 at the absolute very latest. Heck, the SRT-10 could have been on the design boards since 2000 even, since it can take a good amount of time in designing a new model from ground up. GM could have decided BEFORE the SRT-10 was even released that its 05/06 generation Z06 would be better than what DC was working to put out in 2003. You know since the day the SRT-10 came out, that GM has had their design specialists pouring over every inch of the SRT-10 in their secret warehouse, and most likely a few other higher end exotics along with it too. Now, DC we can speculate has a new Z06, and they have about 2 more years, at best, to come up with something better. They will need to work diligently if they are to make it and have it ready to be a 2007 product, and I don't see that happening as it would seem to be too short a generation period for the SRT-10. My guess is a new generation Viper in 2008 which will be well above both the SRT-10 and this newest generation Z06 Vette.
And if like another poster mentioned before . . . if DC had AMG get involved . . . sorry, I can't imagine that. Something like that would surely cause GM to shamefully close the book on the Vette and end its history (joking of course, but wow, and AMG'd Viper . . . that could be one very serious supercar.)
ps, "the war is over" until the new generation Viper comes out, as I've explained above.
