Re: Getting into the 10\'s
Russ,
I respect your opinion but it is just that, an opinion. Opinions on how fast a car "should" or "could" be often fail to account for less obvious limiting factors involving suspension, transmission, weight etc.. Applying corrections and speculation is guesswork, nothing more. I'm speaking from my experience and actual results as witnessed in the viper drag racing community since 1997. I haven't seen it and it is not for lack of effort. We ran the 10.91 after pushing the heads cam car (w/519rwhp) damn close to it's limits.
I know several guys that have run near stock cars to their limits. Paul Suloff for example - 1996 GTS with minimal bolt ons (T&Ds, headers, exhaust, throttle bodies and gears). This guy has hit 1.3x 60' times on slicks and run 11.0x powershifting. These sixty foot times could never happen on drag radials and that ET could never happen in a stock car.
I'd agree that every tenth off the 60 foot CAN result in 2 tenths down the track. I'd also venture to say a stock viper with 3.07's does NOT have the torque needed to run a 1.4 sixty foot. IMO, it would bog hard, falling on it's face, or cook the clutch if pushed without a set of gears.
I'm also familiar with the numbers some of the Z06 guys have posted but I'm not interested in comparing apples to oranges. Different car, different rules.. These guys have turned some impressive times but I would argue that the guys hitting <=11.8 in stock cars are leaving VERY little on the table to these guys.
Anyway, I'd still realistically suggest 550rwhp to anyone looking to actually run a 10.xx (on slicks). Even at that power level, I've seen many many inexperienced viper owners fail to run the number.
Regards,
Scott W