LIRacer
Viper Owner
Mods: Lets try to keep it to car discussion. Thanks 
SRT-10 in Sport Auto Supertest
- Thread starter Guibo
- Start date
Japson
Enthusiast
Errr, I hate to harp on but I will anyway. The standard SRT-10 has outrageously firm damping with zero compression tolerance at lower speeds - i.e. the speeds of the really tight corners of the Nordschleife. Furthermore, these corners are bumpy there and the standard dampers force the car into a bouncing attitide that results in a complete lack of ability to lay down the 500 pounds feet of torque that the engine produces.
It is great at high speeds (above 80mph) but below that Dodge skimped on the quality of the shocks knowing that it would add thousands to the basic cost of the car. Either that, or they didn't think anyone would notice.
BTW - I LOVE my SRT-10, that's why I've ordered new dampers. An SRT-10 with a good set of shocks should be able to break 8 mins out there. As I'm taking my RSI 750 modded car back to Europe next month I hope to be able to demonstrate soon.
It is great at high speeds (above 80mph) but below that Dodge skimped on the quality of the shocks knowing that it would add thousands to the basic cost of the car. Either that, or they didn't think anyone would notice.
BTW - I LOVE my SRT-10, that's why I've ordered new dampers. An SRT-10 with a good set of shocks should be able to break 8 mins out there. As I'm taking my RSI 750 modded car back to Europe next month I hope to be able to demonstrate soon.
Kai SRT10
Enthusiast
I raced my SRT-10 this past Summer at an open road racing event on very rough roads. I have to say that it was a bit of a frightening experience. Hitting washboard sections at 140mph, the car would bounce around quite a bit. If the Ring is a rough and bumpy road, I can imagine that the SRT-10 would not be at its best. On smooth surfaces, however, the SRT-10 handles amazingly well. The stiff suspension that works for you on the smooth, however, works against you on the rough. Frankly, the SRT-10 just needs some adjustable coil-overs, so you can set it up for whatever conditions you encounter. That's why I'm getting a Moton shock set up before I go road racing again.
dennis
Enthusiast
*DELETED*
Kai SRT10
Enthusiast
[quote
So your experience quite fits to the test-result, since the car was faster in Hockenheim which is totally different from the 'Ring.
But did you get the same feeling of the car shaking? Or was it just jumping around as you mentioned it?
[/QUOTE]
I think that anyone who has driven an SRT-10 at speed on very bumpy and uneven surfaces will tell you that the car's suspension really wasn't designed for this. The Viper's spring/damper set up doesn't absorb bumps all that well, so the bumps are transferred to the car, with the result being that the car can get unsettled and twitchy. I don't know anything about the road conditions of the Ring. I had always assumed that it was a smooth asphalt surface. If the surface is bumpy and broken, then I am not surprised that the GTS would do better, as the GTS suspension is supposed to be a bit softer than the SRT-10. I would imagine that with some tweaking of damper rates, the SRT-10 would do quite a bit better. As it comes from the factory, however, it is really set up for maximum smooth surface ability, and this is detrimental to its performance on rough surfaces.
As for the convertible/body roll/shake thing, I think that the tester may be a bit off-base with this observation. He was probably just noticing the unforgiving suspension. It is well known that the SRT-10 has more torsional rigidity than the GTS. I track my SRT-10 a lot and I've never noticed it any twisting or shake. Even more telling, one of my instructors, who drives high-performance cars for a living, drove my car and was impressed enough to mention to me that he couldn't feel any shake and twist at all, and was doubly impressed because it was a convertible. If you look at the braced frame structure behind the seats (I saw it when installing my roll bar) you can see why the SRT-10 is so rigid. It was designed from the ground up as a convertible, and is more rigid than a typical convertible (the design of which usually starts out life as a coupe, and then had the top chopped off.)
As an aside: I just finished a track event (on a smooth track.) Lots of cars, from vintage to new. Ferraris, Porsches, Corvettes, NSX's American, Japanese, European, you name it. The only car there with a license plate (as opposed to non street-legal racers) which passed me was a Cateram Super 7. Anyone who has driven a SRT-10 can tell you that it is a weapon on a smooth track.
So your experience quite fits to the test-result, since the car was faster in Hockenheim which is totally different from the 'Ring.
But did you get the same feeling of the car shaking? Or was it just jumping around as you mentioned it?
[/QUOTE]
I think that anyone who has driven an SRT-10 at speed on very bumpy and uneven surfaces will tell you that the car's suspension really wasn't designed for this. The Viper's spring/damper set up doesn't absorb bumps all that well, so the bumps are transferred to the car, with the result being that the car can get unsettled and twitchy. I don't know anything about the road conditions of the Ring. I had always assumed that it was a smooth asphalt surface. If the surface is bumpy and broken, then I am not surprised that the GTS would do better, as the GTS suspension is supposed to be a bit softer than the SRT-10. I would imagine that with some tweaking of damper rates, the SRT-10 would do quite a bit better. As it comes from the factory, however, it is really set up for maximum smooth surface ability, and this is detrimental to its performance on rough surfaces.
As for the convertible/body roll/shake thing, I think that the tester may be a bit off-base with this observation. He was probably just noticing the unforgiving suspension. It is well known that the SRT-10 has more torsional rigidity than the GTS. I track my SRT-10 a lot and I've never noticed it any twisting or shake. Even more telling, one of my instructors, who drives high-performance cars for a living, drove my car and was impressed enough to mention to me that he couldn't feel any shake and twist at all, and was doubly impressed because it was a convertible. If you look at the braced frame structure behind the seats (I saw it when installing my roll bar) you can see why the SRT-10 is so rigid. It was designed from the ground up as a convertible, and is more rigid than a typical convertible (the design of which usually starts out life as a coupe, and then had the top chopped off.)
As an aside: I just finished a track event (on a smooth track.) Lots of cars, from vintage to new. Ferraris, Porsches, Corvettes, NSX's American, Japanese, European, you name it. The only car there with a license plate (as opposed to non street-legal racers) which passed me was a Cateram Super 7. Anyone who has driven a SRT-10 can tell you that it is a weapon on a smooth track.
LIRacer
Viper Owner
Mods: 
S
sachin
Guest
Mods:
LIRacer
Viper Owner
Mods:
dennis
Enthusiast
LIRacer
Viper Owner
dennis
Enthusiast
Mods: Back to the original question....Viper vs. Viper, vs Golf. Thanks.
Similar threads
