kverges
Enthusiast
I had the good fortune to spend 3 days driving a Silver SRT/10 and thought I'd give my thoughts. I like to be a bit of an iconoclast and am not quite the Stepford Viper Owner many others are, so hopefully this will be farily objective. For perspective, I have a '93 RT/10 and 2001 GTS for comparison.
Appearance: I'll be darned, but the car has grown on me. I am convinced it is more dramatic than the first show cars, as the fenders are raised much more and the side coves are very deep. But Dodge was clealy aiming at a broader, and perhaps different, audience: the strongest positive reaction I received was from Porsche and BMW owners, more than one of which prefer the new car to their own. These same folks commonly refer to the GTS as a "clown shoe."
Interior: The seats are fantastic, with aggressive and tall bolsters from thigh to shoulder and suede in the seat area, so you don't move around. I like having a real dash-mounted glove box and a shallow center console storage area. I don't think the materials are that much nicer looking than the older car (the padded dash does have a nice tactile feel, though). The pedals are better, with the addition of a dead pedal, but the gas & brake are still too far apart for my style of heel & toe. I miss having the speed-controlled volume on the radio (it's gone with the new "corporate" radio). The worst thing, and a real problem, is the fact that 3 of the 4 "waterfall" gauges are completely obscured by my hand & arm while driving. The old gauge placement was much, much better.
Top: Tons better than the RT, but you must open the trunk to raise & lower the top. I had visions of simply pulling to the side of the road and reaching over my shoulder to raise the top, but alas, no. Fit & finish is very good, as is the weather seal. The glass rear window will prove to be a real joy over time. There is quite a bit of wind noise, though.
Driving: This car feels much stiffer and more stiffly sprung than my GTS, so I don't think the driving expereience was softened there. Visibility is quite good, despite the small window in the top. The brakes are much more robust and more heavily boosted; There is even a proper and integral duct for the brakes from the front fascia. I look forward to really using them ******* track to see how they do. The engine was still in break-in mode, but felt mightly strong even at part throttle and below 4000 rpm. The shorter front overhang sure helped me in the "scrape zones" that I commonly encounter with the GTS. I feel confident this car will be better on track, but by how much remains to be seen.
Weight: I couldn't resist, so I put it on my race car scales and the total, with 1/2 tank fuel and no driver, was 3362. The corners were nearly perfect, with LF: 842, RF: 852, LR: 852, RR: 815, so corners were within .7% of 50/50. With me in the car, the corner weights stayed good, with the cross weights actually switching bias, but only by .7% again. LF: 895, RF: 850, LR: 934, RR: 847, total of 3524. My RT/10 weighs 3630 with me in it, so this car is a about 100 lbs lighter than my RT/10. I have not scaled my GTS, but I think the weight loss of the car is not as good as I'd hoped, as the Gen I cars were notoriously heavy.
Bottom line: A more refined and cosmetically subdued version of our beloved Viper, that promises to perform incrementally better.
Appearance: I'll be darned, but the car has grown on me. I am convinced it is more dramatic than the first show cars, as the fenders are raised much more and the side coves are very deep. But Dodge was clealy aiming at a broader, and perhaps different, audience: the strongest positive reaction I received was from Porsche and BMW owners, more than one of which prefer the new car to their own. These same folks commonly refer to the GTS as a "clown shoe."
Interior: The seats are fantastic, with aggressive and tall bolsters from thigh to shoulder and suede in the seat area, so you don't move around. I like having a real dash-mounted glove box and a shallow center console storage area. I don't think the materials are that much nicer looking than the older car (the padded dash does have a nice tactile feel, though). The pedals are better, with the addition of a dead pedal, but the gas & brake are still too far apart for my style of heel & toe. I miss having the speed-controlled volume on the radio (it's gone with the new "corporate" radio). The worst thing, and a real problem, is the fact that 3 of the 4 "waterfall" gauges are completely obscured by my hand & arm while driving. The old gauge placement was much, much better.
Top: Tons better than the RT, but you must open the trunk to raise & lower the top. I had visions of simply pulling to the side of the road and reaching over my shoulder to raise the top, but alas, no. Fit & finish is very good, as is the weather seal. The glass rear window will prove to be a real joy over time. There is quite a bit of wind noise, though.
Driving: This car feels much stiffer and more stiffly sprung than my GTS, so I don't think the driving expereience was softened there. Visibility is quite good, despite the small window in the top. The brakes are much more robust and more heavily boosted; There is even a proper and integral duct for the brakes from the front fascia. I look forward to really using them ******* track to see how they do. The engine was still in break-in mode, but felt mightly strong even at part throttle and below 4000 rpm. The shorter front overhang sure helped me in the "scrape zones" that I commonly encounter with the GTS. I feel confident this car will be better on track, but by how much remains to be seen.
Weight: I couldn't resist, so I put it on my race car scales and the total, with 1/2 tank fuel and no driver, was 3362. The corners were nearly perfect, with LF: 842, RF: 852, LR: 852, RR: 815, so corners were within .7% of 50/50. With me in the car, the corner weights stayed good, with the cross weights actually switching bias, but only by .7% again. LF: 895, RF: 850, LR: 934, RR: 847, total of 3524. My RT/10 weighs 3630 with me in it, so this car is a about 100 lbs lighter than my RT/10. I have not scaled my GTS, but I think the weight loss of the car is not as good as I'd hoped, as the Gen I cars were notoriously heavy.
Bottom line: A more refined and cosmetically subdued version of our beloved Viper, that promises to perform incrementally better.
