Viper outruns the ZR1

rcl4668

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Everyone knows C&D are just paid advertisers for Corvette. They always win in a comparo and always show higher #s than in other mags.

Ted, Webster is the narrator and is C&D's head technical editor, so he should know about what he is saying, he just gets paid not to talk back.

Actually, Larry Webster left C&D a few issues back. That was not him narrating the video.
 

RTTTTed

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I think there is a tiny amount of truth to the test.

The BASE Viper can beat the BEST EVER MADE vette. Imagine a test between a BASE vette and an ACR?

The BASE/Cheapest Viper can beat the SLR mercedes (what about the SL???)

The cheapest Viper you can buy will kick a Murci ...

So they test the cheapest ($70,000) DODGE against the 40%/$120,000 Zr1 and the $460,000-500+% Lamborghini - most expensive in the world ... and Dodge does some FASTER times, LOL. The Sport Cups of the ACR would have slowed the Viper down to 150mph (not enought to lose) but blown the ZR1 off the quarter mile by a few tenths.

So would the SRT8 Jeep win this comparo? Nav, cup holders, heated seats, and at 4.4sec to 60mph, it destroys most cars (including base vettes) on the race tracks.

"Jeep" beats world's finest supercars in comparo because it has better nannies, amenities and cost 8% of Lamborghini. ;)

"Jeep" blows away vette in speed test. Amazingly enough the Jeep AWD managed a 4.4sec run to 60mph while the vette only managed 5.2sec with it's V8. At 100mph the vette was starting to gain on the Jeep and finished only 4 lenghts behind! The vette doesn't even have a back seat, while my co-driver sat in the rear of the Jeep watching movies and playing Playstation3 throughout the testing. Since he won the games he has a biased opinion during this test and I really had to threaten to fire him before I could get him to ride in the passenger seat of the vette.

The vette wins for gas mileage though. At half the weight of the Jeep the vette took less gas after our testing.

As far as price goes the vette had nav and mag wheels, like the Jeep and the price was the same.

I kinda liked the nimbleness of the corvette, but my co-tester spent all his time in the back of the Jeep so his vote is biased. With heated/cooled cupholders and the Bose stereo the Jeep won in every catagory except top speed. The vette was 10mph faster.

This is how the test should have been? Or is the Porsche Cayene fast enough that it also kicks vette ass and should have been included??? Meredes makes the Tofor/Smartcar as a BASE model? Lamborghini must make a bunch of base/cheaper models and maybe they should have compared their cheapest supercar instead of the Murci?

I should write my own magazines - call them comedy or comic books? Of course I'd be upfront and point out that I was testing cheapest model against best/fastest models instead of ignoring that fact.

Ted

If they just would have mentined that the World's fastest car is a Viper ACR which was not being tested the article might have been true?
 

GTSRboy2000

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What actually happens in the test has nothing to do with their final choice, No matter how high preformance the Viper is they will always pick the vette. I think in this test they made is very clear they do not actually test the cars, the viper was the fastest, and cheapest...and somonehow in a sportscar showdown that gets you 4th place?
 

Marv S

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(More like how it should have read)...............

The most interesting matchup here is the Viper and the ZR1, this appears to be the first time they have been tested together. While the ZR1 won the 1/4 mile race (by only 1/10th of a second - small enough for driver style difference), the Viper has more top end pulling power, trapping higher in the 1/4 mile, and further extending the lead, beating the ZR1 to 150 MPH by nearly a full second. ZR1 is an impressive performing car - just as much as Viper.

This test result is going to surprise a lot of people as the claims have been that the ZR1 had superior gearing, a lower Cd, less weight, and more power than the Viper and would walk away from it above 100 mph.

As you recall, the last ZR-1 was more expensive than a Viper but could not perform at the same level. Now, a decade later history repeats itself. The most expensive, most powerful Corvette made to date is again second to a less costly Viper.

Combined with the Stock ACR besting the much vaunted "Ring" record of the ZR1 is just icing on the cake.

Congrats and thanks SRT.
 

RTTTTed

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This place is better than a magazine. Better stories.

Next one ...


Ted
 

jdavis

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The vette wins becaues it's cheap? The Viper is cheaper and doesn't rate the el-cheapo interior comment.

Ted

Bang for the buck obviously influenced the outcome of this comparison but, the ZR1 didn't win only because it cost less. BTW, did you notice that the said that he interior of the Viper was a "gloomy" as the economy is outside. I don't think that was intended as a compliment. I suspect that if the Viper or the Vette was priced as high as the other two, they could have fantastic interiors.
 

SnakeBitten

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sad they didn't use an ACR

Im glad they used the regular Viper. Its been treated like a red headed stepchild ever since the ACR came out. This is the first non ACR comparo in like a year:crazy2:. Its like normal SRT10 didnt exist anymore. To see how nasty the normal Viper is vs this hipo compitition was refreshing. Just wished they had the roadcourse numbers along with everything else.

Wonder if the downforce would have hampered the ACR in the 150mph. Might have made it a 10th or 2 slower than the ZR1. Buit it would have beaten or tied it in the braking dept and should edge it in the lateral G dept.
 

adamlotus

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they need to do a 08-09 non acr vs the zr1 one on one.it will be a great race i think it will come out to whos the better driver.
 

HOLLYWOOD1

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Guys, that vette had a top speed of 205, a quicker quarter, a skidpad of 1.07 and stopped in 142 feet..... it beat our beloved snake with some pretty deserved numbers...one thing, it cost a lot more. I am wondering what you guys are looking at. I love the snake but lets get real.
 

Warfang

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Guys, that vette had a top speed of 205, a quicker quarter, a skidpad of 1.07 and stopped in 142 feet..... it beat our beloved snake with some pretty deserved numbers...one thing, it cost a lot more. I am wondering what you guys are looking at. I love the snake but lets get real.

By your rationale... the Viper was beating the z06 by a hair here and there... yet the mags declared the z06 the winner because... drum roll please.... it was CHEAPER. Last I checked the price difference between the zr1 and Viper is about the same as a Viper to a z06.

I see some inconsistencies here... :hmmm:
 

CarDude

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Guys, that vette had a top speed of 205, a quicker quarter, a skidpad of 1.07 and stopped in 142 feet..... it beat our beloved snake with some pretty deserved numbers...one thing, it cost a lot more. I am wondering what you guys are looking at. I love the snake but lets get real.

The Viper comes in fourth (while being the least expensive car)...yet price made the ZR1 the best buy...:dunno:
 

adamlotus

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the 2 cars need to have a race one on one with equal exprienced drivers,i think it will be a tight race.
 

GR8_ASP

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BTW what was up with the 08 Viper in that test. The braking distance seemed extremely high as previous tests placed the Viper and ZR1 with similar stopping distances. I thought the skid pad would be more similar as well.
 

Rednels

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BTW what was up with the 08 Viper in that test. The braking distance seemed extremely high as previous tests placed the Viper and ZR1 with similar stopping distances. I thought the skid pad would be more similar as well.

I think the super high skid pad numbers and braking numbers you are used to seeing are from the ACR, not an SRT.
 

Manatee

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Controversy sells magazines and causes increased magazine website hits, both generating more money for the magazine. If they didn't print something controversial ...
 

rcl4668

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BTW what was up with the 08 Viper in that test. The braking distance seemed extremely high as previous tests placed the Viper and ZR1 with similar stopping distances. I thought the skid pad would be more similar as well.

When comparing the Gen IV against the Z06 (about a year ago?), the non-ACR Viper coupe had a 70-0 braking distance of 150 ft compared to the Z06's distance of 149 ft.
 

xjrguy

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If there had been a BMW 335 in the test the editors/testers would have picked that over the ZR-1 and the other cars.
:rolaugh:
 

RTTTTed

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The magazine appeases the millions of vette owners by giving them the win - after all that's their main customer base. They throw out enough to say that the Viper didn't lose all catagories.

Fact is that if you want a fast car you want the biggest engine n/a adn then add a $7,000 supercharger kit - Comes in $32,000 cheaper than the ZR1. You'd have to spend another $1700 on tires so that you could beat the ZR1 in all the rest of the catagories it wins. You'd still be driving a $30,300 cheaper car that wins every catagory - don't even need a $100,000 ACR to kick all comes asses with the cheapest car on the test track. Save another $6,000 and add a 300hp Nitrous kit, etc. etc.

You only need these numbers if you want slower "stock".

What makes this 'modern' world so great is that we can DO ANYTHING WE WANT. Everything is possible. Old days we built a 600hp car and it was uncomfortable to drive on the street and had to tub and frame all cars to go fast. Now Vipers come with 14" wide sticky tires that allow our cars to go faster than those old 'race cars'. There's 1500hp Vipers out there that actually are legal to street drive.

I suppose that Chrysler could add a small supercharger so that the 514ci. engine would make 800rwhp, but that may cause a lot of law suits because of Deaths with the car having that much power?
Ted
 
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GR8_ASP

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the zr1 has ceramic enzo brakes thats why it stops better none the less the viper stops great.
Not so important on a single stop when using ABS.

Note also in the Oct 2007 issue C&D had 150 ft for the 2008 Viper SRT coupe. Now 162 ft. But if course they also showed that it lost 35 lbs as well.
 
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DJ'sviper

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Back int 80's C&D named the Renoult Alliance as the CAR OF THE YEAR. My father in law
 

DJ'sviper

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Sorry computer crashed. Anyways THe car lasted one year and all I could get for it was 1,100 with a lot of bargaining and in trade for a Buick that had bad head gaskets. How much does C&D get to give a review on a car? Because that car was one of the worst lemmons that was ever made. Everything went wrong with that car. Parts would actually fall off while we were driving.
 
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