mikecronis
Enthusiast
I've owned a 1999 Pontiac TransAm Firehawk and a 2006 Lotus Elise. I currently own a 2008 Saturn Sky Redline. I live in Colorado Springs, CO at an altitude of 5800 ft (give or take). The forced-induction of the Sky RL helps nicely against the 17% Hp loss.
What are the pros/cons of various year models? It'd be easy to say that the most recent iteration Viper is the best, though personally I'm partial to the 03-06 models.
In the Elise, the high door-sill was awkward, though the 1/2" thick seats with the ProBack padding was surprisingly nice. Road harshness with the Billstien shocks on both the Firehawk and Elise were a bit gruelling. My Sky RL ride is creamy but there's a lot of dive-in (I don't have the GM Stage 2 kit yet for it or various suspension upgrades).
I suspect the Viper will accelerate a bit better than my modified Firehawk (for those familiar with the TransAm variant) and handle about the same as the Elise but with less understeer).
Here's my rather (un)interesting cars I've owned to date:
1986 Chrysler New Yorker (learned to drive on it, parent's car)
1980 Oldsmobile Omega
1984 Ford Tempo GLX
1979 Chrysler Cordoba
== all cars from this point are manual transmission ==
1987 Saab 900 (learned manual transmission on it, wife's dad's car)
1989 Honda Civic EX (pre-VTEC version)
1991 Nissan Pulsar NX SE
1991 Honda Prelude Si (while stationed in Japan / RHD)
2000 Pontiac Sunfire GT (traded after owning 2 months due to bad sunroof)
1998 Pontiac Firebird V6
1999 Pontiac TransAm Firehawk SLP
1998 Honda Civic EX VTEC (kept as a winter-******, soon stolen)
1996 Nissan Sentra GXE (kept as a winter-****** during Firehawk onward)
2006 Lotus Elise (with touring package & targa hardtop option)
2008 Saturn Sky Redline
Certainly the FWD cars are not much of a comparison. I've also owned several sportbikes:
Honda CB450 (standard)
Suzuki Katana 600
Kawasaki Ninja 250R
Kawasaki Ninja 500R
Honda Superhawk VTR1000F
Kawasaki Ninja 250 J-type
I've performed several track-days and have a good handle on predictable controlled drifting (thanks to the Elise and to some extent, the Firehawk, and to a lesser-extent, the Sky).
I find the Sky's progression is non-linear due to the explosive turbo boost (21PSI) and requires a gentle feathering of the throttle to maintain a usable-drift. Acceleration is generally adequate. Those last 3 good cars were all in the 0-60 about 5.0 to 5.5 range so are very similar (though revving is different of course).
Anyway, enough about me.. my questions are:
Which problems has the 2008 Viper addressed over the 2003-2006?
For example, I found the Elise's A/C unit to be non-functional after 5 minutes, and the sill contained the coolant from the radiator was VERY hot against the left leg. Driving more than 300 miles was a chore, and due to various aerodynamics, I'd begin to get lift over 90mph.
The Firehawk's T-top windows would create too much reverse pressure over 140mph and ****-in "POP!". GM went cheap on the brakes and rotors and needed to be upgraded ASAP. SLP Loudmouth exhaust frightened elderly and children and priests. Car was HEAVY. Getting "Out of the Hole" took about a week in the RPM range even with 4.10 gear ratio installed. Handled crazy in the snow, even with Pirelli snow tires, "Thanks Mr. Torque!"
Each car has it's quirks. What can I expect with an 03-06 quirk-wise?
What are the pros/cons of various year models? It'd be easy to say that the most recent iteration Viper is the best, though personally I'm partial to the 03-06 models.
In the Elise, the high door-sill was awkward, though the 1/2" thick seats with the ProBack padding was surprisingly nice. Road harshness with the Billstien shocks on both the Firehawk and Elise were a bit gruelling. My Sky RL ride is creamy but there's a lot of dive-in (I don't have the GM Stage 2 kit yet for it or various suspension upgrades).
I suspect the Viper will accelerate a bit better than my modified Firehawk (for those familiar with the TransAm variant) and handle about the same as the Elise but with less understeer).
Here's my rather (un)interesting cars I've owned to date:
1986 Chrysler New Yorker (learned to drive on it, parent's car)
1980 Oldsmobile Omega
1984 Ford Tempo GLX
1979 Chrysler Cordoba
== all cars from this point are manual transmission ==
1987 Saab 900 (learned manual transmission on it, wife's dad's car)
1989 Honda Civic EX (pre-VTEC version)
1991 Nissan Pulsar NX SE
1991 Honda Prelude Si (while stationed in Japan / RHD)
2000 Pontiac Sunfire GT (traded after owning 2 months due to bad sunroof)
1998 Pontiac Firebird V6
1999 Pontiac TransAm Firehawk SLP
1998 Honda Civic EX VTEC (kept as a winter-******, soon stolen)
1996 Nissan Sentra GXE (kept as a winter-****** during Firehawk onward)
2006 Lotus Elise (with touring package & targa hardtop option)
2008 Saturn Sky Redline
Certainly the FWD cars are not much of a comparison. I've also owned several sportbikes:
Honda CB450 (standard)
Suzuki Katana 600
Kawasaki Ninja 250R
Kawasaki Ninja 500R
Honda Superhawk VTR1000F
Kawasaki Ninja 250 J-type
I've performed several track-days and have a good handle on predictable controlled drifting (thanks to the Elise and to some extent, the Firehawk, and to a lesser-extent, the Sky).
I find the Sky's progression is non-linear due to the explosive turbo boost (21PSI) and requires a gentle feathering of the throttle to maintain a usable-drift. Acceleration is generally adequate. Those last 3 good cars were all in the 0-60 about 5.0 to 5.5 range so are very similar (though revving is different of course).
Anyway, enough about me.. my questions are:
Which problems has the 2008 Viper addressed over the 2003-2006?
For example, I found the Elise's A/C unit to be non-functional after 5 minutes, and the sill contained the coolant from the radiator was VERY hot against the left leg. Driving more than 300 miles was a chore, and due to various aerodynamics, I'd begin to get lift over 90mph.
The Firehawk's T-top windows would create too much reverse pressure over 140mph and ****-in "POP!". GM went cheap on the brakes and rotors and needed to be upgraded ASAP. SLP Loudmouth exhaust frightened elderly and children and priests. Car was HEAVY. Getting "Out of the Hole" took about a week in the RPM range even with 4.10 gear ratio installed. Handled crazy in the snow, even with Pirelli snow tires, "Thanks Mr. Torque!"
Each car has it's quirks. What can I expect with an 03-06 quirk-wise?
