What mods what you guys do with about $4000.

[Martin2000GTS]

As some of you know I have had my car for about 3 months now. I want to make it sound better and go faster. I was planning on doing 3.73 gears with the 19inch wheels that I already have (effective 3.55 ratio) but im still deciding on that because I dont want to have major off the line traction isues. BFG make some 19 inch street drag radials!!!!!!! Any ways I have a short throw shifter and Belenger cat back exhaust as my only mods so far. What are my "most power for the buck" mods I should do. Im assuming the Random tech cats and smooth tubes already. But What brand headers etc. should I do? Or what other mods are reccomended. I dont really want to spend more than $4k to $5k on mods for now at least. I plan on bringing my car to tators for the work. While im there i plan on getting the steering braket/frame recall done aswel. So any posts/thoughts would be really apreciated. Thanks guys!
Martin
PS. maybe I can ask for some of this stuff for christmas that would be sweet!!!

 

[STUGOTS]

Well first of all good choice on going to Tators.

if you want it to "sound better" go with B&B headers and B&B cat back/HF cats.

if you want performance go with heads/cam and a vec 2.

if you plan on going S/C in the future keep the stock gear ratio however if you don't plan on going S/C its the best bang for the buck.


personally if your willing to spend 4-5K I would wait a little whilw save alittle more and geta Roe S/C.

Good luck

 

[Martin2000GTS]

Thanks for the info Stugots, 4k-5k was pushing it for me though at least right now. I would have to wait probally 2 years till i have an extra 10G to spend on car mods. What an avg. heads cam and a vec 2 cost? And how much extra power do you would be made out of it?
Thanks
Martin

 

[v10kingsnake]

vec 2 is about a grand, heads are 2500-4000 and cam 400-700 all installed with tuning will run 4000-7000 depending on parts. you should yield between 500-530 rwhp is a good guess.

 

[STUGOTS]

Roe racing does heads for $2650 I believe.

Cam is about 700 installed

Vec 2 is $1000 and is by far the best mod on my car if you go with the Vec 2 trust me it will be the best $1000 bucks you ever spent also Since your comming this way for Chuck to do the install, I would give Bill at Vos (visions of speed) a call he can do wonders with that vec 2.
Example : the vec 2 with the stock card gives about 20 -25 RWHP and around the same RWTQ Bill got about another 20RWHP and 20RWTQ out of mine so now I gained about 45RWHP and 45RWTQ from the vec 2.not to mention the car will run 100X times better with the vec 2 and Bills tuning WELL WORTH IT!!

BTW bills name on here is Bill M.

if it were me I would get heads from Roe and Vec 2 from Roe and installed by Chuck and tuned by Bill.

Good luck bro

P.S those are 3 of the most trust worthy guys around so you will be ok.

 

[J DAWG]

nitrous - 1k and you will spank everything mentioned above. lol.


sorry guys. I have a heads/cam car and love it. I just put some spray on top of it(100 shot) and it comes on hard. The Viper really responds well to nitrous and makes huge torque. Some people will tell you it is not safe for the car and I used to be that person as well until I tried it and learned the importance of tuning, which applies to anything you do with this car.


John


btw - keep an eye on the classifieds. there always seems to be someone selling exhaust components.

 

[99 R/T 10]

Like me , I have a new set of B&B's and Mopar RR in the classifieds. PM me, You won't find a better price! If you do, I'll tell ya "Buy it!"

 

[SnakeBoy]

Nitrous, intakes, short shifter, lowering springs.

 

[STUGOTS]

intake? why would you do intake?

it gains almost nothing plus when (if) you get the Roe charger its no good anymore anyway.

 

[J DAWG]

I think he was probably referring to tubes/filters. just my guess.

 

[Martin2000GTS]

Hey guys i already have koni and eibach springs and shocks, I thought i read here that its not a good move to put a charger on a 2000+ motor (creampuff)

 

[J DAWG]

supposedly it is safe up to 5-6 lbs of boost. Any higher and you would need to swap pistons.

 

[J DAWG]

maybe "supposedly" wasn't the right term. Many have run the Roes and Paxtons on "creampuffs" for over a year now without issues.

 

[Gerald]

"What mods would you do for $4,000"

Dunno man, are there any good looking mods here? Tony's lookin' kinda fine these days..

 

[STUGOTS]

Tony wants 5 grand tho hes a little outta his price range

 

[joe117]

If you want the most power for your money get a small nitrous shot.

This will give you real power that you can feel any time you want it.


I believe that you could get a nice system put in your car and tuned for less than the dollar limit you are talking about.

Many people have heard that nitrous is dangerous to your engine. This is not true. If it is set up properly, you can get plenty of safe power.

There is no way you will get anywhere near this kind of power for your dollar limit with any other mods.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

For $630 plus exchange you can get 40mm rear calipers and feel faster because you can effectively brake better. Be far less nervous about doing anything at or above normal speeds because you don't have to plan around whether the front wheels lock up or not. Chuck can (and has) install them, too.

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Maximize your driving pleasure and safety with Skip Barber Performance and racing schools.

Vipers are fantastic cars and will turn very fast lap times in stock form. Have observed many stock Vipers with track lap times many seconds faster than a Viper with major HP. It depends on the drivers ability. Any extra HP you gain will only help in a long straight away. I say long because in a shorter straight excess HP will not match turn exit speed of a good driver.

A driving school provide faster laps and safer driving because of improved car control and driving knowledge of vehicle dynamics, etc.

Skip Barber also discounts all programs to VCA members.

 

[joe117]

Brake upgrades?

Driving school?

Come on guys, sure, those things are good.

Just like when your mom took the money that Aunt Mary sent for your birthday, and bought you new underwear.

Yeah, underwear is good. Everyone needs underwear.

Hey guys, hey... I got better rear brakes.. hey guys...

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

All drivers will benefit from a performance driving school. All drivers may not benefit from said "better Brakes" or more HP.

But if you want to bar race, at the local pub, comparing dyno charts or list of mods that is another story.

 

[TwoBryans]

If you have a little time and more money, I will be selling my Roe S/C, NX system, VEC system, Berlanger headers and other stuff as I upgrade to TT between now and spring. Let me know if I can help. Have a great day!

Thanks,
Bryan

 

[joe117]

Yeah Fred, I know. Driving school is good.

But I believe more horsepower is what this fellow seems to be after.

Now that I think of it, he would probably have money left in his budget after the driving school. So it's not an either/or situation.

"Hey guys, hey, I just got back from driving school. Hey guys.... Oh, and I have new underwear too. Guys , hey look.." ;-)

 

[Martin2000GTS]

Hey guys thanks for all the replies. Bryan let me know when your selling your charger. Maybe that would be in my budget considering its used stuff. Im also interested in the Belenger Headers to go with my exhaust that I have. The brake upgrade seems to be a good route (short money) for what you get (saftey wise too). If anyone wants to pm me stuff for sale let me know. I have been checking out the for sale section too. More replies welcome.
Thanks
Martin
ps. Performance driving school is definatly something I would look into but I heard they cost an arm and a leg.

 

[Martin2000GTS]

How come a lot of you guys arent saying gears as a good bang for the buck mod. I dont think Ill ever have so much power because I dont have much cash. But I loved the gears in my last car. Even if I had a all stock car except for a roe charger and 3.73 gears w/ cat back belengers. Would that be absoloutly terrible for traction? I have 19" wheels on the back 345/30/19 tires so the effective ratio would be 3.55. Basically is a 3.55 gear overkill with a roe? assuming Bryan hooks me up with a great deal!

 

[STUGOTS]

ALOT of tuners say yes it would be too much, I have heard stay with stock hears if your going forced induction.

if you want it to pull harder without losing traction get an aluminum flywheel.

 

[joe117]

Yes Stu,
An aluminum flywheel and nitrous.
He could do both with the money and still have some left in the ***.

Then driving school.
Then brakes.
Then underwear.

 

[STUGOTS]

Yes Stu,
An aluminum flywheel and nitrous.
He could do both with the money and still have some left in the ***.

Then driving school.
Then brakes.
Then underwear.

Joe your nuts lol

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Driving School
VCA members get a 25% discount for the 2 day school which is a huge discount this school. All others are 10%. Our region tries to have one Viper Club specific school per year, which has more seat time in a Viper.

Gears
The massive torque allows for the taller gearing which to me is about perfect. I had a 97 with headers, cat back K&N ARROW rebuild and 3.55 gears. I used this car for casual track fun and the street. The gearing was to low for me. Add more power and torque even reduces the benefit of the 3.55 gear. If you want to drag race with big slicks then lower gears may be of value. But for the street I would stick with the stock set-up. I know this is not a popular opinion.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Fred,
The OEM brake balance is not one of the best production examples on the road. Yes, I've sold the 40mm calipers to the track guys, they have all said they brake deeper, better, later, etc, all things the better drivers can take advantage of.

But I've sold more to the street guys that have deer, kids, or curbs jump in front of them and they didn't like the car's response. They weren't even driving fast, or are drivers that may never attend a driving school. From their feedback, you might want to revisit the comment that all drivers may not benefit from "better brakes." I think they'd want to argue that one.

Actually, I didn't say they were "better brakes," for that you go to StopTech, Brembo, etc. and tune the brakes to whatever you are doing with the car. These are resized OEM brakes, so they are as heavy, as small a pad area, and subject to issues all sliding calipers have. But, this change very effectively balances the car, just as if you sent your Viper to driving school, and probably how we wish it had come from the factory. Think how many front tire flat spots your school would save!

I should have some sets turned around by the end of the month. Interested? I could use a Left Coast nay-sayer turned advocate!

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

All drivers may not benefit from said "better Brakes" or more HP.

Fred, the brakes do work better... therefore all drivers who upgrade their brakes to the 40mm calipers will benefit. Anytime safety is improved is a benefit...whether it be for track or daily real life situations as Tom noted.

When I bought our car almost 5 years ago, one of the first things I did was test the brakes to lock up. I was disappointed at not only how fast this can occur, but also the very small margin there is between braking and lock up. Lots of autocrossing has proven this fact even more. While I've not yet had a chance to test this system on a track, I agree with all the positive comments about the increased pedal pressure and more control with this set up.

Steve