Its Here!

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Bobpantax

Bobpantax

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Yes. You can easily adjust it. But, if you do, it has to be corner balanced again if you want it to be perfect. My car is 1/4 of one inch higher than FloridaChris's "Badlands Coupe". There are a few speed bumps on the way into my office garage and I wanted a little bit more height.
 

MiamiJeff

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Looks great--Enjoy it!

My new Grand Cherokee SRT8 is in transit. Let me know when you're hosting the Zaino MIB party.

Watch those cartoon cracks or "Monsta I" might hunt your new beast down & blame any incident on her "old brakes."
 
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Bobpantax

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Re: Its Here! - Additional Observations

Some additinal observations regarding the new coupe after 250 miles. ( Any comparisons are to my former 1999 supercharged ( 180 degree thermostat) GTS.)

1. The water temperature of the new coupe runs cooler under traffic conditions.

2. The push button start, while admittedly a pure gimic, brings on a smile.

3. The seats are far more suitable to spirited ( lawful of course ) driving.

4. When I first sat in a new coupe at a dealership, I reported back to this forum that I thought that there was less visibility. I have not noticed any material difference now that I have drievn the car for a while. It basically requies about the same need to attend to the side rear view mirrors. In that regard, they fixed the ussue with respect to the right side rear view mirror. It actually can be adjusted into a more useful position.

5. As the springs break in, the car will come to a height about 3/16th of an inch lower than it appears in the photos above.

6. Did I mention the AC? Yes I did, but its worth mentioning again. With the Corsa Track cat back installed ( this eliminates the crossover pipe underneath the vehicle) the car, in 90 degree weather, can actually get too cold when the AC is on full blast. Considering that it is a black car, this is particularly good. In other words, when I park it in the sun, it will cool down rapidly after I turn on the air. My GTS took a very long time to do the same and I always made sure that I had a full charge of "freon".

7. Handling. Since it is not completely broken in, I have not pushed it. I'm going to reserve on this one and only say that, so far, it is excellent.

8. Everyday, around town driveability. Contrary to the reports of the comma carrying pencil pushers that write for most of the auto media these days, the vehicle is very driveable around town - even with the Paxton. Since the power curve of the Paxton really starts to kick in about 3000 RPM, it is easy to avoid boost in around town driving. This results in better gas mileage. Not great gas mileage, just better gas mileage. Before You flame me, the only reason I bring up gas mileage is that in Floida, when its hot, which is at least five months of the year, the more you stop for gas, the more you are exposed to the heat.

9. Wheel cleaning. the new five spoke wheels are a heck of a lot easier to clean than the OEM wheels were on the GTS - far less surface area.

If I notice anything else worth reporting, I'll post again.

Bob
 

Racer Robbie

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Hey Bob,
You have a beautifull ride here! I love it and I am green with envy! Can you tell me what you used to lower the car, how many inches, and the make and part number. Also helpfull would be the alignment specs used if they differed from stock.

Robbie
 
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Bobpantax

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Re: More Observations

Monsta has now reached 400 miles. A few more observations:

1. When you close the door of the new coupe, the window repositions itself just before contact with the weather stripping and then again after contact to form a perfect seal from the outside. This was a constant issue with my GTS.

2. One of the reasons that the car looks better in person is that photographs tend not to catch the width of the "gill slits" on the front of the vehicle. In photos they look much narrower than they actually are.

3. I just received and installed the OEM Viper floor mats. The slip and slide issue was solved. The mats come with appliances ( you have to snap them together in the holes provided in the mats ) that allow a snap on to a button that is installed into the carpet liner. Between this and the rubber grippers on the bottom of the mats, slipping and sliding is eliminated.

4. I was out on the highway last night where the road is under construction and lanes have been moved over. This results in some creasing in the road, etc. With my GTS the tracking here - yes it has been under construction a long time - was very bad. I had to really be super careful to avoid the car moving in unacceptable ways. The new coupe barely took notice of the issue. I attribute this to the fine job done by Mark jorgensen and his Vipertechs when they installed the Motons, Eibachs, and corner balanced the car.

5. I did a few low speed maneuvers to test handling. For instance, taking a left and a right turn into a perpendicular road at 40 MPH. The car handled perfectly. It clearly had considerable room left before ass around sydrome might take over.

6. There is no low speed acting up of any kind - no bucking, etc.

7. Comparison of Paxton to Roe. The Roe power came in at 1800 RPM. It was awsome. It gave the feeling of an untamed beast. The Paxton power is more civilized. It comes in starting at about 3000 RPM. Looks wise, I think the Roe, at least on a Gen II, wins hands down. There is something about seeing a roots type blower on top of the engine that just seems special. I will probably have more to say about this comparison later since I have not brought the car over 4000 RPM yet. But, for now,if you want a Gen II Viper that has insane power at RPM's as low as 1800,at a very reasonable price, the Roe is the way to go. To my knowledge, there is no Roe kit yet for Gen III Vipers but I am sure Sean will correct me if I am wrong.

Bob
 
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Bobpantax

Bobpantax

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Re: Its Here! - A Few More Observations

1. The break in period went well. The oil level did not drop at all.

2. At about 200 miles, the vehicle began to "wakeup". The difference was quite noticeable.

3. As the oil broke down a bit, the sound coming from the supercharger became more noticeable. I would guess that when I change the oil, the sound will decrease to some extent and then increase again as the oil breaks down.
The sound is not bothersome but clearly broadcasts the existence of a supercharger. ( My Roe was silent at idle.)

4. At about three thousand RPM at near WOT or WOT, a strong surge begins and builds that feels like the acceleration in a performance aircraft at takeoff. I have not explored this much yet because I want to become more precisely acquainted with the sounds and feel of the vehicle before doing some research on upper RPM performance.

5. The reworked shifter mechanism works very well. It is crisp and certain. It allows confident shifting up or down. Once again, thank you to Mark Jorgenesen and his Vipertechs at Woodhouse.

6. The sound of the Corsa Track cat back deepened during the break in. Although it is a subjective issue, the sound, to me, is much better than the stock sound.

7. I mentioned the brakes before but they are worth mentioning again. They are exceptional. They clearly are equal to or exceed what is needed to handle the additional power.

That's it for now. The bottom line is that the new coupe is an incredible machine.
 
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Bobpantax

Bobpantax

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Re: Its Here! - Update

The Monsta MIB 2006 SRT 10 coupe now has 1750 plus miles on it. Additional observations:

1. All of the work done by Mike Jorgensen and his Vipertechs at Woodhouse was perfect. The vehicle, with the Paxton, behaves like it came that way from the factory. No problems of any kind - not even at ten or twenty miles per hour. It is flawless. Gas mileage has improved with mileage. It is averaging 10 - 11 MPG around town including a little boost now and then. It is much, much better than the mileage I got on my 8lb Roe setup on my GTS. I know - no one cares about the MPG but when it is 90 plus degrees out every day, not having to stop as frequently at gas stations is great.

2. The sound of the Corsa track catback became deeper and meaner with additional miles. It's subjective but I like it.

3. I reserved any comments on the handling in my prior posts. I now have sufficient time in the seat to say that this coupe handles better, in every way and on every level, than my prior GTS with one proviso. Some of the exceptional handling must be due to the installation of the Eibachs and Motons, 1/2 " lowering and corner balancing done by Woodhouse. I say some, because I drove a stock SRT 10 convertible (not my car) at speed at Homstead Speedway and it handled very well.

4. There is no wind noise inside the passenger compartment at speed. It is very easy to creep up to 100 MPH without even realizing it. My onboard speed detector ( It's a W.I.F.E. unit ) was 100% accurate in my GTS. She has missed it a few times in the new coupe. LOL.

5. The Paxton starts to kick in at about 3300 but from 4000 to redline it is incredible. It gets stronger and stronger. I worked my way up the speed curve very slowly and strongly recommend that others who get a supercharged Viper do the same thing. Even with my prior experience with the Roe'ed GTS, I benefited from a slow learning curve.

6. To me, those who are waiting for some future HP increase are misguided. The stock Paxton kit, PROPERLY INSTALLED by an experienced Paxton installer ( Look at the list of installers. Dealers, including Woodhouse, are some of the installers. ) provides at leat 700 flywheel HP and is environmentally compliant, etc. I know someone will pipe up with the usual warranty question but the impact is minimal taking into consideration the three year limited warranty on the Paxton and the fact that a Dodge dealer installs it - if you use a dealer. ( Keep in mind that a dealer, at least a wise one, will not touch the stock cats. )

That's it for now. Have a great Fourth of July!
 

rleminv

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Re: Its Here! - Update

The Monsta MIB 2006 SRT 10 coupe now has 1750 plus miles on it. Additional observations:...........................
...................
.....................

6. To me, those who are waiting for some future HP increase are misguided. The stock Paxton kit, PROPERLY INSTALLED by an experienced Paxton installer ( Look at the list of installers. Dealers, including Woodhouse, are some of the installers. ) provides at leat 700 flywheel HP and is environmentally compliant, etc. I know someone will pipe up with the usual warranty question but the impact is minimal taking into consideration the three year limited warranty on the Paxton and the fact that a Dodge dealer installs it - if you use a dealer...........

That's it for now. Have a great Fourth of July!
by BobPantax



An absolute truth, enjoy today a known and proven Viper, GenIII w/Paxton.

Larry
 
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Bobpantax

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Re: Its Here! - Update

4489 miles.

1. After the springs broke in, it did, as Mark J. predicted, settle 3/16s of an inch lower.

2. The car runs flawlessly around town and on the highway.

3. The exhaust sound has gotten a bit deeper and more threatening. (Music to a gearhead's ears.)

4. The car is stronger than it was at my last post.

5. The red shift light is very useful - particularly for first.

6. Fourth gear is amazing. This machine pulls in fourth like no other streetable enhanced vehicle that I have ever owned.

7. People love the looks of the SRTC. Almost everyday I get smiles, thumbs up, digital cameras pointing at me, etc.

8. There have only been two minor issues that do not affect performance. First, for reasons unknown, the driver's side window, on rare occasions, sometimes pops up a little after the door is opened. I have taken the precaution of visually checking it every time I go to close the door. Of course, since I started doing that, it has not malfunctioned. ( The dealer has a new switch waiting to be installed when the time is convenient.) Second, even less frequently, one headlight will come on instead of both. This is remedied by turning the lights on and off a couple of times.

9. I know that I have said it twice before, but the ability to finely adjust the AC and heat to one's taste is a terrific improvement.

That's it for now.

Bob
 

BlueGTS

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Re: Its Here! - Update

Great comparison between your old and new car. Just for clarification did your Gen2 have W/M injections? How would you compare the SOTP power between the cars. Which "feels" faster to you and passengers?

Very interesting write up, thanks again. :2tu:
 

Vic

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Re: Its Here! - Update

Thats one badazz lookin car! If I had a Gen3, that would be "it"!
Congrats!

Do you have cast pistons? I'd like to supercharge also, and was wondering what kind of power I could conservatively make with cast, assuming I don't ask for too much, keep the A/F ratio safely towards "rich".
 
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Bobpantax

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Re: Its Here! - Update

Great comparison between your old and new car. Just for clarification did your Gen2 have W/M injections? How would you compare the SOTP power between the cars. Which "feels" faster to you and passengers?

1. No w/m on old car. Supercharger and VEC II installed and tuned by Sean Roe.

2. From zero to sixty the Roe GTS was more dramatic and very difficult to launch on street tires without losing traction. This was the result of the lower RPM torque curve. The Paxtonized SRTC is just as fast but the power is more easily controlled. Part of this is due to the suspension mods I had done. My GTS had a stock suspension. On the high end, above 4000RPM, the Paxton is the clear thrill winner. The Paxton keeps getting stronger and stronger all the way to redline. It is one high adrenaline ride! The Roe GTS's peak torque was at 3500 RPM's with its peak HP at 5450 RPM. The peak torque for the SRTC Paxton per the dyno immediately after installation was at 5450 RPM and the peak HP kept climbing all the way to redline. The torque for the Roe was above 500 ft lbs at 1800 RPM. The torque for the Paxton is above 500 ft lbs at 3900 RPM.

3. The GTS had forged pistons. The SRTC has stock cast pistons. With the stock Paxton installation, the stock pistons are sufficient.

4. I do not know what the stock Paxton setup generates on a Gen II. My 8lb Roe GTS generated, without water/**** and already well broken in, RWHP of 546.9 and RWT of 613.72 on a dynojet dyno. The Paxton SRTC numbers, converted to dynojet numbers from Mustang dyno numbers, generated 649.2 RWHP and 602.3 RWT when the car was brand new right after installation by Woodhouse and only 19 miles on the clock. The SRTC, which is now well broken in, now feels much stronger than it did when I first got it.

5. Anyone thinking of supercharging should keep the A/F ratio safe unless they like metal fragments. They should also adjust/modify the suspension for the difference in weight caused by the supercharger and the difference in power. It really is worth it to get the car corner balanced if any spirited driving is anticipated. It reduces what I call the "ass around syndrome".

Have fun! Drive smart. Drive safely
 

Hiss

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Great looking Viper-just beautiful and powerful.

Ive never had a car corner balanced-explain the procedure to me.

I am looking into SC for next year.

Got my 2006 coupe late summer and trying-trying-trying not to move toooo fast on mods. :)
 
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Bobpantax

Bobpantax

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It is a bit off topic but here is an explanation of "corner balancing" from Mark Jorgenson. It describes the procedure that he used after he put Eibachs and Moton shocks on my SRTC.

"When we corner balance a car we start out by driving the car for a short distance to seat in the springs and shocks, then once on the rack we loosen all the bolts slightly to insure that there is no binding and set the overall ride height front and rear and the rake. From there we put the car up on the scales and adjust the corners to get the weight at the cross corners as close to 50 -50 as we can with the drivers estimated weight in the seat. This process will change the look of the wheel well heights on each corner slightly but is necessary to balance the car. After all the balancing is done we start the alignment process insuring the settings are where we need them and the toe patterns are good front and rear through the bump curve. With all the specialty tools to do this job it is very time consuming and when done right really transforms the handling of the car."

Mark also said that done properly it takes about six hours by someone skilled in doing it.
 

Hiss

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Thanks--Been hearing about CB now I know--Some procedure

No one in this area can do that.

BTW you have given a very nice write up on the comparisons between the GTS & SRT and the TT & SC. This is wetting my appetite for a SC.
 
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Bobpantax

Bobpantax

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Re: Its Here! - Update

Update. 5622 miles. I thought it was time to redyno the car. I lucked out and there was dyno time available at a local shop this evening. Dynojet dynamometer.
87.88 degrees F. 30.25 in-Hg. Humidity 36%.

The numbers were 653.93 HP and 598.16 Torque. For those of you used to Mustang dynamometer numbers dividing by 1.1 gives: 594.5 HP/ 543.8 Torque. Using a .88 conversion factor ( divide by .88 ) on the Dynojet numbers, results in 743.1 HP and 679.73 Torque at the flywheel. The Mopar 2008 coupe ( Yes. The one with the strange red stripe.) is rated at 675 HP at the flywheel.

The Woodhouse prepared MIB coupe is still strong and runs great. I am pleased with the numbers. The 2008 vehicles shown at Detroit are fantastic cars. But they are just too slow for this grey beard. LOL. Power to the AARP!
 

Hiss

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Re: Its Here! - Update

Very good info. Great #'s.

As I am writing my Viper is down at DLM for a SC. From one grey beard to another -the 2008 is too tame for me also. ;)

Bob--Can't wait to get the Viper back. Man its killing me not having it around. My wife says I am getting a little grouchy. When a grey beard gets grouchy its a bad grouchy. :D
 
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Bobpantax

Bobpantax

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I tried to find this thread the other day and could not find it. For some reason, when a thread search is done, it comes up more than a year after it was opened but everyhting is here. It contains a detailed running commentary and report on the differences between my old supercharged Gen II GTS and my Gen III supercharged SRTC. There have been comparison/contrast questions asked recently. Fr those who are interested in the comparison, you might want to read the thread.
 

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