Viper production continues...2015 model?

Stealth

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Awesome!

That is the same color combo of the Gen IV Viper I just sold! In the sun it really pops!
 

sunsalem

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Does anyone know exactly when the plant will re-open?

IMO, it would be the undeniable proof of a 2015 model.
It's a little disconcerting to me Dodge hasn't confirmed or announced what a 2015 model will consist of....
 

Bruce H.

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Welcome to the forum. Re-opening date will not provide undeniable proof of anything. We're all waiting for info, and it will likely start to flow at Homecoming next weekend. Stay tuned.
 

Nsane1

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Wow, now that is a beautiful combo Law.

As to the "undeniable" and other related comments. I wouldn't read anything into the plant being open/closed, nor would I read anything into the no announcement of anything in a 2015.

Case in point, I ordered a 2015 JGC SRT, there is no announcement of what is in for 2015, no new options or stuff, just new pricing, the order window opened, I put in an order.

I think if Law and others order these great cars, we will see 2015, if no one does, well then we take it on faith that it will live on...
 

sunsalem

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Re-opening date will not provide undeniable proof of anything.
I suppose not....
However, I was going on the assumption the 2014s have all been built.


We're all waiting for info, and it will likely start to flow at Homecoming next weekend. Stay tuned.
Anxiously waiting...
 

SnakeBitten

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And I appreciate your style as well.

What we're discussing now is a very complex topic, and I'd love to meet the guy/gal that has all the answers. But I do think when it comes to SRT's intent that actions speak louder than words, and it seems obvious to me that SRT felt they simply needed to upgrade and refine aspects of the car to make it world class. They did that successfully within the scope of an egaging driver's car, and it's what they needed to do to attract many first time Viper buyers, including myself. I'd have been shocked from a marketing perspective if they didn't say they expected it to attract buyers of other high-end brands.

GM's actions tell all with the different approach of adding more technology, a body style change, and a low price that matches the mass-produced quality of the car. I'm not sure how many high-end buyers any of that would appeal to, but they didn't need them those buyers to make the C7 a sales success in the $50+k price range. And I really doubt the Z06 will lure high-end buyers either. Great marketing to suggest a 911 GT3/GT3 RS/GT2/TT buyer would jump ship for it, but agian, it's just Marketing 101 to claim they are now your prospective buyer. We need to give 911 buyers a lot more credit...particularly the GT3 owners that are the least likely to jump ship of any group on the planet.

I think the improvement that the Viper needs is to its image, not its features. Lots of differing opinions that are largely based on Viper owners personal power and use goals, but at the end of the day I truly believe that the car's sales are suffering from not making a good first impression at launch time...and as the saying goes, "you only have one opportunity to make a good first impression". A convertible model would necessitate many reviews and comparison tests that are needed to re-write the Gen V's story...and if you want to impress readers with tech like CCB's that would be the car to put them on. Sticking them on an SRT or GTS at this point could go completely unnoticed.

I think you are spot on with your assessment of the Vipers tarnished image being the thing that needs the biggest upgrade. Irreparable damage has occurred to the G5 through no fault of its own from the marketing side of things. Improvements to the SRT/GTS as you noted would indeed go unnoticed at this point so those improvement would be better suited to another model like the vert you mentioned. I do not know how Dodge will go about re-writing the G5's history but at least the TA has escaped the black hole of the initial screw-ups that seemed to be the major reasons that doomed the SRT/GTS models.

A vert my be a necessity imho as quite a few have been clamoring for one and can only help the cars image/sales at this point. This would be a good place for Dodge to start to repair some of the damage SRT did.
 

VENOM V

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Good insights Bruce and Snakebitten. It may be that the program has recovered somewhat already, but visibility is murky. I'll tell you this- When I spoke with Ben Keating at Laguna Seca in May, he was upbeat about sales. He said that Viper Exchange sold a record number of Vipers each of the previous two months. Their sales may not indicate overall nationwide sales success, however they are the largest volume dealer so it's a good sign.

And as I stated previously, Ben thought an ACR was very likely, and would come before the convertible. I would have thought the vert would be next to spur sales. Homecoming will be very interesting, to say the least.
 
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Bryan Savage

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For those of you clamouring for CCBs, I stumbled across some from Brembo for the Gen V car.

$17,000 for the front kit, and $16,000 for the rear kit.

And while I'm sure that "mass" production would bring the price down a bit, it wouldn't be much.

And lest y'all forget, here is a paragraph I pulled from Edmunds.

Curiously, carbon-ceramic brakes remain absent from the options list. Graham Henkle, Viper's chief engineer, tells us this is because carbon brakes create a snowball effect of both cost and weight that doesn't align with the car's performance focus. Put simply, the required rotor size would demand 19-inch front wheels (up from 18-inchers), which would negate the weight savings from the rotor material. Plus, the standard steel brakes didn't fade even after repeated pounding around Gingerman, so it's not exactly aching for an upgrade.

So they'd have to be too big, and would cost too much. I think that most people who think the car should have them just think they're better. They want to throw as many three-letter-abbreviations at the car as possible, because to not have a feature some other car has, somehow makes the Viper less cool.

Well, if anyone would care to spend the required $33,000 for both kits, I would be really interested to hear of any performance differences.
 

wikkid

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Does anyone know exactly when the plant will re-open?

IMO, it would be the undeniable proof of a 2015 model.
It's a little disconcerting to me Dodge hasn't confirmed or announced what a 2015 model will consist of....
Interesting, with like 400 New Vipers on Autotrader, to see what happens with the snake.
 

Bruce H.

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I can confirm that there is a 2015, and that the pilots were built in March just before my car was at the beginning of April. The Viper will continue despite slower than expected sales. Homecoming is a celebration of the car, not a reveal, and expecting it to be any more than that would be setting ourselves up for disappointment. Some would like to see a convertible, including myself, but it would suffer with the same challenging marketplace. It just seems like wishful thinking for Dodge to make such a huge investment under these conditions, where as on-going TA development or an ACR would involve relatively minor changes and costs, and would address the on-going challenges of new competitors like the Z06.
 

PDCjonny

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For those of you clamouring for CCBs, I stumbled across some from Brembo for the Gen V car.

$17,000 for the front kit, and $16,000 for the rear kit.

And while I'm sure that "mass" production would bring the price down a bit, it wouldn't be much.

And lest y'all forget, here is a paragraph I pulled from Edmunds.



So they'd have to be too big, and would cost too much. I think that most people who think the car should have them just think they're better. They want to throw as many three-letter-abbreviations at the car as possible, because to not have a feature some other car has, somehow makes the Viper less cool.

Well, if anyone would care to spend the required $33,000 for both kits, I would be really interested to hear of any performance differences.

You are right on.
It's strictly for bragging rights unless you are a ******** track guy and even then they swap them out for steel quite often.
For street use they are zero gain and in fact can be tricky until properly warmed up.
I seem to recall an ACR at Nurburgring that did pretty well with steel ones too.
 

VRYALT3R3D

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Great news! More info please?

New exterior colour: Stryker Purple and Denomic Red interior. HP increase unknown at this point. For sure 100% there will be no front and rear bumper refresh. No supercharged Viper.
 

ViperDC

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New exterior colour: Stryker Purple and Denomic Red interior. HP increase unknown at this point. For sure 100% there will be no front and rear bumper refresh. No supercharged Viper.

Dang I was hoping for some exterior tweaks. Will you still be able to get Stryker Green? Anyone know?
 

HANKFAN

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New exterior colour: Stryker Purple and Denomic Red interior. HP increase unknown at this point. For sure 100% there will be no front and rear bumper refresh. No supercharged Viper.

I really hope Dodge doesn't think Stryker Purple and Denomic Red Interior is really going to get the demand up on these cars. :dig:
 

orlanderlv

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When I purchased my Viper in May there were only around 350 new Vipers for sale on Cars.com. Now, there are over 525. Seems things are getting worse...not better. I purchased mine brand new for over 30% off MSRP though. Can't complain but I wish things were better for the SRT/Dodge team.
 

ViperDC

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So has production restarted today? I read an article where it said it would restart on July 21.
 

Bobpantax

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Did you all notice in the photos of the homecoming posted on various sites that the racks that hold body parts both at the factory and at Prefix were thinly populated?
 

ViperDC

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someone at prefix said they will start to paint panels for the 2015 vipers in sept.

Oh ok. Are they going to build '14s until then? I noticed in some pics of the plant tour there were a lot of cars on the assembly line.
 

Chelseasnake

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Oh ok. Are they going to build '14s until then? I noticed in some pics of the plant tour there were a lot of cars on the assembly line.
i think those will be 2015 cars. i just got one of the last 2014 cars last week.
 
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