Gen 3 or 4?

Thanks for letting me in to your awesome group. I am looking at getting a viper soon (just have to find one that isn’t overpriced). My question is how much better are the gen 4 tranny and rear end than the gen 3 everything else seems about the same as far as style and I plan on rebuilding the motor once I get used to the base hp so the hp difference isn’t a big deal. I drove a gen 3 and I forgot how horrible the old T-56 feels Just wondering if it is worth the extra 20k to get a gen 4. Thanks for anyone’s input and expertise.

A couple of points: Gen III has gone of torque starting around 1600 rpm...and, has a physical throttle linkage. A Gen IV torque turns on just above 3700 rpm and has a "drive by wire" throttle which has been the source of complaints of "lag" voiced by many on stock setups, especially for 2008.

The factory fill on the Gen III cars was rebadged Castrol Syntorq 75W-85 which is quite thick when cold which affects shifting. The Gen IV cars were filled at the factory with ATF+4...which is much thinner when cold...thus easier to shift early in a drive. As you know, the TR6060 is a beefy tranny.

If I had to choose, I would go Gen IV if cars were nearly equal in mileage and general state of repair.

If you want a coupe, there are few III's when compared th many Gen IV's.

Others are likely more in touch with the market place than I am...but, my first reaction to your stated price differential is that it seems a little high. Remember, asking and selling prices can differ considerably.

Good point on the prices. And thanks for the input. I am really starting to lean towards a gen IV thanks for the input.

Some of it can come down to what you want to do with the car as well. I've had a gen 3 for something like 6 years now and 80,000+ miles and I love it. The gen 3s were easier to tune back in the day since an SCT worked on them, though I guess the gen 4 ECU just recently got unlocked so it can be tuned as well. Not sure what all goes into that though, so it might be a bit more complicated than a handheld tuner. Chassis wise I believe they are basically the same. Same suspension and geometry I believe, so there shouldn't be much difference in driving dynamics. The engine would be the biggest change, though if you plan to rebuild it anyway I'm not sure if starting with one over the other makes a difference. Interiors are the same as well, so you wouldn't see a big difference from the inside either.

The short version of the story is anything on a gen 4 can be put on a gen 3, so if you are planning to modify it anyway it might make more sense to start with that as a base. You can always put a TR6060 in when you rebuild the motor. The T56 will put up with a lot of punishment if driven right. The rear end I'm not sure I knew enough at the time to compare. I ended up swapping in a gen 4 unit because mine was making a bit of noise after an incident I had, so I figured if I was going to replace it then why not upgrade? It was cheap enough as I swapped my gen 3 core and a few hundred bucks for a used gen 4 setup. I hear the gen 3 units don't like excess power as much, but I can't really speak on that as I'm mostly stock power levels.

I guess I'd say add up what exactly you think you want to do to the car and see where you end up. It might be cheaper to buy it all at once in a gen 4, but if you think you want to start stock and start modifying later then it might make sense to start with a gen 3 and add on gen 4 parts as you up the power level. It could potentially be cheaper if you shop around.

Thank you for taking the time to do the write up on your experience I appreciate it. It will be really hard for me to buy a viper though that is slower than my current mustang so I might have to go gen 4 or Maybe just save the beans and upgrade a gen 3 right away. Thanks for the input.