Blown away by new Viper!

[Oldwilsonian]

Hi Everyone

Last Saturday purchased my first Viper an "02 GTS Yellow with Black stripes.

- Absolutely incredible!!

I previously owned a '00 Corvette Coupe with a 150 shot NOS - this was no slouch, sold that for a '01 Corvette Convertible which I left stock. I have to say I really enjoyed these cars, both looks and what I thought was performance. That is until now, I have been bitten by the Snake, this car is awesome, looks, performance, handling, the attention it demands where ever I go. I'm still getting used to it, but what an amazing car.

I'm not familiar with any characteristics the Viper has and I have a couple of questions that if answered would put my mind at rest.

Temp. gauge runs at 200-220, is this normal? Is it prudent to install lower degree thermostat?

Ambient temp. in car feels very warm, say driving normally w/out A/C car feels hot inside, again is this normal? - A race car characteristic?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[DEVILDOG]

Congrats on your new Bumblebee...great color combo. I'd say you're running a little warm depending on outside temp and driving conditions. Check your coolant condition and level in the overflow bottle. Add some redline water wetter. If you really want to run cool upgrade to a multi-core aluminum radiator. As far as the interior temp. w/o the A/C on....warm to damn hot is normal. Get hi-flow cats or delete cats to lower cabin temp.. Let the mods begin! Good luck!

 

[Oldwilsonian]

Thanks for the advice Devildog.

 

[01sapphireGTS]

I have never noticed my car run over 200 degrees in any outside air temp. (driven it from 40-90 degrees) I also just "want" to install a 180 degree thermostat or turn the fans on sooner or both, but don't know how that will effect the computer... Seems like a common sense HP move that works well on most any engine.

My car is very warm inside w/o the A/C, unless it's Fall season or later in the year. Be carefull, when it's cold outside you will be driving a different animal than you are used to !

ps. Congrats on your new car ! ! Post some pics !

 

[STUGOTS]

I have never seen my 99 go above 196 degrees,wven at 90+ outside

 

[Gary C (GaryCSilver04)]

From one Bumblebee owner to another,,, water temp is RPM sensitive, the more R's the more heat and really putting around she cool very cool(190)ish, 2500 and above it will get hot quick.

 

[VPRVENM97]

OW,

Congrats on the new ride! Everything you've observed seems pretty normal.

- "Absolutely incredible!!" Normal

- "awesome, looks, performance, handling, the attention it demands where ever I go" Normal

- "Temp. gauge runs at 200-220" Normal in stop and go traffic-should be around 190 at highway speeds

- "Ambient temp. in car feels very warm, say driving normally w/out A/C car feels hot inside, again is this normal?" Normal-High flow cats should help

- "A race car characteristic?" A V-10 characteristic

Welcome to Viper Nation!

 

[Russ M]

Everything is normal.

Remove the cats and the heat is gone, and your side sills for discolor.

 

[2002graphiteviper]

Forget the highflow - just cut em out! Save the ten pounds and make it sound a little more the way she is supposed to...

Great color combo...

 

[Tiepilot]

It feels hot because the exhaust routing from the engine brings the pipe directly in front of the footwell on both sides of the car. Also your cats are right there in the side sills right where the buldge in side sills start.

Your temp is fine, you probably need to "Burp" your baby as you may have some air in the coolant system. Do a search on "Burping". Hi-Flo cats will relieve a great deal of heat and the two most popular that I have seen is Roe Racings Oval cats and Random Technologies.

Some say the Roes have fitment issues but they are mis-informed and they work well, plus Sean Roe is a great guy. I rather spend my money with a family owned Viper shop than a large corporation.

Enjoy your "Bumble Bee"!

 

[ChrisGTS]

OW- Congratulations on graduating from Corvette to Viper. I did the same thing about a year and a half ago and I am still smiling! All the responses above regarding heat are correct. Enjoy your new car!

 

[95Viper]

Read all up on the burping process.

 

[JGK95]

Join your local VCA Chapter and you'll gain a wealth of knowledge unless you've already done your homework by reading this board and the other. Congratulations on the BumbleBee!! Awesome choice!

Jay K.

 

[DG Viper]

Read all up on the burping process.

When reading this... is it safe to assume that the process is the same for '01 or '02 Vipers??

http://www.viperclub.org/instructions/purging.html

 

[2001 Sapphire Blue]

Welcome OW, tell us where you're located and I'm sure someone will chime in on getting you involved in your local VCA chapter. Lot's of fun to be had there. Also, you'll get suggestions on getting to know your local Viper technician. That's a must!!

 

[jrkermode]

OW,
An 02' GTS brings a whole new meaning to little deuce coupe, yes?

Everything you mention is similar to what I experience in my 02'.

The AC generally does a good job of keeping the car cool on hot days, but as you've probably noticed, you get full on or nothing at all. So...for dealing with the heat on normal days; set the temp to full cold, set the HVAC selector to defrost/heat combo (almost all the way to the right), then control the temp using the fan switch. The AC runs whenever defrost is selected, so this scheme is a way to get less than full blast AC.

 

[LETHAL GTS]

Forget the highflow - just cut em out! Save the ten pounds and make it sound a little more the way she is supposed to...

Great color combo...

I second that!!

 

[Oldwilsonian]

Thank you to everyone for your friendly and very informative advice.

I reside in Tampa Bay area Florida. If anyone has a contact for my nearest VCA Chapter it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.
OldWilsonian

'02 GTS Yellow/Black stripes
'01 M-B SLK 320
'98 H-D FatBoy