I went A-Vipering yesterday ...

[SUN RA KAT]

I went A-Vipering yesterday and was running about 1/2 to 2/3 snake pedal in 2nd gear and as the RPMs came up my rear tires started to lose traction starting around 45 MPH until I let off the gas at around 60 MPH and gently shifted in to 5th gear. This was on a clean dry road (on a closed course, of course). When the temperature drops to 70 degrees the Viper picks up a lot more power than it had at 80 degrees and when the RPMs go up this extra torque means be very, very carefull so you don't get bit by the snake.

I had something like this happen to me 2 days before when it was in the lower 60's out, except that time I lost traction from all the power in 3rd gear, again at part throttle. (Another closed course...)

Viper 10 had warned me about things like this happening in a Viper - they just don't happen much in 80 & 90+ degree temperatures, but when it's comfortable enough to roll down the windows and turn off the air conditioning... Someone had dyno'd his Viper at 90 degrees and again at 70 degrees without changing the the engine and he picked up 50 horspower just from the temperature drop.

I expect in about a month I'll have my Sean Roe Supercharger and have it installed. It will also be cooler outside. I'll have to be very, very carefull...

 

[Snake Bitten]

Kenny,

Don't forget to give your Pilots time to warm up before you get hard into that "snake pedal"!

 

[SUN RA KAT]

I always give the Viper about 10 minutes of driving after the water temperature guage comes up to normal before going over 2500 RPM and also make sure my tires have had a chance to warm up first so I don't get snake bitten. The search feature here is about the best I've seen at a site and I do a lot of research using it.

The Viper, at least my Viper at its current level of mods (Sean Roe smooth tubes with S&B filters, Belanger headers, Random Tech ultra high flow cats, Corsa 3" cat back, lightweight flywheel, Sean Roe VEC1) has no trouble at all skipping gears due to the tremendous torque. I usually shift from 1st to 5th if the speed limit is 35 MPH or higher and I'm the first car at the stop light. Take it up to 35-40 MPH at 1/4 - 1/3 part throttle in 1st gear and then shift to 5th.

Or 4th, or 3rd...depending on my mood.

I usually only go through the gears sequencially if I am practicing accellerating slowly or I am stuck behind slower cars (ALL the cars on the road!) or I am getting on a highway quickly (heehee).

The only time the Viper needs more power is below 55 MPH in 6th gear. I have gone from 1st to 6th gear getting on a highway and there was no bog at all. 55 MPH in 1st gear is around 5500 RPMs and around 1200 RPMs in 6th gear.

 

[Steve Miehe]

Sunrakat:

Gerald is right on the money me thinks. Check your tire pressure and I bet the rears are a few pounds low. My snake acted similarly when the rear tires had 25 pounds tire pressure. Inflate to 29 and you will be fine.

 

[CitySnake]

Kenny has illustrated a good point...especially for those up north. Remember...as the temp. falls the HP goes up and the tires get slick. Truly not the best natural combination for a Viper

. But fall foliage cruzin up north is really the best driving time of the year!!!

 

[SUN RA KAT]

Steve Miehe -

I checked air pressure and I have 29 front and 30 rear.

Are there better combos like 29/29, 30/30, etc.?

 

[Steve Miehe]

Not that I am aware of. 29 all the way around seems to be the accepted pressure that provides good handling/ride plus good tire wear.

 

[jimandela]

Kenny,
good advice. becareful when the temps drop.
citysnake,
how true! the fall foliage is nice but nice not nice if your
in a ditch.

everyone careful out there no need for more crash club members.

jim