Is The SRT Viper Not A Great Driver's Car?

[Zpac]

I don't know if you guys have looked on Jalopnik and even MotorTrend, but it seems many in the comments are coming to the defense of the Viper. (The car, not SRT), even now when the issues are clearly deeper than an unsorted Pre-Production car.

 

[sween]

Like I said before, SRT shouldn't of let MotorTrend test the Viper unless it was the best Viper they could offer.

 

[Coloviper]

Must be a white car issue! Ha! Ha! Actually I have seen this exact hood screen blow out happen before as it happened on one of the white test mule cars the last emissions high altitude testing session here in the Rockies before the production car was released. A microburst weather situation hit pure Dick Winkles on I-70 and that very screen, in that exact location blew out. I have a picture of the car with the screen out when we met them for dinner in Idaho Springs. It was an early hood and the specs of that hood were still being dialed in. I commented that it should e a bolted in metal screen anyway and the guys just shrugged their shoulders as if to say, not my decision.

If I had to guess, I would just say it is that same pre-production hood as was on that very mule, white and all. Hell this white car could be that pre-production test car for all we know. In the end, if a small plastic screen blowing off or a seat which was not tightened down enough (for whatever reason) in an early cycle car is all you can come up with not to buy the car, then you are a certified idiot, which most of these discrediting trolls here most certainly are. So the car had bald mis-matched tires apparently. A real auto magazine would have drove it over to a tire shop and put on a new set to test the car and said as much. Be happy the manufacturer sent you anything.

Everyone knows SRT is in a shoestring budget. Motor Trend is getting so much mileage out of this unprofessional behavior it is ridiculous. I would not send them a single car, not answer a single request, cut them off completely. To hell with them period. They have lost ALL credibility. Not worth any exposure. SRT should concentrate on the rest of the magazines out there.

As far as the TA, SRT has it contracted out to Mopar Performance Parts for their show circuit for exposure and future parts sales. At Mopar Mile High Nationals Golden, Colorado Block Party this year, the TA was not in the SRT display (where the new SRT vehicles were and some VCA member cars, including my 96' RT/10) sat. It was in he Mopar booth. I spoke with the Mopar people and that is what why they expressed that they have the car for awhile.

Now should SRT get off the hook for sending the car they did, no! They need to be smarter than the average bear. Get it together already and no time like the presence. Stop sending MT any SRT vehicle. All of them boycotted until they smarten up.

New GEN V is a great car, despite to childish efforts of the insecure and childish banterings of the weak willed posters that have zero to contribute here. Wake up VCA and take out the trash already. You know exactly who they are and do nothing. Sorry but you are as bad as Motor Trend at this point with turning a blind eye.

The new car is not perfect, but nothing out there is. It is laughable the pedestal position others put on some other cars and future cars in comparison. Viper is on a small pedestal for me but not going to defend every false move. SRT has taken enough lumps through social media and these rags lie M-T. Viper owners are a different breed and will look into the car closer huh an an M-T article. Time to get the soul back in the Viper and this forum. Time to take charge of these situations. Enough of the negativity and the childish "Paul pulled Sally's pigtails in the schoolyard" responses and approach to this.

 

[ACRucrazy]

At least we know the hood is doing it's job and extracting air. And hood screens.

 

[v10enomous]

Did any of the journalists actually define what they meant by "drivers car" or even stipulate some sort of quantifiable attributes or behaviors (aside from the standard numerics) that they would be using in their evaluations?

Yes... right after they did the tests and finding the strengths of the cars that they wanted to win so they can get advertising dollars.

 

[kratedisease]

Must be a white car issue! Ha! Ha! Actually I have seen this exact hood screen blow out happen before as it happened on one of the white test mule cars the last emissions high altitude testing session here in the Rockies before the production car was released. A microburst weather situation hit pure Dick Winkles on I-70 and that very screen, in that exact location blew out. I have a picture of the car with the screen out when we met them for dinner in Idaho Springs. It was an early hood and the specs of that hood were still being dialed in. I commented that it should e a bolted in metal screen anyway and the guys just shrugged their shoulders as if to say, not my decision.

If I had to guess, I would just say it is that same pre-production hood as was on that very mule, white and all. Hell this white car could be that pre-production test car for all we know. In the end, if a small plastic screen blowing off or a seat which was not tightened down enough (for whatever reason) in an early cycle car is all you can come up with not to buy the car, then you are a certified idiot, which most of these discrediting trolls here most certainly are. So the car had bald mis-matched tires apparently. A real auto magazine would have drove it over to a tire shop and put on a new set to test the car and said as much. Be happy the manufacturer sent you anything.

Everyone knows SRT is in a shoestring budget. Motor Trend is getting so much mileage out of this unprofessional behavior it is ridiculous. I would not send them a single car, not answer a single request, cut them off completely. To hell with them period. They have lost ALL credibility. Not worth any exposure. SRT should concentrate on the rest of the magazines out there.

As far as the TA, SRT has it contracted out to Mopar Performance Parts for their show circuit for exposure and future parts sales. At Mopar Mile High Nationals Golden, Colorado Block Party this year, the TA was not in the SRT display (where the new SRT vehicles were and some VCA member cars, including my 96' RT/10) sat. It was in he Mopar booth. I spoke with the Mopar people and that is what why they expressed that they have the car for awhile.

Now should SRT get off the hook for sending the car they did, no! They need to be smarter than the average bear. Get it together already and no time like the presence. Stop sending MT any SRT vehicle. All of them boycotted until they smarten up.

New GEN V is a great car, despite to childish efforts of the insecure and childish banterings of the weak willed posters that have zero to contribute here. Wake up VCA and take out the trash already. You know exactly who they are and do nothing. Sorry but you are as bad as Motor Trend at this point with turning a blind eye.

The new car is not perfect, but nothing out there is. It is laughable the pedestal position others put on some other cars and future cars in comparison. Viper is on a small pedestal for me but not going to defend every false move. SRT has taken enough lumps through social media and these rags lie M-T. Viper owners are a different breed and will look into the car closer huh an an M-T article. Time to get the soul back in the Viper and this forum. Time to take charge of these situations. Enough of the negativity and the childish "Paul pulled Sally's pigtails in the schoolyard" responses and approach to this.

ColoDiaper, you need to stop drinking HATEorade !! YOU HATE EVERYONE. You hate me, MotorTrend, and everyone else who is objective.

 

[Coloviper]

Krate Disease;

"when someone resorts to name calling, the debate is over" - Socrates

This has been known for 1,000s of years. You just don't get it! Sorry but your 15 minutes of fame is over. Time to go back to the "other" Viper forum and get in the barrel so they can have their way with you. You were kind of beat up over there and got scared so you crawled back. That must have hurt!

Try contributing in a positive way. What can you say positive about the article and situation here? We would all like to see you turn the page. It is not in your nature nor purpose, so again your purpose here? Name calling? Laughable and exactly part of the issue.

But I have to ask why you felt I was referring to you in my response? I never called you out. You called you out; interesting! Haterade, not even original!

 

[kratedisease]

Krate Disease;

"when someone resorts to name calling, the debate is over" - Socrates

This has been known for 1,000s of years. You just don't get it! Sorry but your 15 minutes of fame is over. Time to go back to the "other" Viper forum and get in the barrel so they can have their way with you. You were kind of beat up over there and got scared so you crawled back. That must have hurt!

Try contributing in a positive way. What can you say positive about the article and situation here? We would all like to see you turn the page. It is not in your nature nor purpose, so again your purpose here? Name calling? Laughable and exactly part of the issue.

But I have to ask why you felt I was referring to you in my response? I never called you out. You called you out; interesting! Haterade, not even original!

Thank you for your un-accredited, uneducated "street" psychiatric evaluation of me.

My positive commentary is that YOU need to accommodate diversity in opinion.

Hateorade is NOT original but I use the term when I feel it applies. I did not know it was a crime to do so.

 

[kratedisease]

Who is name calling ???

Your quote from above 1) "childish efforts of the insecure and childish banterings of the weak willed"

2) "then you are a certified idiot,"

 

[former345bhpLS1]

If you look back at the prior two years the car that finished last-place was a polarizing car with a staunch following. Includes the Aventador and the Lotus Evora S, both could be called amazing cars, both are rather faulted cars. The Aventador is incredibly fast and super exciting, but is too heavy for the track and "unnecessarily rough"with respect to its transmission. The Lotus was haunted by poor ergonomics, the results of packaging a driver into a small like car, and electronics that don't compare well to BMW and Porsche. Companies they can spend billions on developing just the navigation system. These are driver related issues, but not the ones that mean much to me.

The Viper was also meant to come in eighth place, but these inexplicable maintenance disasters pushed down the last-place. Finishing eighth, it would've finished ahead of the Aston Martin Vanquish, the BMW M6, the Bentley, and the Focus ST. Not a massive victory, but reasonable considering what polarizing car it is. What a good drivers car means to me, probably varies much from what it means to my neighbor or other members of this board. It also makes a big difference whether you own a car or drive it for a few hours and make a judgment. It makes even bigger difference when driving the car is work (like a journalis or a prodrivert) instead of fun. If I were choosing a car for work, I would choose one that was as comfortable as possible, as easy to drive, and with as many features as possible. When you only get to drive a car for a few laps and must drive as fast as possible just a few laps, having a car that is very forgiving and very easy to drive is a huge plus.

However, when you buy a car that you'd like to keep for decades, the criteria changes. I remember driving a BMW 335i a few years ago. It was a fun car and a car that you could start pushing hard within minutes of driving it for the first time. That's an impressive feat of engineering, but after driving the car for an hour I had nothing left to do with it and minimal interest in driving it further. It's not to say was a great car, but is not a car you develop much relationship with.

Jeremy Clarkson said it best,"When a car has imperfections it feels human because it makes mistakes. This is how you can form a relationship with a machine." To me, operating a car that is faultless and extremely approachable means that I will not for much relationship with car, because it is too much like pushing an on-off button. Not to say that you're wrong for wanting that, but there's so little of this left in the automotive world. Everything is double clutch gearboxes, computer-controlled suspension, electric steering, torque vectoring, rearwheel steering, throttle that is torque regulated instead of throttle blade position regulated, etc. It means the cars can do amazing things, but I have nothing to do with me anymore. If the journalist keep taking this position and homogenizing all the cars so they do the exact same thing, but with a slightly different body, then there will be no choices in the future. Carlos Lagos says he doesn't understand why people want the Viper to be raw and why that rawness should be celebrated. It should be celebrated, because you can't get anywhere else if you happen to want it.

And there are a few of us left who still want it.

 

[TrackAire]

If you look back at the prior two years the car that finished last-place was a polarizing car with a staunch following. Includes the Aventador and the Lotus Evora S, both could be called amazing cars, both are rather faulted cars. The Aventador is incredibly fast and super exciting, but is too heavy for the track and "unnecessarily rough"with respect to its transmission. The Lotus was haunted by poor ergonomics, the results of packaging a driver into a small like car, and electronics that don't compare well to BMW and Porsche. Companies they can spend billions on developing just the navigation system. These are driver related issues, but not the ones that mean much to me.

The Viper was also meant to come in eighth place, but these inexplicable maintenance disasters pushed down the last-place. Finishing eighth, it would've finished ahead of the Aston Martin Vanquish, the BMW M6, the Bentley, and the Focus ST. Not a massive victory, but reasonable considering what polarizing car it is. What a good drivers car means to me, probably varies much from what it means to my neighbor or other members of this board. It also makes a big difference whether you own a car or drive it for a few hours and make a judgment. It makes even bigger difference when driving the car is work (like a journalis or a prodrivert) instead of fun. If I were choosing a car for work, I would choose one that was as comfortable as possible, as easy to drive, and with as many features as possible. When you only get to drive a car for a few laps and must drive as fast as possible just a few laps, having a car that is very forgiving and very easy to drive is a huge plus.

However, when you buy a car that you'd like to keep for decades, the criteria changes. I remember driving a BMW 335i a few years ago. It was a fun car and a car that you could start pushing hard within minutes of driving it for the first time. That's an impressive feat of engineering, but after driving the car for an hour I had nothing left to do with it and minimal interest in driving it further. It's not to say was a great car, but is not a car you develop much relationship with.

Jeremy Clarkson said it best,"When a car has imperfections it feels human because it makes mistakes. This is how you can form a relationship with a machine." To me, operating a car that is faultless and extremely approachable means that I will not for much relationship with car, because it is too much like pushing an on-off button. Not to say that you're wrong for wanting that, but there's so little of this left in the automotive world. Everything is double clutch gearboxes, computer-controlled suspension, electric steering, torque vectoring, rearwheel steering, throttle that is torque regulated instead of throttle blade position regulated, etc. It means the cars can do amazing things, but I have nothing to do with me anymore. If the journalist keep taking this position and homogenizing all the cars so they do the exact same thing, but with a slightly different body, then there will be no choices in the future. Carlos Lagos says he doesn't understand why people want the Viper to be raw and why that rawness should be celebrated. It should be celebrated, because you can't get anywhere else if you happen to want it.

And there are a few of us left who still want it.

Excellent post. I own three 1970's and earlier VW bugs. By no means high performance "Drivers Cars" but they always put a smile on my face when I get in one and drive it. The mechanical connection has to be there....otherwise you might as well be driving a Prius.

Cheers,
George

 

[ViperSmith]

I looked at the GTR - but didn't drive it after canceling my order.

Just looking at it - the car is just boring. Visually it inspires no emotional response.

The disappointing thing about the Gen V is - it is beautiful - but you never get to see one driven on the streets because you are behind the wheel.

The viper just has soul, in and out.

 

[kratedisease]

I looked at the GTR - but didn't drive it after canceling my order.

Just looking at it - the car is just boring. Visually it inspires no emotional response.

The disappointing thing about the Gen V is - it is beautiful - but you never get to see one driven on the streets because you are behind the wheel.

The viper just has soul, in and out.

The GTR is so Boring. Most 10 year old kids that see it think it is a "family" car or "2 door sedan" from its appearance.

The Viper is so ****, so HOT, so Voluptuous that just parked it looks like a Marvel Comics Superhero.

But, on the other hand the GTR is will not fall apart after 500 miles.....

 

[Newport Viper]

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[kratedisease]

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Does Kool Aid come in Diet ? , I cannot afford any more calories.....

 

[ferraritoviper]

Something strange is going on with our public forum. Two threads here on the GEN V MT fiasco have completely vanished...the original from the guy in Chile (with the MT article link) disappeared last night...and a secondary thread on the test, before the article was posted. Someone posted the article link on this thread...a few posts later "SRTViper" asks where did the original post go...and ****, the second thread disappears.

Not too healthy imo...this is also mentioned on the C7 and Alley board

 

[Bruce H.]

I wouldn't expect any current Gen V owners will sell their car that weren't planning to before the test. If they like the car it won't matter what any test concludes, or what issues other might have with theirs. Those that ordered pre-production are now out of the market, and those that wanted to wait until they were out, reviewed, maybe see feel and drive are now the only ones to be concerned with regarding sales. This second group also know exactly what they want, and would know if it was the Viper once they hit the showroom floor and more info was available. Some have bought off showroom floors over the last couple of months, but the easy sales are now done I would think. Those that wanted one but were waiting for over-inflated prices to drop are also just now becoming prospective customers.

While you're already considering which car will be your next purchase, those that haven't bought a Viper yet could just as easily buy that same car now instead of the Viper. I hope for your sake SRT gets their act together or new and used Viper prices could take a bigger hit than you predicted.

Bruce

 

[kratedisease]

Something strange is going on with our public forum. Two threads here on the GEN V MT fiasco have completely vanished...the original from the guy in Chile (with the MT article link) disappeared last night...and a secondary thread on the test, before the article was posted. Someone posted the article link on this thread...a few posts later "SRTViper" asks where did the original post go...and ****, the second thread disappears.

Not too healthy imo...this is also mentioned on the C7 and Alley board

As long as "kratediseae" (me) doesn't dissappear everything should be OK....... I love you guys.... like a 2nd Family..... I'm starting to cry now....

getting emotional.... I need some comfort food to make me feel better......

 

[Policy Limits]

I wouldn't expect any current Gen V owners will sell their car that weren't planning to before the test. If they like the car it won't matter what any test concludes, or what issues other might have with theirs. Those that ordered pre-production are now out of the market, and those that wanted to wait until they were out, reviewed, maybe see feel and drive are now the only ones to be concerned with regarding sales. This second group also know exactly what they want, and would know if it was the Viper once they hit the showroom floor and more info was available. Some have bought off showroom floors over the last couple of months, but the easy sales are now done I would think. Those that wanted one but were waiting for over-inflated prices to drop are also just now becoming prospective customers.

While you're already considering which car will be your next purchase, those that haven't bought a Viper yet could just as easily buy that same car now instead of the Viper. I hope for your sake SRT gets their act together or new and used Viper prices could take a bigger hit than you predicted.

Bruce

meh. its a chance you take when u purchase the 1st run. not buying the sky is falling mentality. and even if it does fall, the initial price of the car was really low, relatively speaking, so no big. In fact, if the whole line falls and they stop making vipers all together, it might even have the opposite effect on value. Ask a Ford GT owner.

 

[Policy Limits]

Something strange is going on with our public forum. Two threads here on the GEN V MT fiasco have completely vanished...the original from the guy in Chile (with the MT article link) disappeared last night...and a secondary thread on the test, before the article was posted. Someone posted the article link on this thread...a few posts later "SRTViper" asks where did the original post go...and ****, the second thread disappears.

Not too healthy imo...this is also mentioned on the C7 and Alley board

I think its a step in the right direction and look forward to more of this action actually. Some Bans/suspensions might even be in order...

 

[ferraritoviper]

I think its a step in the right direction and look forward to more of this action actually. Some Bans/suspensions might even be in order...

I agree, but you delete the offending poster, not the entire thread imo. BTW, the second thread was not deleted...my bad!

 

[kratedisease]

I think its a step in the right direction and look forward to more of this action actually. Some Bans/suspensions might even be in order...

Yes. I will second that opinion !!

 

[Solid Red 98]

There's no question that the car provided for this test was not in tip top shape and has obviously been abused. Isn't this the same media car that Justin Bell drifted around a dirt road? All that aside, SRT has some more cleaning up to do......

 

[ViperSmith]

There's no question that the car provided for this test was not in tip top shape and has obviously been abused. Isn't this the same media car that Justin Bell drifted around a dirt road? All that aside, SRT has some more cleaning up to do......

Yeah, good call on where we saw it before.

It is a media car, it is going to be beat to ****.

But, SRT should be doing up keep between media events. Pretty unacceptable.

Then again, why they even work with MT bottles the mind.

 

[VYPR BYT 94]

Yeah, good call on where we saw it before.

It is a media car, it is going to be beat to ****.

But, SRT should be doing up keep between media events. Pretty unacceptable.

Then again, why they even work with MT bottles the mind.

Good Point!

You must be registered for see images attach

Guess which one I'm going with every time...

 

[Ev1E9]

There's no question that the car provided for this test was not in tip top shape and has obviously been abused. Isn't this the same media car that Justin Bell drifted around a dirt road? All that aside, SRT has some more cleaning up to do......

I believe you're right. It also appears to be the same car used in the SLS Black Series comparo and the Motortrend testing procedures video as well.

 

[DMan]

Man, I don't see how anyone can debate if the viper, any gen, especially the V, is a drivers car?? It's the definition of a drivers car, in fact it's too much a drivers car for many people. The only debate is WTH was SRT doing sending them a beat up mule of a miss-matched car and not a TA or very least a GTS with TP?!

I don't see how we can debate the car, please, and talking about SRT blundering again is just useless inet banter or thread deleting material so it is what it is. Lets enjoy our car, our viper, mags never have, and now SRT is helping to not like it, so screw it, we like it, nuff said. It POs me they blew this marketing chance too, but it is what it is, no retest on this one like with the TA. Oh well.

Meanwhile, gen5 owners are having fun and I'm just slowly shopping.

 

[Mamba52]

I'd really like to know how the hood vent flew off the car, here is a high res picture of it installed on my car. Each is virtually the same

You must be registered for see images attach

My guess is some dum dum pulled the vent out without depressing the tabs in the back, thus breaking the tabs and simply pushed the vent back in. Even with any three tabs broken, it should have stuck in place. I don't see how on Earth the vent just randomly flew out of the car without someone doing something stupid.

The funny thing is we find parts like this in our car wash every day!!!!!!

 

[strykergts]

I see Krate is back up on his soap box preaching the gospel of anti-viper. Coming from a guy who complains he cant fit in a viper to begin with should be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[Alabaster Mamba]

I think its a step in the right direction and look forward to more of this action actually. Some Bans/suspensions might even be in order...

I agree 100%! Get the ban sledgehammer out for the usual trolls. Hmmm, Srt Viper and Kratedisease come to mind. I have no idea why they are here except to try and do the troll thing.