Here is an exerpt from a letter I wrote a while back to Mr. Helbig regarding my desires for the next generation Viper. You've probably heard all of these suggestions from other people, but I am going to repeat them again. Please keep them in mind when you are busy designing the next Snake.
#1: Improved Oiling
The Viper’s oiling system needs to be re-engineered. At my last open track day, my car lost the #3 rod bearing due to oil starvation. The rod shattered, the piston was smashed, and the cylinder sleeve damaged. This is not an isolated incident. Dozens of Viper owners have had similar issues with their cars when driving them on the track. I had even taken the precaution of installing an aftermarket “Comp Coupe” swing arm pan to help with oil pick up under high g-forces. Unfortunately, the design of the oil galleys is such that the #3 bearing is particularly susceptible to oil starvation, and the CC oil pan alone was not enough. I’m having my engine re-built, with coated bearings, forged internals, and am adding a 3 quart accusump auxiliary oiler to try and address this issue. This is both expensive and frustrating. I really believe that a Viper should be track worthy straight from the showroom floor. I don’t expect to be able to run the 24 hours of Lemans with a street car. However, I should be able to run my car at the occasional open track day and time trial without having to go out and buy aftermarket oil pans and accusumps. I shouldn’t have to worry about spun rod bearings and broken pistons. The oiling system is the weak link on this otherwise “bullet proof” engine.
In your design of the new engine, improving the oiling system should be your top priority. Ideally, you should design the new car with a dry sump system. If the car is going to be taken to the track, a dry sump is the only way to ensure that the components get adequate oil 100 percent of the time. A dry sump will provide for increased reliability on the track, and will increase power as well. A serious sports car needs a dry sump. Without improved oiling, the new Viper will not be track worthy.
#2: A better Differential
The stock Viper differential has a couple of serious drawbacks. The spider gears are prone to failure, and when on the track, the dif tends to spin the inside wheel, (followed by a sudden lock) during fast tight turns. I replaced my stock differential with a Quaife torque biasing differential after about a year of owning the car. I was amazed at the difference that the Quaife differential made in the handling of the car. High speed corners were much smoother, and I could get power down on corner exits much sooner with the Quaife. Inside wheel spin was eliminated, and I also got rid of the unsettling mid corner “lock-hop” that the stock dif is prone to. Vipers have traditionally had a bad rap when it comes to snap oversteer. A good alignment and addition of a Quaife have made my Viper much more predictable and controllable on the track.
#3: A real roll bar
Get rid of the silly “sport hoops.” If you are going to sell a convertible with no stability control, over 500 ft-lbs of torque, and speedometer that goes to 220mph, you really need to equip it with a functional roll bar. This goes for both street and track. A real roll bar would make the car safer on the street, and would allow the car to drive at open track events without installation of an aftermarket bar. You can keep all the liability limiting warning stickers about how the Viper is an open car. Just give us some real roll protection.
#4: Tire pressure monitor system that can handle multiple sets of tires.
I’ve got two sets of track wheels/tires, a set of stock wheels/tires, and two drag wheels/tires. The stock tire pressure monitor system on my 2004 can’t handle this many wheels/tires. Please install a system on the new Viper that can handle multiple wheels/tires without requiring trips to the dealer to program the tire sensor control module.
1.....we continue to look at ways to improve the reliability...the engine is the heart of the car
2....the diff is also on our radar screen for improvements
3.....we have too many lawyers to discuss roll bars
4.....this is complicated because the system has to recognize different sets or combinations of sets of wheel/tire assemblies nothing on the horizon...
Question 1/2 We have been running upgraded components in World Challange and Track Days with with very positive results. I can also tell you the production cars unmodified have seen thousand of track miles with good durability. We have also had guest World Challange drivers at our development track events with these products with very positive comments. Stay Tuned.