I dunno about F355's experience, but after 27K miles, I wouldn't say my Viper is a beast to drive, not by a long shot. My wife -- who never drove any sports car prior to the Viper -- drives it all the time and loves it. She babys it, but there was never a complaint about it being difficult to drive.
I have driven mine through THREE hurricanes, I've done 14-hour stints straight through, and it has several hours of track time on it, and I haven't had a single serious problem. (My problems were minor things like a leaky foglamp that filled with water, a trim piece that came off, and other normal new car warranty issues.)
In my opinion, other than the fact that you're buying MORE of everything (9 qts oil, 10 plugs & wires, bigger tires, etc), the maintenance costs are no worse than any other car, and I find the reliability to be top-notch.
All of which I'm very pleased to report, since you are voicing exactly the same concerns I had when I started thinking about buying one in early 2001. If your sig means you actually had a DeLorean, then based on what I've read, a Viper will be a piece of cake (and a whole **** of a lot faster).