Hello all. I am the current owner of a 94 6 speed Supra with 76mm single, fuel, and all of the associated goodies. Ive run a best 10.94@133mph on 93 octane and dyno'd 720hp on C16. I have much appriciated the looks of the Viper since its release. I now see that the prices have come down to the $25k range on the RT models. So, the Supra will be returned to stock and sold to fund the purchase of a Viper. What can I expect to get for $25k? All generations of the Viper look great to me, but are there years I should prefer over another? I wouldnt buy a 98 over a 94 for the same price just because of the year, but should I be looking at other aspects in the decision?
Thanks for the advice all. I look forward to becoming an owner.
Jason,
I, too, am a Supra convert. I had a 94 auto with built motor, Crane cams, Sound Performance fuel system, VPC, Super AFR, SP71 GTQ turbo, Boost Logic auto trans with Precision Industries 3200 stall torque converter, etc, etc. The car dyno'd 701 rwhp with the converter locked. It went 10.9 @ 130 on drag radials and medium boost.
I never thought I'd sell that car...........until I bought the Viper.
I bought a 98 GTS. Knowing that I'd want to mod the car down the road (like I did with the Supra), I wanted to start with the best platform. The 97, 98, 99 cars had forged bottom ends, better headers and the lumpier 708 cam. My car made 415/449 bone stock and ran 12.5 @ 117 the second night I owned the car on it's 6 year old factory Pilot Sports. Basically, my Viper ran faster bone stock on hard tires than my Supra did at full BPU.
Personally, I'd try to get into at LEAST a 97. All of the GTS's all have power windows, power locks and air conditioning. The 97 and newer RT/10's do, too. The older RT/10's do not have windows and many don't have air. Plus, they were lower on horsepower.
After about 90 days of ownership, I put a Roe supercharger on my Viper, along with some headers, rockers and a VEC 2. It ended up making 630/675 on pump gas and went 10.4 @ 137 on 18" drag radials. At that point, it was faster on pump gas than the Supra ever was on race gas. I never looked back. It's only gotten faster since then.
You will not regret the decision to jump from a Supra to a Viper. It has more low end grunt and is more eye catching than the Supra. The "fun to drive" factor is many times higher, in my opinion.
Having to pump gas out of a 55 gallon drum in order to make power got really old. You don't have that issue with the Viper. I wouldn't try to skimp and just limp by on $25k. I'd really try to shoot for a 97 or newer RT/10 or GTS. You may have to spend a few bucks more, but it's worth it to have power options, a/c, forged pistons and more power.
Best of luck in your quest!
JB