KaiPL
Enthusiast
It's always interesting to me to read first time test drivers' opinions on the Viper. Most recently, Jeremy Clarkson's take, but also most other car journalists, new owners, and others who write about their initial experience in a Viper.
When somebody like Clarkson describes the Viper as a "wayward and hopeless driving tool" and talks about spinning the car and smoking the tires, my initial reaction is to think that he's an idiot and that he must be driving a different car than I am driving. Similarly, I tend to disagree with the reviewers who test drive the car and then opine that the SRT-10 is a lousy and uncomfortable daily driver.
However, when I reflect on it, I realize that most of these reviewers are new to the car. When I think back on my first few days driving my new Viper, I recall that driving it scared me. It tended to jump and twitch on rough roads, I was having a hard time controlling the car's power and torque, and I generally didn't feel at all comfortable with the car. It reminded me of when I was young, riding a big horse that wasn't completely broken in. I would ride it, but I worried that it might throw me. It took me several months and several full days of high performance driving instruction to learn to drive my Viper properly, and I am still learning.
I think that many of the negative reactions that reviewers have about the car are likely quite predictable, because the Viper is a car that really does have a rather long and steep learning curve. If you used to driving Porsches, Ferraris, Corvettes, (and track cars with traction control), how comfortable would you be taking a new Viper out on a race track for the first time? Would you likely think it was a crude, difficult car that was not quite up to the performance cars you were used to driving? I think so. That's what I thought at first.
After 12,000 miles and a fair amount of track time, my mind has changed completely. If you put the time into learning how to drive it, this "wayward and hopeless" car can become a very precise driving tool. It just takes time and skill to get to where you can really take advantage of the Viper's real potential.
So. I'm not surprised at Clarkson's take on the Viper. Anyone who spends just a day behind the wheel can't expect to fully appreciate the car's capabilities.
When somebody like Clarkson describes the Viper as a "wayward and hopeless driving tool" and talks about spinning the car and smoking the tires, my initial reaction is to think that he's an idiot and that he must be driving a different car than I am driving. Similarly, I tend to disagree with the reviewers who test drive the car and then opine that the SRT-10 is a lousy and uncomfortable daily driver.
However, when I reflect on it, I realize that most of these reviewers are new to the car. When I think back on my first few days driving my new Viper, I recall that driving it scared me. It tended to jump and twitch on rough roads, I was having a hard time controlling the car's power and torque, and I generally didn't feel at all comfortable with the car. It reminded me of when I was young, riding a big horse that wasn't completely broken in. I would ride it, but I worried that it might throw me. It took me several months and several full days of high performance driving instruction to learn to drive my Viper properly, and I am still learning.
I think that many of the negative reactions that reviewers have about the car are likely quite predictable, because the Viper is a car that really does have a rather long and steep learning curve. If you used to driving Porsches, Ferraris, Corvettes, (and track cars with traction control), how comfortable would you be taking a new Viper out on a race track for the first time? Would you likely think it was a crude, difficult car that was not quite up to the performance cars you were used to driving? I think so. That's what I thought at first.
After 12,000 miles and a fair amount of track time, my mind has changed completely. If you put the time into learning how to drive it, this "wayward and hopeless" car can become a very precise driving tool. It just takes time and skill to get to where you can really take advantage of the Viper's real potential.
So. I'm not surprised at Clarkson's take on the Viper. Anyone who spends just a day behind the wheel can't expect to fully appreciate the car's capabilities.
