Hey guys! Its been a while since I have been posting in the forum. I am in real estate and mortgages (which went from sugar to sh*t lickity split) to I have been trying to keep my head above water during the financial turmoil
This TT vs Paxton, and Roe vs Paxton is the most hotly debated issue from a performance standpoint in this forum. I have debated which way to go on this issue for years and I have numerous threads on the subject. It boils down to this:
What are you going to use the car for? For one, there is almost no limit to how much horsepower your Viper can make if you are willing to spend the money. Ok, it wont make infinite power, but there are guys who have made over 1500 hp in these cars. Sounds good on a dyno, but actually driving and maintaining a car like that will probably be a nightmare. Technology is heading towards awd and traction control to get power to the ground. There is a guy in this forum w/ a GT-R that is running 11.12 in the 1/4. That kicks the snot out of the Zr-1 and the Ferrari Fiorina. Now, there are many guys saying, "you will get used to this and you will get used to that...hell, if you put a rocket engine on your Viper you would eventually get used to that too.
Lets think about what the Viper was built for. It was built to dominate road races. That is why the ACR has the world record at the Gring for production cars. if you want to dominate road races, you should stay n/a and avoid the heat of forced induction. Go w/ Tators n/a engine build and you will have more power than the Gen 4. Throw on some 3:33's, and you will run low 11's and high 10's. If you want to dominate EVERY roll on in street battles in Mexico you should go TT. Now, you must make sure you have a good TT tech nearby, b/c there are few people that can work on a TT Viper. From a forced induction standpoint, TT is the way to go performance wise. A 800 rwhp TT will kick the sh*t out of a 800 rwhp Paxton. B/c of the area under the curve. Remember, most of the Paxtons power comes on later in the power band, so 800 rwhp might not occur until you are at redline, whereas the TT will be making 800 rwhp at 3500 rpm, in other words, the TT will walk the Paxton. Forced induction cars dont do well in road races due to the continuous build up of heat and the extra weight in the nose. A 600-650 rwhp n/a Viper is invincible on a road coarse.
So, if you are going to do closed track races, stay n/a. If you are the weekend warrior type that races everything that pulls up next to you...like me, go TT. The only reason to go Paxton is to save money, and more people can work on it.
There is also the safety issue. I street race (in Mexico) alll the time. My car w/ its cream puff rwhp scares the sh*t out of me on numerous occasions. But understand, we are talking wicked power here. We Viper guys sneeze at 500 to 600 rwhp....we are the only sports car guys doing that. Most sports cars drool at that kind of power. Listen to me, I love all these guys in here, but some of these guys are downright crazy, straight up. To have a Viper break loose at 120 mph in 4th gear is NOT COOL, and once you cross the 750 rwhp threshold, you are going to have a car that is difficult to drive on the street. Yes, you can invest in a new suspension and slick-like tires and you can master the fishtailing of a 800 rwhp Viper. But if you are stock now...I dont recommend jumping up to 950 rwhp TT Viper.
If you are a power hound, increase the power in increments. Go TT and detune or use AEM to limit the power until you master the handling of the car. If you want a road race warrior, stay n/a and go w/ Tators upgrade. It boils down to a balance of power, what you want to use the car for, and common sense.
With my cream puff power, I am undefeated for the 2.5 yrs I have had my car...but I am not in South Florida or in CA where I know there are some f/i cars that have crazy power. If you can be king of the hill at 600 rwhp in your neck of the woods, save your money and dont get a TT, call Chuck Tator and set up an appointment. You will be happy that you did.