Well I E-mailed this guy and aslo called him. He told me right of the bat that it was a very mild aftermarket package. The following was his response to my E-mail.
1. The car was bought from Archer Dodge in Stafford/Houston in May 2005 Brand new.
2. R-1 package is not a dodge package, but a package developed by RENNWERK a German tuner of Mercedes Benz. In 2003 BRABUS (another German Mercedes tuner) & RENNWERK came out with packages for the new Gen 3 SRT-10 Viper, for the European consumption (due to the Daimler Chrystler connection). They were going to market the package to Dodge. They even opened a shop in the Memorial area, which is now closed. I guess they could not compete with the likes of [******], TNT and RSI etc. in the American market. The R-1 package was installed right after the purchase of the car in May 2005.
3. The 550 HP is at the crank (standard SRT-10 Viper has 500 HP at the crank). It is a very mild, subtle package. There is no motor work involved. It is simply a higher flow intake and exhaust with a single high flow cat and muffler on each side (even the cross over is retained). This is why it retains full factory warranty. Also this setup removes the high heat in the cockpit issue affeliated with the SRT-10. Then there is the subtle & classy (in my opinion)interior & exterior package which sets the car apart. Since the package is no longer offered, this makes the car unique.
4. I really do not have any extra documentation, the car is what it is. It has 609 miles and sits in my garage, under a cover 99% of the time
5. I live 20 minutes from Sugarland, close to Brazos Bend state park.
Best regards,
Seems to me at worst case it is a slightly personalized car that does make it slightly different than a bog standard SRT-10. I did do a little check on the car and it was first titled in May 2005, and has a perfectly clean CARFAX. The car is priced at under $70K for a 4 month old car with 600 miles, so I personally do not think that the remarks from Mr. Chad Fritz (owner of a 96 RT-10) and Atro Racing (who himself is a vendor of aftermarket parts) calling this a MISREPRESENTATION or a RIP-OFF are NOT VALID. If Dodge can do a 2-tone interior and call it mamba, or color it orange and call it copper head, [******] can name his car Venom 600 or TNT can call his car King snake, then I guess another tuner can call their's R-1 or P-1 or whatever the else they please. I guess the R in R-1 stands for RENNWERK which means Race factory in German, or maybe ricer in japanese or rickshaw in Sanskrit.
I would say nice looking car, unique and a great value for those looking for these attributes. Felt I had to come to the rescue of a fellow viper enthusiast who is probably losing his pants for selling a 4 month old, some what personalized car with 600 miles on the ticker. Just my $0.02s folks.
Be well
Paul
