The Viper is no more

[angry hampster]

Originally posted by: BZeto
The 1996 era Viper GTS is still one of my dream cars.

A girl I dated back in high school has a father who is a surgeon of some sort in eastern Iowa. He had a 1997 GTS with a supercharger, full exhaust, custom tune on the dyno in Port Byron IL, etc... That was a fast goddamn car.

 

[TehMac]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
they could, but dodge really IS chrysler so there wouldn't be much point. Most people have probably forgotten this, but chrysler and gm agreed to a merger last fall. They shook hands on the deal and asked the treasury for $10 billion. ben bernanke refused to put his name on the deal because 100,000 people would have lost their jobs overnight. It's probably good for me right now that they didn't close that deal because gm is cutting so many brands right now.

btw, jeep is actually the best thing that chrysler has right now. sure, the 09 ram is badass and the doge brand is strong currently, but around the world jeep has a much greater presence. plus, the wrangler in particular held up a LOT better last year than other trucks/suvs during the gas crisis. here in texas dodge still rules, however, so I hope that both brands stick around. Chrysler is pretty hard to get excited about as a brand, however.

The only good car Chrysler made recently is the 300C.

Dodge is basically carrying them through when it comes to "normal cars."

The problem is that any sort of rational process of reorganizing the company has been completely halted by Chrysler now owned by the UAW, an organization that caused this problem by their greed and monopoly of labor and the other half owned by the Federal government, an ineffectual and lazy collection of airheads.

 

[geokilla]

Not too many people bought the Viper. It was simply too expensive. If I could choose, I'd take the Corvette over the Viper any day. I like the Corvette a lot more than the Viper because the Corvette name has a significant meaning and history to it. Plus, it's actually a really nice car compared to the Viper in my opinion.

 

[Bignate603]

While the vette and viper often had comparable performance that made for some great comparison articles they really were two different kinds of car. The vette was much more had more refined road manners and was better doing normal driving. The viper is raw, unrefined, and pure power. To make the most of it you had to be a great driver and have the balls to push it to the limit of traction.

 

[TehMac]

Originally posted by: geokilla
Not too many people bought the Viper. It was simply too expensive. If I could choose, I'd take the Corvette over the Viper any day. I like the Corvette a lot more than the Viper because the Corvette name has a significant meaning and history to it. Plus, it's actually a really nice car compared to the Viper in my opinion.

Corvette has this stigma its driven by men with small penises. I'd consider a corvette in black with low key rims not that ghastly chrome stuff.

 

[Kirby]

Originally posted by: TehMac

Originally posted by: geokilla
Not too many people bought the Viper. It was simply too expensive. If I could choose, I'd take the Corvette over the Viper any day. I like the Corvette a lot more than the Viper because the Corvette name has a significant meaning and history to it. Plus, it's actually a really nice car compared to the Viper in my opinion.

Corvette has this stigma its driven by men with small penises. I'd consider a corvette in black with low key rims not that ghastly chrome stuff.

Are you really so immature that you'd base your automobile selection on how big some random dude thinks your cock is?

 

[punjabiplaya]

A nice big 11 in honor of the fallen Viper

 

[bozack]

Someone else will pick it up, too good of a design.

 

[BlackTigers]

Originally posted by: nkgreen

Originally posted by: TehMac

Originally posted by: geokilla
Not too many people bought the Viper. It was simply too expensive. If I could choose, I'd take the Corvette over the Viper any day. I like the Corvette a lot more than the Viper because the Corvette name has a significant meaning and history to it. Plus, it's actually a really nice car compared to the Viper in my opinion.

Corvette has this stigma its driven by men with small penises. I'd consider a corvette in black with low key rims not that ghastly chrome stuff.

Are you really so immature that you'd base your automobile selection on how big some random dude thinks your cock is?

Well he does drive a V6 Mustang . . . .

 

[zanejohnson]

i once rode in viper called a venom 660 i believe, and it was nuts, there was like no tracton even at freeway speeds...and the gears were SO long, i believe at 70 or so he could downshift to like like 2nd gear to put it in it's optimum power range

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Originally posted by: bozack
Someone else will pick it up, too good of a design.

doubt it. people said that about the g8 also, but it looks like its going to be gone after this year. guess nobody wants it.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS

Originally posted by: bozack
Someone else will pick it up, too good of a design.

doubt it. people said that about the g8 also, but it looks like its going to be gone after this year. guess nobody wants it.

The G8 will live on, at least as its foreign versions. It sells quite well overseas. It does OK here but with people buying very few new cars, especially those that get marginal gas mileage, a performance car that doesn't have a reputation and decent following is having a hard time breaking into the market.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: nkgreen

Originally posted by: TehMac

Originally posted by: geokilla
Not too many people bought the Viper. It was simply too expensive. If I could choose, I'd take the Corvette over the Viper any day. I like the Corvette a lot more than the Viper because the Corvette name has a significant meaning and history to it. Plus, it's actually a really nice car compared to the Viper in my opinion.

Corvette has this stigma its driven by men with small penises. I'd consider a corvette in black with low key rims not that ghastly chrome stuff.

Are you really so immature that you'd base your automobile selection on how big some random dude thinks your cock is?

yes.

As an aside, I've driven many corvettes over the years but only one viper. I'd owned an m5 for a year and a mustang cobra for several, so I figured it'd be no big deal. It WAS a big deal. I very nearly died, and a corolla and a minivan almost went down with me. A viper is so much more intense than a corvette that you truly can't compare them. Corvette allegedly took the performance crown with the new z06 (until the 08 viper of course), but no true driver would want a vette over a viper. A corvette is a good compromise between true track capability and on-road use, but even a new z06 will never be a viper. Maybe the blue devil is better, I've never seen one of those.

I realized after driving the viper that I was NOT a true driver, and I've contented myself with more pedestrian cars ever since.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: zanejohnson
i once rode in viper called a venom 660 i believe, and it was nuts, there was like no tracton even at freeway speeds...and the gears were SO long, i believe at 70 or so he could downshift to like like 2nd gear to put it in it's optimum power range

One time I raced a hennessey venom viper when I was in my m5. Fortunately, the viper driver wasn't all there, and also fortunately, he was probably the actual owner of that car. I won two out of three stoplights in fredricksburg, tx that day, but was embarrassed when the other guy told me that my 01 m5 was pretty fast "for a v6". Not many people can afford that car AND drive it well.

 

[MotF Bane]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995

Originally posted by: zanejohnson
i once rode in viper called a venom 660 i believe, and it was nuts, there was like no tracton even at freeway speeds...and the gears were SO long, i believe at 70 or so he could downshift to like like 2nd gear to put it in it's optimum power range

One time I raced a hennessey venom viper when I was in my m5. Fortunately, the viper driver wasn't all there, and also fortunately, he was probably the actual owner of that car. I won two out of three stoplights in fredricksburg, tx that day, but was embarrassed when the other guy told me that my 01 m5 was pretty fast "for a v6". Not many people can afford that car AND drive it well.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: MotF Bane

Originally posted by: bryanW1995

Originally posted by: zanejohnson
i once rode in viper called a venom 660 i believe, and it was nuts, there was like no tracton even at freeway speeds...and the gears were SO long, i believe at 70 or so he could downshift to like like 2nd gear to put it in it's optimum power range

One time I raced a hennessey venom viper when I was in my m5. Fortunately, the viper driver wasn't all there, and also fortunately, he was probably the actual owner of that car. I won two out of three stoplights in fredricksburg, tx that day, but was embarrassed when the other guy told me that my 01 m5 was pretty fast "for a v6". Not many people can afford that car AND drive it well.

in other words, the owner had more money than brains.

 

[bryanW1995]

yes, I corrected him and said that the new body style m5's were v8's, that's why I put it in quotes. He was regardless impressed. I just hope that he made it home ok.

BTW, my father in law was with me in the car because we had just gone to pick up a pizza. I'm not sure if he's comfortable with my driving his daughter around any more, but he was pretty happy at the time to beat a viper!

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Naustica

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
Somewhere a very small violin is playing a very sad song.
Oh well, the viper was really never all that and a bag of chips. Now when they were modded to all get out they were some bad @ss cars, but stock for stock, the vette is better.

You're smoking crack. Vette was only better for like 3 years during the C6 Z06 era before the '08 Viper came out. Previously til C6 Z06, Viper was king.

Not really. The performance was very close, and the Vette has always been an infinitely more refined and driveable car.

The Viper had and advantage on the track early on, but nobody wanted to drive one on the street on a regular basis.....and they ARE street cars, not race cars.
edit: And therefore, it's really not a fair comparison for either car, as they are not built to be direct competitors.

 

[MotF Bane]

Man, even a '96 Viper with 80k shows on KBB for $35k.

 

[TehMac]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
yes, I corrected him and said that the new body style m5's were v8's, that's why I put it in quotes. He was regardless impressed. I just hope that he made it home ok.

BTW, my father in law was with me in the car because we had just gone to pick up a pizza. I'm not sure if he's comfortable with my driving his daughter around any more, but he was pretty happy at the time to beat a viper!

They're V10s.

edit: never mind, I see you were driving an e39.

That's pretty cool.

However, he wasn't far off considering the previous iteration of M5 was an inline 6.

 

[geno]

The Viper was the little (huge?) engine that could, dethroning the Vette as king of the hill. Chevy owes the Viper some credit as it's the car that made them get off their asses and turn the Vette into an actual world-class car. I'll miss it, but it had a damn good run.

 

[MrMatt]

Originally posted by: Fmr12B
The '08 & '09 Viper will become hugely collectible unless the plant gets bought out and goes into independent production.

As so many of these are used as race cars I'm guessing team owners will be buying quite a few of these now.


Long live the Viper!

The viper is dead. Long Live the Viper!

 

[EightySix Four]

Originally posted by: MrMatt

Originally posted by: Fmr12B
The '08 & '09 Viper will become hugely collectible unless the plant gets bought out and goes into independent production.

As so many of these are used as race cars I'm guessing team owners will be buying quite a few of these now.


Long live the Viper!

The viper is dead. Long Live the Viper!

I've read a few rumors (from individuals on forums so take it with a grain of salt) saying that the Viper plant has been sold and it will remain in production by a new manufacturer. Man an ACR sounds like a nice investment right now.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: crazySOB297

Originally posted by: MrMatt

Originally posted by: Fmr12B
The '08 & '09 Viper will become hugely collectible unless the plant gets bought out and goes into independent production.

As so many of these are used as race cars I'm guessing team owners will be buying quite a few of these now.


Long live the Viper!

The viper is dead. Long Live the Viper!

I've read a few rumors (from individuals on forums so take it with a grain of salt) saying that the Viper plant has been sold and it will remain in production by a new manufacturer. Man an ACR sounds like a nice investment right now.

They were in discussions with buyers but AFAIK no one took it. If it had been officially sold I think it would have been announced, but there is a possibility that they could still be working something out. At this point unless you hear it directly from someone who knows all this is speculation.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: TehMac

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
yes, I corrected him and said that the new body style m5's were v8's, that's why I put it in quotes. He was regardless impressed. I just hope that he made it home ok.

BTW, my father in law was with me in the car because we had just gone to pick up a pizza. I'm not sure if he's comfortable with my driving his daughter around any more, but he was pretty happy at the time to beat a viper!

They're V10s.

edit: never mind, I see you were driving an e39.

That's pretty cool.

However, he wasn't far off considering the previous iteration of M5 was an inline 6.

yes, that's confusing going from an inline 6 to a v8 and now the v10.