I have heard others reference the short comings of the first generation Vipers, comparing their quality to that of kitcars...so this is not a new idea.

I mentioned the continued toasty interior issues in the other thread as I also read these problems were a point of criticism in the latest Vette vs. '03 Viper comparison I read. In most other areas,they noted the new car is much improved over the previous generation.

 

Mid article:

I think thats the general consensus of this thread.

 

So I'm WRONG for beleiving that the Viper is a POS? Thats an OPINION man! J/p, I know what your saying...

But you haven't argued me out of thinking that it isn't a POS yet, which is your purpose. The Viper costs 80K for a car that has 500 HP/Torque, little luxery, little convenience, limited drivability, and little comfort. EIGHTY GRAND! Thats just robbery in my mind. Their customers have to REALLY love the way the Viper looks and the admiration they get when driving one in order to buy one. Its almost like an ego statement...hey, if your ego is worth 80K to you, then the more power to ya. Where-as you have the Z06, which is more comfortable, more cummuter-oriented, a LITTLE more luxerious, and ALMOST as fast as the Viper (Not many people who will go out and buy a new Corvette are THAT concerned w/ the 1/2 second difference in the 1/4 mile) and it only costs 51K.

OK, well we have all that and still you say that simply, the Viper is not for me, well maybe your right. Even though I love the way the new Viper looks, and I love 500 HP, even more, I love 500 Torque, and that stereo they have in there now. But still, I would not pay them any more than 50K for a car like that. Whereas, I would rather save up for a real supercar, that offers Power AND comfort, for only (did I say only?) 200K more. Lets face it, if you can afford a new Viper, then you only have to save for a few years to buy a new Lamborghini.

 

My claim was America's only super car. Those aren't sold here...at least not at the moment.

Ya know, in my opinion, anyone who spends more than $40,000 on a car iIS buying on pure ego!

You won't get any debate from me on Corvette being a more civil car between the 2, and I'm sure every soul here will agree. But again, I really think there's noone here Viper is marketed to.

Lamborhini?! Now there's a POS!

 

Disclaimer: The following is just my opinion, so just view it as that:

I consider cars true supercars if the major components are done "in house". Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Vipers get their powerplants, dashboard components, and drivetrains primarily from in house, and are engineered from the ground up as individual cars. Saleen & Panoz may as well be Ford subsidaries. Shelby got his engines from Oldsmobile and most everything else from GM.

In reality, those cars you mentioned are supercars in that they are hella fast rides. But using that standard, you'd also have to include Lingfelter Corvettes & F-bodies, Hennessey Vipers, as well as Saleen Mustangs which produce faster rides using other company's vehicles or components.

I don't take anything here as a flame because this is a more adult place to be, and debates here (though heated at times) still tend to turn out civil in the end, as opposed to the message boards at other places, like say.... The Car Connection.

 

For the life of me, I could never justify owning THAT car, at THAT price. It's just totally out of balance in that regard. Exclusivity goes a long way towards guaranteeing a sustainable monopoly. In this case, being the only V10 sports car is one excuse for the exorbitant price. Viper is like "I'm the only V10." Corvette is like "I'm the only one who has been around continuously for 50 years." I guess the more exclusive and outlandish attributes you have, the more you can justify charging people, but even if I had the $$, I wouldn't be one of them.

Plus, frankly, I've always hated the way they look, from the start to the present day. Being fast at the cost of looking ugly doing it is too big a tradeoff.

I totally respect Viper's capabilities. I'm sure it's a great driver's car for those who get on the waiting lists. It'll never be my style though. Just doesn't have that tingle.

gt

 

The Viper is a handbuilt supercar, with all the follies and foibles that brings. How do I know? I owned a '94 for 6 years, and recently totaled it. During those 6 years, I had to:

Repaint the side pipe covers twice due to paint cracking/corrosion of the aluminum.

Replace the dang things finally with fiberglass repros, which fixed the problem.

Repaint the hood twice due to paint cracking. When we finally stripped the hood down completely for the second time, we found about 1/8"-1/4" of bondo smeared across the entire top surface of the hood which was causing the cracking. Apparently the factory had some waviness problems with the hood.

Replace head gaskets due to coolant leakage.

POS? No.

PITA? Yes.

The new ones are probably much better, but I'll wait till the feeding frenzy dies before getting one.

 

I'm sorry, but nothing says POS more than a factory bondo-job.

 

That was 10 years ago , it's a totally different car now

 

I'm sorry, but the Viper GTS is simply the sexiest domestic car built in the last twenty years. Bar none. When you see a Viper on the street, you think: Oh ****...

What other car EVER built makes you feel that way? Personally, none do to me. I'd say yes, Viper is the only American supercar on the streets today.

Some might argue Saleen, Ameritech McLaren, etc. But how many of the owners (which there aren't too many to begin with) have the ***** to take it to their claimed 200mph? Not that damn many.

Now the Viper owners like to run with their hair on fire, as far as I'm concerned. Henessey, et al.....geez, a rocket on wheels. What other factory car makes your heartbeat change beats? None. What other manufacturer has the ***** that Dodge had? None, and they are making the car better! I cannot wait until the coupe comes out on the V2.

The car was totally based off of Shelby's Cobra and Daytona. Now that they got their own feel, these things may be the best performance car built by a major manufacturer. Dodge spent ten years working the bugs out, and from what I've heard, they did a good job.

The Corvette may be cheaper, and may have been around for 50 years, but when it comes to performance, the Viper is still the king, and makes the Corvette look positively boring.

Corvette may be the more well put together car, but the Vette has been around for 50 years now, and is the GM flagship.

The Viper is just getting started....

 

I remember hearing a cool story about how a Henessey test-driver locked up a Viper in a fairly easy corner. It left some fairly nice tracks in the desert. When even the pros can make mistakes like this, its good that Chrysler begrudgingly put ABS on the Viper.

The GTS was a great improvement, and the coupe elements were well styled. Of course, when Gen. 2 rolled around, D-C stuck with the doofy targa look of the original Viper. Too bad they didn't have the "*****" to make a true roadster with just a chromed roll hoop.

 

I like the fact that they went with a true vert instead of something that reminded me of a del Sol for 2003.

If the coupe looks similar to the GTSR shown on Autoweek, et al back a couple years ago, I might soil myself.

 

If it's made in America, self-flagellating Americans will say it's a POS. 4N cars have more "cachet".

It would help if the Am sports cars had high-revving engiens w OHCs, 4 valves per cylinder, and VVT, as pushrods and huge displacement smack of "low tech, old school", no matter how well they work.

 

I bring thoes up because you dismissed Panoz and Seleen because thes don't build there own engines. If the Panoz and S7 aren't supercars, then niether is the McLaren F1.