https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhcV0UxOzdU
He did a great job with this one. Especially the teenage version of himself (and, ahem, some of us perhaps).
I always liked the Viper. But for the dollar you'd always do better with a Corvette - right up until the Viper ceased to exist. That is still true on the used market in my opinion. Not that they're the same kind of car. Not at all. The Viper might as well be a Caterham. That rawness has a place but not likely in my fleet.
He got into a tangent about manual vs automatic. What I'll add to that discussion on the topic of the Viper is, the manual is 100% in character for what the car is. It is not a point and shoot, sophisticated type car. You need to drive it. On top of that, you don't want a Mopar automatic anyway!
RCR: 1994 Dodge Viper RT/10
Re: RCR: 1994 Dodge Viper RT/10
You especially don't want an automatic from 1994 if you're going to be doing any kind of performance driving. I think people forget, but back then, an automatic was a major detriment to almost all performance cars.
Re: RCR: 1994 Dodge Viper RT/10
That is true. Though I think the V10 would have pulled a (decent) automatic just fine (if they got a 4L80E from GM, which was available at the time, and they wouldn't have done that). And don't forget 1st gear goes to 60 so it's not like you escape stupid tall gearing with the manual. I'd actually wager that a ZR-1 was more satisfying in the transmission department being that ZF unit, along with the LT5 (7200 rpm, and a little shorter gearing). Better brakes in the Corvette....
That's the thing with the Viper. It's a new gen Cobra. Which is cool. But is not really a car for driving hard. It's for driving slow (to car shows), and THINKING about driving it hard, while it is in your fancy garage. Or something. I'm not really part of that demographic, though I recognize it is still a special car.
That's the thing with the Viper. It's a new gen Cobra. Which is cool. But is not really a car for driving hard. It's for driving slow (to car shows), and THINKING about driving it hard, while it is in your fancy garage. Or something. I'm not really part of that demographic, though I recognize it is still a special car.
Re: RCR: 1994 Dodge Viper RT/10
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/19 ... est-review
You can tell they were going fully after the 911 Turbo with the ZR-1.
That $50k comment was funny. 2 years later a 2 seater Viper would be available for like $55k.
We drove the ZR-1 first from Geneva to southwestern France and later from Montpelier to the principality of Andorra, a tiny dot in the Pyrenees Mountains. Altogether, we spent somewhere between 700 and 800 miles in the car. A number of observations resulted. First, the ZR-1 makes every previous Corvette seem antediluvian. It also makes you wonder why anyone would spend more than $50,000 on a two-seater — given that the ZR-1 will be available for about that. But the best news of all is that the Corvette standard-bearer is not some overpowered, noisy (well, not too noisy) rattler that feels as if its engine were trying to escape its body.
Driving the ZR-1 reminds you that it is possible to create a car that is bewilderingly fast but that maintains an air of civilization about it. Unlike previous Corvettes, the ZR-1 doesn't subject its driver to corporal punishment in the form of a head-rattling ride quality. Quite the opposite, in fact. Twice, after driving hard all day on French roads that ranged from challenging to hostile, we emerged unscathed and unbrutalized by the ZR-1. This feeling of freshness after a long and difficult drive is stuff of which great grand-touring cars are made.
I guess I just like grand touring cars better, especially when they don't really give up any performance. They are for driving. It's not like the Viper is way lighter. I'm not sure it's any lighter at all. I like chassis that can tame rough roads and let you push to explore the limits without biting back. The Viper, until probably 2013 or something, did not offer that.We're also willing to hope (we'll believe it when we see it) that the ZR-1 will spark other units of General Motors to produce cars equal in their class to the ZR-1. The single-minded effort toward a common goal — performance excellence — put forth by the Corvette engineering team should be an example to the entire American industry. Will the industry follow? We'll see.
You can tell they were going fully after the 911 Turbo with the ZR-1.
That $50k comment was funny. 2 years later a 2 seater Viper would be available for like $55k.
Re: RCR: 1994 Dodge Viper RT/10
According to C/D, they succeeded.kevm14 wrote:You can tell they were going fully after the 911 Turbo with the ZR-1.
https://www.caranddriver.com/comparison ... r-1-page-3
The ZR-1 triumphed over the 911 Turbo for one simple reason: it goes fast better. A ZR-1 in full stride is a highly talented athlete. It's always on its toes. Its moves are intuitive. Its speed is sudden and explosive.
Re: RCR: 1994 Dodge Viper RT/10
Anyway, I would never pass up any genuine opportunity to drive a Viper. But it's the cheap ZR-1 I'd (passively) look on CL for.
There pretty much hasn't been a GM car yet that I couldn't eventually afford. The affordability of used cars makes them highly relevant. If a car maintains high used value, well, it will never enter my fleet. That's just the way it is. So I am not going to spend time lusting over cars that have worse performance than cars I can possibly afford.
There pretty much hasn't been a GM car yet that I couldn't eventually afford. The affordability of used cars makes them highly relevant. If a car maintains high used value, well, it will never enter my fleet. That's just the way it is. So I am not going to spend time lusting over cars that have worse performance than cars I can possibly afford.
Re: RCR: 1994 Dodge Viper RT/10
I remember having a discussion with Ed when the 2014 SS came out - I was very excited. That's when he told me he pretty much doesn't care as he'll never be able to afford a car like that. Well, 4 short years later and you can get an SS for 20s all day, sometimes low 20s. That may be much more than he wants to spend on a car ever again but clearly that is an affordable price for a working professional.
So that's my point. When discussing cars, most of the time, I discuss them in the context of possibly being able to afford them someday, not just in terms of absolute merit.
So that's my point. When discussing cars, most of the time, I discuss them in the context of possibly being able to afford them someday, not just in terms of absolute merit.
Re: RCR: 1994 Dodge Viper RT/10
The Viper is basically a 10 cylinder muscle car. It looks awesome (the 96 looked much better), was loud and obnoxious. Fast in a straight line, and a head turner.
To me, this is more of a sweet highway cruiser. It wasn't built to carve windy back roads. That is ok by me. I don't prescribe to the idea that every car has to do everything.
I agree it may not be a great value, but it was never meant to be a value, it was all about excess and flashiness.
RIP Viper.
To me, this is more of a sweet highway cruiser. It wasn't built to carve windy back roads. That is ok by me. I don't prescribe to the idea that every car has to do everything.
I agree it may not be a great value, but it was never meant to be a value, it was all about excess and flashiness.
RIP Viper.
Re: RCR: 1994 Dodge Viper RT/10
It was a "modern" AC Cobra, as much as it could have been in the 90s anyway.
I don't know if I'd even say it was a muscle car. Muscle cars, minus the heat, vibration and noise at WOT (which is all engine related), are not really uncomfortable, cramped places to be. The Viper was. I really can't think of a muscle car that was known for a spine crushing ride. A Challenger, Marauder, Impala SS, Grand National, and probably a 1970 Chevelle SS all had a decent ride to them I think.
Maybe it was just in a class of its own.
I don't know if I'd even say it was a muscle car. Muscle cars, minus the heat, vibration and noise at WOT (which is all engine related), are not really uncomfortable, cramped places to be. The Viper was. I really can't think of a muscle car that was known for a spine crushing ride. A Challenger, Marauder, Impala SS, Grand National, and probably a 1970 Chevelle SS all had a decent ride to them I think.
Maybe it was just in a class of its own.
Re: RCR: 1994 Dodge Viper RT/10
I guess that is true. I usually lump Camaro/Firebird/Mustang in there too even though they could be pony vice muscle but whatever. The 3rd and 4th gen F-Body wasn't exactly a smooth ride.I really can't think of a muscle car that was known for a spine crushing ride.