For those of you who have been reading this forum, my previous post of "Prices for Coupes", I just took delivery on my First Edition Coupe last week. I drove 650 mile to Pahrump NV to open track my car yesterday (Saturday) with my friend and his new "06 ZO6. We drove out together and went to Spring Mountain for a Las Vegas Chapter Porsche Club/SCCA open track weekend. I just got back in an hour ago after a 12 hour drive. Let me begin with this- you can drive this coupe everyday. We drove over 1550 miles in two days- through the storm hitting the west coast right now, light snow flurries Friday afternoon, and stop and go traffic in the middle of the desert for 2 hours, as well as over two hours of track time. The cars ran flawless- both of them. We traded off cars and have respect for each others cars. We also found out the following:
1) These cars are dead even in acceleration up to 165 mph- where we stopped running. From 40 mph rolls to 145, and 80 mph rolls up to 165 out in the desert. They were dead even from a standing start to 90 mph. We are very even drivers- both holding licenses from SCCA, etc. We have raced spec Panoz's and are always dead even. So the driver stuff is not there.
2) Around Spring Mountain Raceway, the Viper was FASTER. I could out brake and corner the ZO6, and straight line we were once again dead even. Both cars are stock- mine literely came off the showroom floor and driven 600 mile to my home in Las Vegas. If he started a session ahead of me, even 3 cars ahead, I could catch and pass him within two laps- we were running the new long course. When I started ahead, I would pull away from him putting 3 or 4 cars between us. This happened every session out.
3) ZO6 handles terrible in the rain- the Goodyears hydroplane in heavy rains, and the Viper did not. Very stable on I-5 in heavy rains at 75-85 mph. My friend had to slow down to under 50 in the same conditions because the car would dart all over the lane at higher speeds. So much for it being the better daily driver.
4) Gawk factor- very few people noticed his car- its black and does not stand out. We had literally dozens of people snapping photos of the Coupe. I have a Lamborghini Murcielago, and that is typical. But I did not expect that in a Viper. In fact, a group of young ladies ignored my friends Corvette, and proceded to pull up next to us as we crossed into CA on the freeway,and showed us their wares- if you know what I mean.
This car is far superior to my 2001 ACR. This car is much more refined. My ACR was a toy. Not practical. A loud droning from the exhaust at 65 mph. Terrible AC system. Horrible ride- even worse brakes. This new car is faster, more stable, has fantastic brakes- same ones I have on my Comp Coupe, and can be driven everyday. Plus, it has a new car warranty. I just drove it for 12 hours and it feels like I got out of my Mercedes! It's that good.
My point? Don't believe everything your reading out there. The ZO6 is not superior. Cheaper, yes. But my friend paid $10k over window sticker, I got mine for $8k under. When you add it up, I paid $3k more- which was the gas tax on it. Dodge has made a big mistake not marketing this car right. I am not sure what ZO6 the car magazines have been testing, but its not the one the consumer is buying. The word "ringer" comes to mind. So don't be afraid of one if it comes up. It will come down to the driver. And on the track, out of the box, it is a faster car. I will post some pictures of us on the track and driving through the desert as soon as I can figure out how. Its been a long day and my bed is calling.
Brian
1) These cars are dead even in acceleration up to 165 mph- where we stopped running. From 40 mph rolls to 145, and 80 mph rolls up to 165 out in the desert. They were dead even from a standing start to 90 mph. We are very even drivers- both holding licenses from SCCA, etc. We have raced spec Panoz's and are always dead even. So the driver stuff is not there.
2) Around Spring Mountain Raceway, the Viper was FASTER. I could out brake and corner the ZO6, and straight line we were once again dead even. Both cars are stock- mine literely came off the showroom floor and driven 600 mile to my home in Las Vegas. If he started a session ahead of me, even 3 cars ahead, I could catch and pass him within two laps- we were running the new long course. When I started ahead, I would pull away from him putting 3 or 4 cars between us. This happened every session out.
3) ZO6 handles terrible in the rain- the Goodyears hydroplane in heavy rains, and the Viper did not. Very stable on I-5 in heavy rains at 75-85 mph. My friend had to slow down to under 50 in the same conditions because the car would dart all over the lane at higher speeds. So much for it being the better daily driver.
4) Gawk factor- very few people noticed his car- its black and does not stand out. We had literally dozens of people snapping photos of the Coupe. I have a Lamborghini Murcielago, and that is typical. But I did not expect that in a Viper. In fact, a group of young ladies ignored my friends Corvette, and proceded to pull up next to us as we crossed into CA on the freeway,and showed us their wares- if you know what I mean.
This car is far superior to my 2001 ACR. This car is much more refined. My ACR was a toy. Not practical. A loud droning from the exhaust at 65 mph. Terrible AC system. Horrible ride- even worse brakes. This new car is faster, more stable, has fantastic brakes- same ones I have on my Comp Coupe, and can be driven everyday. Plus, it has a new car warranty. I just drove it for 12 hours and it feels like I got out of my Mercedes! It's that good.
My point? Don't believe everything your reading out there. The ZO6 is not superior. Cheaper, yes. But my friend paid $10k over window sticker, I got mine for $8k under. When you add it up, I paid $3k more- which was the gas tax on it. Dodge has made a big mistake not marketing this car right. I am not sure what ZO6 the car magazines have been testing, but its not the one the consumer is buying. The word "ringer" comes to mind. So don't be afraid of one if it comes up. It will come down to the driver. And on the track, out of the box, it is a faster car. I will post some pictures of us on the track and driving through the desert as soon as I can figure out how. Its been a long day and my bed is calling.
Brian
i agree the gen III is a much
