2008 Viper...Good News/Bad News

[RTED]

February Road and Track has a brief article about the 2008 Viper receiving a boost in HP to 580 with modifications to the engine. Nice change in hood louver size and location as well....GOOD NEWS!

Although it is nice to see the Dodge boys finally doing something to boost power output, it appears that the Viper will once again be lagging behind compared to other competitve sport cars in it's class. You can't take anyting away from the Viper looks and limited numbers on the road. However, it would be nice to see the car shed a few hundred pounds to go along with the new found power.

Directly below the article about the Viper is a photo of the 2008 Corvette SS with an anticipated 650 HP, 70 more HP than the new Viper and hundreds of pounds lighter....BAD NEWS! This power comes at a price as it is expected to be priced higher than the current ZO6. Estimated sticker price of $100k

 

[Schulmann]

I don't know if that Corvette SS is already prototyped. But Corvettes are not as reliable as Vipers ... GM never spent a lot of money/time on testing.


I hope tire manufacturors will speed up too because wide tires are difficult to find these days. No more Pirelli Pzero 355/25/19 in the States ....

 

[Daddy Long Stroke]

Good news is that it is 600 HP stock.

Bad news is, I cant afford it.

 

[94RT10Ohio]

Two things.

The new Viper will have 600HP

The new Viper also has moved back to forged internals. My guess is one of the reasons for the forged internals would be for a SC if needed, sort of a just in case GM comes through.

 

[Viperless]

I'd never buy a Vette no matter how much power they gave it. If 580-600 hp isn't enough for you, then modify it! For me, it's not all about horsepower numbers.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keith
(soon to be "Back In Back")

My '70 El Camino SS

 

[Bonkers]

it appears that the Viper will once again be lagging
behind compared to other competitve sport cars in it's class.

Again??? It's class??? ........

Before the C6-Z06 the closest thing in the "Viper-class" of
sports cars was the ZR1 - not exactly a huge threat. Beyond
that you were playing in the "Lambo-class" of cars which
aren't exactly competitivly priced with the viper either. So
here we are at a cross roads, the eco-sports car (vette) is
finally coming to age after 12 years and we're seeing
HP numbers on the absolute limit of typical driver control.
Can DCX make a 1400hp viper without much effort - absolutely,
but how many new owners will be able to handle a car that can
easily spin tires in 5th gear?

600hp is perfectly healthy for a showroom queen. I suspect
with some basic mods you can easily tweak 700hp out of this
setup. So the vette comes out with 650hp - from my
understanding they'll be really high-strung cars without a lot
of options for modifcation. And considering how bad the brakes
are on that thing and the ultra-light frame I have a feeling a
lot of corvette drivers will be passing on soon.

I'll take a limited made 600hp car capable of 1000hp with an
almost unlimited array of mod options than a 700hp car with only
five or six options and an unlimited array of other owners to
cramp my style.

 

[Casey]

I don't care how fast the Blue Devil is:

$100k for a f'n corvette is just a joke!



A Vette for 100 thousand dollars....."laughing histerically"

 

[Early93Viper]

Good news is that it is 600 HP stock.

Bad news is, I cant afford it.

My thoughts exactly

 

[RoadiJeff]

The good news is it appears that DC has set up the engine internals to inexpensively bolt on a SC without a lot of other changes needed should the blue devil bowtie car ever hit the GM showrooms.

The bad news is that the 2008 styling hasn't changed much from 2006. Get back to the Viper's roots, DC. That's why a lot of us drive Gen I and Gen II Vipers.

 

[96GTS]

It totally agree! I don't care how much faster other cars might be, they just don't look as good.

 

[dano]

I just sold a '02 Z06 for my '97 GTS. Loved the Z and the new ones might be a tad faster than a Viper...but, who cares...park the two next to each other and see where the crowd goes..

Never once heard someone go "Wow...that's a corvette"...

 

[Leslie]

I just sold a '02 Z06 for my '97 GTS. Loved the Z and the new ones might be a tad faster than a Viper...but, who cares...park the two next to each other and see where the crowd goes..

Never once heard someone go "Wow...that's a corvette"...

congrats on the GTS!!!!

now someone needs to hook you up with an avatar to show off that Viper

 

[Vic]

I'll take one of each, please.

Wha? Oh, sorry, I was talking in my sleep. Having a nice dream about all the new sports cars on the market. Its "all good", as they say. Fantastic age for automobiles.

 

[96GTS]

I'm a renaissance man myself, and prefer the "K-car" and "Pacer/Gremlin" era.

It is indeed a great time to have a modern day American muscle car; 26mpg, 500hp and fantastic body lines.

 

[FinalEd357]

Having owned a GTS and c6z @ the same time, I really, really preferred the GTS, even though the Z had more technology and better performance/handling. Especially after visiting CAAP for a tour, I really appreciate what goes into building a Viper vs. a mass produced car. I don't believe any of us will be able to tell ANY difference on the street between a 600 HP Viper vs 600-650 HP Vette (even with less weight). Yes, it will be a few tenths faster, but how noticable is that when you'll already have a mid 11 second car? I they're both going to be ridiculously fast, with the quality nod going to Dodge. Way to go DC!

 

[Fast Freddy]

I just sold a '02 Z06 for my '97 GTS. Loved the Z and the new ones might be a tad faster than a Viper...but, who cares...park the two next to each other and see where the crowd goes..

Never once heard someone go "Wow...that's a corvette"...

LMAO