Joe Dozzo
Enthusiast
Most of my Viper miles are on the street, it's my daily driver from May to October here in Colorado. We also take 3 to 5 high speed "tours" in the western US - there are some spectacular wide open roads across Utah / Nevada / and vicinity!
I also try and make 3 or 4 local track events per year and have attended a couple of formal driving schools including Sebring with the Woodhouse crew last year. I have no real door-to-door SCCA or Viper Days experience, but seriously enjoy high speed lapping on various local race tracks.
I've never had my Viper's brakes fail, anywhere. In all the public road driving, I've never heated the fluid (Castrol SRF) enough to cause any pedal fade. No fluid problems at the track with SRF, but I have ruined 3 sets of tires over the years due to lock-up and flat-spotting.
I chose a VERY agressive solution, probably way more than I need, but I feel very good about the new braking capability I have. I upgraded the front brakes to a 6 piston Baer/Alcon setup from Bobby Archer Motorsports and moved the stock front 4 piston calipers to the rear. I also added an ABS retrofit, again from Bobby Archer Motorsports.
I did all the installation work. The Baer/Alcon setup installed relatively easily, but there was a minor conflict with the front ABS sensors that suggested to me this was the first attempt at this particular combination. Moving the stock front calipers to the rear AND retaining the parking brake is a work in progress. The calipers can be moved (with some machining of the rear uprights and addition of a bracket), but wheel spacers and longer studs are required. For a race car, this may not be a big deal. On what's basically a street car, it's "sub-optimal". My solution (new hats, rotors and bracket) adds more cost, but is a better engineered result, in my opinion. The stock rear calipers can be relocated and used for the parking brake, but at what must be 5 pounds per side, I've decided to chuck them for some slick lightweight Wilwood units from Mark Williams. The ABS installation was well documented (although the wiring diagram could use a bit of improvement, in my opinion) and very straightforward, just time-consuming. In total, 3 days for all aspects and getting the car back on the road - and I don't have the parking brake working just yet. (Oh yeah, one trip to the dealer was required since I do not have a DRB III scantool to test some of the ABS functions)
Now, how does it perform? Bear in mind I just finished the installation this past weekend, but I'm over the moon! I think I need 5 point harness to keep my eyeballs from popping out on hard stops! With the rear tires now contributing much more, braking distances seem MUCH shorter. And no more flatspotting!
I also try and make 3 or 4 local track events per year and have attended a couple of formal driving schools including Sebring with the Woodhouse crew last year. I have no real door-to-door SCCA or Viper Days experience, but seriously enjoy high speed lapping on various local race tracks.
I've never had my Viper's brakes fail, anywhere. In all the public road driving, I've never heated the fluid (Castrol SRF) enough to cause any pedal fade. No fluid problems at the track with SRF, but I have ruined 3 sets of tires over the years due to lock-up and flat-spotting.
I chose a VERY agressive solution, probably way more than I need, but I feel very good about the new braking capability I have. I upgraded the front brakes to a 6 piston Baer/Alcon setup from Bobby Archer Motorsports and moved the stock front 4 piston calipers to the rear. I also added an ABS retrofit, again from Bobby Archer Motorsports.
I did all the installation work. The Baer/Alcon setup installed relatively easily, but there was a minor conflict with the front ABS sensors that suggested to me this was the first attempt at this particular combination. Moving the stock front calipers to the rear AND retaining the parking brake is a work in progress. The calipers can be moved (with some machining of the rear uprights and addition of a bracket), but wheel spacers and longer studs are required. For a race car, this may not be a big deal. On what's basically a street car, it's "sub-optimal". My solution (new hats, rotors and bracket) adds more cost, but is a better engineered result, in my opinion. The stock rear calipers can be relocated and used for the parking brake, but at what must be 5 pounds per side, I've decided to chuck them for some slick lightweight Wilwood units from Mark Williams. The ABS installation was well documented (although the wiring diagram could use a bit of improvement, in my opinion) and very straightforward, just time-consuming. In total, 3 days for all aspects and getting the car back on the road - and I don't have the parking brake working just yet. (Oh yeah, one trip to the dealer was required since I do not have a DRB III scantool to test some of the ABS functions)
Now, how does it perform? Bear in mind I just finished the installation this past weekend, but I'm over the moon! I think I need 5 point harness to keep my eyeballs from popping out on hard stops! With the rear tires now contributing much more, braking distances seem MUCH shorter. And no more flatspotting!
