Advice on learning to drive a S/C viper....

BADVENOM

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As the owner of a 96 RT/10, gen 1.5, I will be getting my car back from DLM within the next 6 weeks. I will be flying down to Doug for fist hand demo of the car and some basics from him on driving my new Beast. I have added a Stoptech 4 wheel Brake kit in preparation for betting stopping power than stock ones. Like to know I can get out of trouble faster than I got into it..LOL Anyway with the car pushing 700-750 RWHP its going to be a learning experience, I plan to track the car for fun at club track get togethers and was looking for advice from other viper owners of cars that have upped their power especially gen 1 and gen 1.5's although all advice from experienced viper owners with similar upgrades would be appreciated...

Thanks,

Adam
 

GaryA

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Hey Adam,

You'll love the new feel of your Viper! Just start out easy and you'll get the feel real quick (and I mean quick!). It won't be long before you'll be wanting more.

My favorite part of owning that much HP is cruising down the highway and being able to pass anybody at will with absolutely no hesitation.

This stuff is addictive!

Good luck.

------------------
2000 Black RT/10
Heffner 1000SCi 843 rwhp 792 rwtq 10.20 ET @ 141 MPH
Heffner Performance - Home of the World's First 9-second supercharged Viper!
 

newredrt10

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Sounds good. I am having a system installed now. With help I think all bases are covered, but you never know. Information is gold and I have found the best place for any information are Viper owners.
If I am not making sense its the flue 102'F
Thanks again and Merry Christmas.
 

SSSSE YA

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My favorite part of owning that much HP is cruising down the highway and being able to pass anybody at will with absolutely no hesitation.

This stuff is addictive!

Good luck. :headbang:

------------------
2000 Black RT/10
Heffner 1000SCi 843 rwhp 792 rwtq 10.20 ET @ 141 MPH
Heffner Performance - Home of the World's First 9-second supercharged Viper!
 

Paolo Castellano

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Adam, I would get some 850#/in. rear springs and 600#/in. fronts, lower the car, corner weight, and get a good alignment. I can give you the specs that work for my car if you want.
 

newredrt10

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ghette Viper
Are you talking about driving in the BRONX's or the track.
I learned to drive on the LIX. Had a Miget that had been reworked. No real top end but 0-100 was good and would handle.
 

AJT

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Adam, how long has your car been at Dougs? When you go give my car a little pat & tell her I miss her!!

Andy
 
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BADVENOM

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Hey Andy been ther since nov 3rd, and Ill be sure to tell your girl that you love her and miss her very much...Im sure she already knows that in shes get a full makeover courtesy of you..LOL
 

AJT

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My wife thinks i am stupid. Send a brand new car to someone I do not know, in another state & throw in some money!! Car has been there since July 22!! She thinks its been parted out or being driven around in FL!! ***** making car payments on something that is not in my garage. I just tell her it will be back Soon,Soon, Soon.....

Andy
 

newredrt10

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I know how that is. Mind is been gone sense Oct. Even if it gets back soon, I can drive it because of the season here in Ohio. Snow belt
 

newredrt10

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Sure keeps the eyes working. You never know who pulling out on you. It still is not as bad as Ohio. Everyone in ohio uses the left lane. Right turn clyde
 

AJT

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Snow? Oh yeah that is that white frozen stuff on the ground. I remember it snowed in Houston back in 1974 or 1975. He HE it was 69 degrees here today & should be in the 70s this weekend! I guess I should'nt talk crap with no car....
 

Joseph Dell

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Advice [now more than ever] - make sure the car is pointed in a straight line before you mash the pedal. If you are not pointing straight, hold on for a wild ride!

Other than that, it'll drive like a stocker until you hit the pedal. It _will_ feel more responsive in general too.

JD
 

Paolo Castellano

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Paolo Castellano

Would you have the specs for a 2000 rt/10?

NewredRT: here is a copy of the email I sent Adam. I have gotten other emails asking me for more details so here they are:

Adam, I am not sure what suspension work you are having/have had done. I am also not sure if my alignment specs will work as well on a gen-1. I also do not know if you would be willing to lower your car with all the beautiful bodywork/painting I have seen on the internet.==> Here are some alignment specs that are more aggressive for the street WITHOUT wearing your tires out on the insides like a full race alignment has done on my car in a matter of 1500 miles.

Right and left front (toe-in: 1/16") (camber -.75 degrees) Caster: stock ~ 6.5
Right and left rear (toe-in: 1/16") (camber -.5 degrees) On the rears, you could possibly go slightly more toe in depending on if the rear end is squirrely.

Corner weighting: with adjustable coil-over shocks, you can adjust how high or how low each corner sits.

Example: lets assume the car weighs 4000 LBS for the ease of #'s sake.

Since the car has the battery in one spot, spare tire here, intercooler there, brake master cylinder there/etc....... It is virtually impossible to have the 4000# car have 1000# on each corner(Perfect 50/50 distribution) with all 4 corners at EXACTLY the same height.

So the basic concept of the corner weighting is having equal bias. Bias is the amount of poundage(of the hypothetical 4000#) you get when adding up (right front + left rear) and (left front and right rear)

==> If you could get 2000 Pounds for each one, you would be doing very, very well even if you got within 20-30# of that.

something like this would be great:


LF 980# RF 970#




LR 1030# RR 1020#

With these specs, imagine if you raised the left rear slightly, now there would be less than 1030# on the left rear and more than 970# on the right front.==> This is how they achieve certain handling characteristics for a car for different kinds of tracks. The Formula-1 guys use some metal that is much more dense than lead and they place it in different, focused, points of the car to achieve desired handling/weight transfer characteristics.


The alignment guy must have scales for each corner. I highly recommend you are sitting in your full tank of gas car for the duration of the cornerweighting AND alignment. Do this and the car will drive and handle best when you are driving alone{the way it should be}.


I know my car is set up with 52% of the weight to the rear and 48% on the front with the current road race setup I used for the magazine test.==> with 52% on the rears you also have more weight on the rears to start with ie traction. Also, you have more weight to transfer to the fronts for threshold braking.

I am not sure how much knowledge you have regarding these matters, I apologize if I was too redundant on the things you already know.

If you have any further questions, feel free to email or call me. 630-878-3907

Paolo

P.S. My car does not get squirrely at all in a straight line even when the tires are spinning at 100+ MPH!
 

RedSnakeGTS

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Adam, how long has your car been at Dougs? When you go give my car a little pat & tell her I miss her!!

Andy


i thought you said it would only take 6 weeks? you get more stuff added? good luck with your beast! :headbang: and if i am in houston, i want to see it. i havent gotten a chance to see a DLM car :2tu:
 

Casey

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Advice [now more than ever] - make sure the car is pointed in a straight line before you mash the pedal. If you are not pointing straight, hold on for a wild ride!

That's a good start! Be careful while entering highways, etc from the on-ramps! You can't just hit the gas like normal! Straight, straight, straight!! And keep your eyes focused ahead as well! Your instinct will be to look in the mirror to see how far back those cars are you just blew away, but the cars in front of you will be coming up faster than ever! :eek:

You don't even know how much fun you are going to have!! :headbang:

And yes, you'll be wanting more soon enough! :2tu:
 

MaxedGTS

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Advice [now more than ever] - make sure the car is pointed in a straight line before you mash the pedal. If you are not pointing straight, hold on for a wild ride!

Other than that, it'll drive like a stocker until you hit the pedal. It _will_ feel more responsive in general too.

JD
JD's right on the money. Point and shoot. Give it time and you'll
learn how to drive it. will be alot of fun learning :D

Max
 

Marc Lublin

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Just make sure you are always ready for the back end to come loose, sometimes it happens when you think you are barely pressing the pedal. Otherwise use it and have fun!
 

newredrt10

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Thanks Paolo. When My car gets back I will check it. Would the adding of the roe system shift the balance to the frount or would it be closer to what you advised.

Thanks again
Bill
 

AJT

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RedSnake, I thought it would only take 8 weeks or so.... But I figured while it was there I might as well do it all! Dougs description of the system is "EVERYTHING". After only having the car for 9 months I sent it away.

Good info on driving pointers, thanks.

Andy
 

Paolo Castellano

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Thanks Paolo. When My car gets back I will check it. Would the adding of the roe system shift the balance to the frount or would it be closer to what you advised.

Thanks again
Bill

Bill, which Roe system do you mean? Brakes? Or suspension? Sean makes a swap kit of adjustable shocks==> You send in your stockers and he sends you an adjustable set!
 

RedSnakeGTS

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RedSnake, I thought it would only take 8 weeks or so.... But I figured while it was there I might as well do it all! Dougs description of the system is "EVERYTHING". After only having the car for 9 months I sent it away.

Good info on driving pointers, thanks.

Andy


it was an honest question, sorry for the hijack :rolleyes:
 

newredrt10

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I was talking about the weight of the supercharger. My car seemed to handle well in the stock setup, but I never checked the balance.
 

AJT

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Adam a gen 1.5 does that have forged pistons? Are you doing a level II DLM? What tires are you going to use? I think I feel like you, I do not know what to expect.. Let me know after you pick her up, I would like your impressions of the car & Dougs shop.

Sory if I hijacked

Andy
 

Yellow Fever

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Car has been there since July 22!! She thinks its been parted out or being driven around in FL!! ***** making car payments on something that is not in my garage. I just tell her it will be back Soon,Soon, Soon.....

Andy

6 Months ?? Wow .. I bet you can't wait to get your baby home :)
They say good things come to those who wait !

Hang in there Andy :2tu:

Jeff
 

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