another dumb question, or two.......

[tomob1]

first question:
is this factory for a 2004? special order?

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second question:
is second gear blocked out at low rpm up shifts? very low speed limit in town. at 10mph in first i can't
get 2nd gear unless i get the revs to 2500.
is this normal?
surely this isn't the 1 to 4 shift setting???
yeah, i'm confused.............
thanks
tom

 

[wes]

first question:
is this factory for a 2004? special order?

You must be registered for see images

second question:
is second gear blocked out at low rpm up shifts? very low speed limit in town. at 10mph in first i can't
get 2nd gear unless i get the revs to 2500.
is this normal?
surely this isn't the 1 to 4 shift setting???
yeah, i'm confused.............
thanks
tom

this car is located about 2 miles from my house If I'm not mistaken. It was overpriced and the paint wasn't the best. This is no special option, just a crappy carbon stick on kit. Yes second gear is blocked out after a certain speed. usually around 20mph

 

[tomob1]

thanks wes!
yeah the car is down in your neck of the woods. I hadn't seen any with carbon.
of course, out here, i don't see many vipers at all!
the 1-2 shift problem i'm having is below 20mph and 2500 rpm.
i can run up to 40mph+ in first and grab second no problem.
i get these orange and red arrow lights flash on the guage, but they don't seem to effect anything.
and no, i don't have a manual. : (
thanks
tom

 

[wes]

The light your seeing is just the skip shift indicator and it's normal. below is from the owners manual.

There are times when you must shift directly from First to
Fourth gear instead of from First to Second. An amber
(LED) arrow on the instrument cluster will light up
during these times. This is to help you get the best
possible fuel economy.
The shift arrow will light up when engine coolant is
higher than 106°F (41°C), vehicle speed is greater than 12
MPH and less than 20 MPH, engine speed is less than
1322 RPM, you are in 1st gear and you are at 1/4 throttle
or less.
When the arrow is lit, the shift mechanism will only
allow shifts from First to Fourth gears. After you shift to
Fourth gear, you can press the clutch in and shift to
another forward gear.
Downshifting - Proper downshifting will improve fuel
economy and prolong engine life.

 

[Mutts02GTS]

Sounds like the shift skip. My GTS won't go into second if I'm below 20mph, it's a forced 1-4 shift, PITA when you are first learning to drive the car, now I just keep it in first until 20 mph or greater and it shifts fine. Jeff

 

[Timnineside]

Nahhhh You will get used to it. When daily driving (200-300) miles a week I often go 1-4 then 4-6. Get about 22MPG HWY with my 99 GTS, and average about 17mpg.

It is the skip shift that your feeling. A little funny at first but becomes much more normal later. You will actually get used to it (assume your put some miles on your Viper) to the point where it feels un-natural to shift with out. Just put the pedal down and hit about 20mph+ and you'll be good to go!

 

[tomob1]

thanks all!
the car is a daily driver with about 1/2 the miles in 20-30 mph speed limits.
can the skip shift be deleted?
thanks
tom

 

[DeceptioN]

Yes, I think it was $60 - $80 or so for the plug in to eliminate the skip shift.

 

[slysnake]

Since the car will do around 60 in first gear there is really no need to shift at such low RPMs.

This is to help you get the best
possible fuel economy.

I have trouble understanding this. Is it better fuel economy to shift into 2nd early or let the revs go up until you can shift into 2nd? I never shift from 1st to 4th. Just seems silly to me.

Just put the pedal down and hit about 20mph+ and you'll be good to go!

That's the other thing about the skip shift. just means I take off more agressively at starts so I can "get past the point of the skip".

 

[Timnineside]

It does not matter how fast you take off. Its for the government so it makes the cars produce better numbers. According to J Leno you can just cut the Red wire.... He thinks?????? Skip shift eliminator on Flea bay $10 for the gen 2's, I would just call Jon B at partsrack he will get you going.


FYI the less gears you actually go threw the more gas you save because your RPM's arent going as high threw every gear.

The Viper has enough torq to start off in 4th if you really wanted to. Hell I bet you could start off in 6th if you felt the need. My GTS will do 30mph in 6th if I want NO power but to just cruise.

 

[TowDawg]

Forget buying a skip-shift eliminator. Just order an SCT and tune from one of the reputable vendors on here. You'll get better performance AND they can turn off the skip-shift with the tune.