Any Intrest in a GUARANTEED 9 second Viper Package??????

[Tom Welch]

To date my bolt on modifications have netted consistant 10.3's at an average of 136 mph. I am moving into the head porting arena which the horsepower gains that we are hoping for should put us easily into the 9 second zone.

It has been a pleasure offering products that can be installed by the do-it-yourself enthusiast and we do not want to break from that tradition. I do feel compelled though to offer a package of bolt-ons and installation that will be GUARANTEED to perform.

The items and pricing that I am considering are as follows:

Ported Heads, Nitrous/propane injection system, complete exhaust upgrade, wheel and tire upgrade for drag racing, half shafts, and our NHRA Roll bar.(roll bar is acceptable to 10.00 e.t. NHRA does consider a 1% tolerance on elapsed times)

The price Im shooting for is $ 16,995.00 complete and installed. With one other important Item. You will receive your car back with a framed 9 second timeslip and a video of your car making a 9 second pass!

For a small fraction of the cost of my competition you will own the power needed to obtain the elusive 9 second time slip. Does this sound intresting?

I appreciate all of the support that I have received from the viper community and I look forward to your comments and thoughts on a package of this type.

Thanks for reading,

Tom
Http://btrviper.com

"BTR PERFORMANCE..........where value and the dollar come together"

 

[phiebert]

Tom, I think you're on to something here but if you don't mind I'll add my own twist to your marketing campaign. What about creating "time" packages like Hennessey does with Horsepower Packages. That is create a 11 sec, 10 sec and 9 sec package with whatever naming convention like the BTR9

That way a person could decide what ET he wants and weigh that against what he is willing to spend. For example, with my simple exhaust upgrades, smooth tubes and Nitrous I should be able to get into the 10's (although due to the local track and my tires I'm still in the 11's). So you could sell non-nitrous upgrade or nitrous upgrade option to get into the various "second" clubs.

For example,

11 seconds - $3000 - do it yourself
10 seconds - $6000 - diy or tech installed
9 seconds - $15000 - installed.

Of course guaranteeing you can get 10 seconds with my car and guaranteeing I can get it are two different things! So it might be a little tough to make the various claims without being able to run the car yourself. But I still think it's a good idea. You can then copyright the BTR11, BTR10 and BTR9, give people the plaques and lables to put on their car, etc... and in a couple years people seeing those lables on the side of a Viper would know not to mess with them street racing or on the track!

 

[Prashant]

Ok, wait here Tom. I watched your DVD this week here in Houston, and you have some insightful ideas. But just handing out 9 second framed time slips? I have watched allot of drag racing viper’s In Texas for a number of years and I may be wrong but I am betting that it is harder to get into the 9’s than you are thinking. I have always heard the Various Tuners say 10.2 is easy…after that every tenth is a crap load of work!. And since the Viper has been out, only 5 Vipers have made it into the 9’s, that tells me something. Albert C. being the latest to get in the 9-second club. I have personally seen 4 of the 5 run into the 9’s and know that it is a hard combination to get just right. I hope you are right in a $17,000 Guaranty of a 9 second car. But I think you might want to try getting yourself in the 9’s first before you start thinking about selling the 9 second package. I hope I did not offend you, I was very impressed with your Video and I recommend it to anyone that wants to start Drag Racing. Hope it works out for you, we would love to have you join the ALL TEXAS 9 SECOND CLUB. I am putting together a fall event which should draw once again the Fastest V10 Vipers in the World which I would love for you to be a part of. If you get into the 9’s Tom, I will Pay your way in to the event. Good luck

 

[treynor]

Hey, I can do one better -- I'll offer a guaranteed 6-second package warranteed for the life of the car or the owner, whichever lasts longer. All this for only $9,999 + tax and an hour of welding work to install it:

I am pleased to present:
The Treynor Motorsports JATO system for Vipers:

You must be registered for see images

Please specify GTS or RT/10 when ordering.

 

[TOOOFST]

Package idea/time slip sounds good.As a business I suggest your packages (bolt on,ect.goodies)in warrenty.Stock tires.If someone dies,you could be responsible.

 

[Tom Welch]

Prashant,

You are 100% correct. 9 second e.t's from a viper are very hard to obtain but certainly not impossible. I have had several 9 and 8 second cars over the years and this is NOT an uncermountable task. The object of this post is to find out what intrest there would be in a budget minded package that could generate those kinds of times.

I've been drag racing for a long time. I have only road raced once and readily admit that Im inexperienced at it. I do feel though that with an additional 60 rwhp a viper modified like mine can run 9 second times. I may be wrong.........and will find out very soon. I hope to be able to meet with you and your posse this fall for some drag racing and smack talking!

Ben,

Can I have the exclusive on that device!!!!Id like to strap one on my mother in law's back!

Phiebert,

Your idea was suggested on my message board about a month ago and is indeed a great idea. Im considering all ideas and I really do appreciate all comments even the negative ones. Everyone knows that I have thick skin.

As for warranty and lawsuit protection....it seems like anyone can sue anyone for anything and customers in this industry think that they need a refund for a used and broken racing part. Thats what we have disclaimers and corporations for.

My goal is now and has always been to provide proven performance at a discount price, and to make it available for the do-it-yourself enthusiast. This complete package suggestion with us doing the installation and testing is a new idea. Before we dive into it we want to see what kind of intrest is out there amoung the viper community.

Thanks again for your responses.

Tom
Http://btrviper.com

 

[Tom and Vipers]

Personally, I am not interested E.T.

To me, MPH is the real deal.

E.T. is heavily based on suspension while MPH is HP/weight.

MPH is the parameter that tells you how the car will feel when you kick it down going 80 mph on the road - and that is the whole enchilada.

I have seen 11 sec. cars that have MPH's in the low 100s and they basically have no HP. They are all suspension and launch.

Personally, a 60 foot time is more meaningful to me than ET because I do enjoy a good launch.

The fact that the Viper is sadly prone to wheel hop further indicates this is a RR car and not a Drag car - and hence even a stronger argument for MPH.

If someone says they have an 11.8 sec car, the MPH could be all the way from 104 to 124. The difference between enjoying those cars is not comparable. The 124 MPH car would be awesome, the other **-hum.

Anyhow, that is my 2 cents.....

 

[Maverick The Electrician]

Tom,

I wish you the best of luck. Your products have proven great times for the money. But I do know from expierence that in a viper with stock suspention and a 200 shot is very hard to get past a 10.20.
Im sure it could be done with the right amount of money and R&D.
Are you going to test out your new package on your car first? Keep us updated on the results.

 

[Tom Welch]

Albert,

Thanks for your support and congrats on your own 9 second run!!

Yes, my car will be the test vehicle, as it has been used to test all of our products first before going to market.

I will keep everyone posted on the results and will have complete details of what enhancements have been made. It will be about 30 days before I have the heads installed.

It seems that there is definately intrest in a package of this type from all of the posts and emails. Now all I have to do is put up or shut up myself!!LOL.

Thanks again for your comments and suggestions, keep em coming!

Tom

 

[jp]

Excellent Tom!
Keep us updated, dont forget Sweden ;-)

/JP

 

[treynor]

I'd have to agree with Albert's comments -- this isn't trivial. I did some modeling, and getting from 10.35 @ 132 to 9.95 @ 140 will take a lot of doing; you'll need another 200 HP or else some substantial improvements in launch (suspension / bigger slicks) One of the problems is the 4-5 shift you'll hit around the 135-138 MPH mark..

We'll be very interested to see how this works out!

 

[JonB]

Im just glad that we can POST "new products" and SUPPLIER SPECIALS and new packages here. Seriously! "Supplier Special" section is purgatory by comparison.

Thanks, Moderators ! If this had been relegated to purgatory, there would be maybe 2 replies. Believe me, I've ASKED people!

 

[Maverick The Electrician]

I know it is harder than it seems. Ive been messing with my car non stop for 2 years and have run into many opstacles. If it could be done easy I sure would like to know how. If Tom can do it more power to him, but the only thing I was thinking about was going to the track and getting the slip, was the abuse on the cars or breaking a customers car. Because going out with a 200 shot and hitting a nine the first few passes hasn't been very easy for the viper world. If Tom can do this Im sure he will have more customers than he could handle.

 

[MES]

Tom I think that is an very innovative idea, everyone else's packages are rated in HP. But here are some of my thoughts.

1. Is the 9.99 sec repeatable? Drivers skill or lack there of can add up to .2-.4 in the 1/4 mile. So when one of your customers takes their 9 sec Viper to the track and runs a 10.4 are they going to get upset, flame you etc.

2. If your running 10.3 - 10.4 now I don't think 60 hp is going to get you below 10

3. You have to be very careful of "Guarantee" a Guarantee is a legal term that can come back in bite you. I would suggest a qualifier "Guarantee to be within .25 sec of your rated package or $*** back"

4. You should price out all the individual pieces separatly then have one package deal at a discounted price. What if someone already has headers, exhaust, etc.

5. Can you provide more information on your heads? Who is doing the porting? You? Are they flow checked? Availability, delivery time, cost, etc.

 

[Tom Welch]

Again,

Keep the responses coming! They are all very good as I can't think of every situation.

As for the "Guarantee", I understand that every driver is different and the viper is a difficult car to get down the dragstrip for a good e.t. But I have met lots of viper enthusiasts who have spent tens of thousands of dollars on tuner packages and have never taken them to the track. So, Im considering a dragstrip pass instead of a dyno pull for the customers of this package. I understand the liabilities involved and will surely have protection. Thats what I pay my Lawyer to do. I can't guarantee the driving skill of others and track conditions of the world, what I can do is provide the customer with a baseline run and timeslip when he picks his car up. This may not be for everyone. Thats why Im asking for intrest and opinions first. I fly folks around in the back of their own Jet Airplane that don't even know how to open the door!

Believe me I know that running 9's with a viper is a difficult task. I salute those few who have done it so far. It is a natural progression of my business model to make this attempt. To be able to offer it at the price above may or may not be possible.......time will tell.

Jon B,

You crack me up!

Ben,

Do some math modeling using the MPH that we run and duplicate that with the average bracket race car. I will save you some time..........137 mph = 9.67 with an efficeint chassis. The horsepower is there, and a little more won't hurt, its chassis efficiency that kills the viper.

MES,

We currently offer all of our products ala-cart and will probably do so with our cylinder head package. This complete package gig is something that we are considering.....mainly because of the installation process that most viper owners are not intrested in performing. Again, about the elapsed times of each different individual, we will demonstrate the cars ability....then its up to the driver. I found out real quick down at moroso last year that my car was far superior to my driving skills on the road course. I could not run close to the times that my instructor did and we both drove my car.LOL!

Again,

Thanks for the comments..REALY!...I appreciate everyones time!

Tom

 

[TOOOFST]

Tom It's a great Idea to give the customer results,most tuners don't,we've all seen big dyno #'s on cars that don't perform.Why are you selling the 9second itch?What drag racer is impressed with a 9 second time slip from a supercar?Some of you know i'm a former S/ST,S/Gas racer 15yrs.My employee "Kadry" has 30G's in his 8second 10.5"tire outlaw Monte Carlo.9.90's doesn't cut it for street racing either,in chicago that is.I bought this car because its a road and track race car with a warrenty,unique!running 10's with stock tires,warrenty and high speed road performance is impressive.We'll want to compete with the 2003 viper in street trim,not "Kadry's"Monte Carlo!Would be happy to be your 1st customer,Scott.

 

[WESTCOAST JASON]

Sounds good, however I agree with a couple of the others here. In ANY business it is always better to underpromise and overdeliver, from what it sounds, getting a '9' will be a hair splitting event at best. The last thing you would want is to be categorized with those such as Hennessey that promise the world and deliver much less. I have seen my fair share of 650HP vipers on my dyno running a strong '520RWHP' - by anyones yard stick that is NOT 650HP. Since the 248 series of dynos has become quite the standard and read consistently in any market, you may want to show a RWHP # for reference. A car with MXGT tires versus one with Pilots will net you a .5 sec difference (in Vegas) on a 600HP car. .02

PEace.