CarAndDriver - Gen 5 vs Gen 2 Viper

Kratos

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You really need to do an apples to apples comparison... or lemons to lemons so to speak... why discriminate..? Both awesome:2tu:

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If you draw your eyes back from the details to a more "global" look, the curves on the gen V are waaaaaay more ****
 

v10enomous

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I really prefer the gas fill location on the Gen II, it looks a lot 'racier' imo, but I prefer the side exhaust of the Gen V:eater: ...;)

I don't know... Look at how slick the side window area looks on the Gen V. I like the flatter back window on the Gen V too but the GenII fuel door is way cooler.
 

46hemi

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I have felt that about the door itself. I love the The Gen II Fuel door. Every time I fill up I admire it. I want one for my desk its so cool! On the other side I always wished the gen II had side pipes..oh well.
 

v10enomous

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The GenV also looks much cleaner around the sills where if there is anything that hints of kit car it's the GenII sills. The GenV is just more chiseled and contemporary where the GenII is just more coke bottle and fluid. Both beautiful nonetheless...
 

Policy Limits

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the V is the II on roids, which is what I love about it/them. I like the side exhaust on the V better than the rear pipes on the II; I like the body curves on the hood and side better on the V than the II; I like the fuel door better on the II than the V; I like the stripes break up better on the II than the V; I think Leno said he "didnt mind" the gas cap higher on the II but he really wanted to say that he liked it better that way.
 

v10enomous

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If I could change something on the GenV it would be a smaller grill area or just painted and maybe making the headlights a little more horizontal like the GenII.
 

Kratos

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I think the headlights on the gen V will allow it to look modern for a long time. The car is already retro enough and true to the heritage. Anymore retro, and it would look dated quickly.
 

sween

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After seeing V10emous pictures, the Gen V actually looks better. Both are awesome however.
 

VENOM V

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Or do it this way... They are both gorgeous so you really need one of each:D

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I may be in the minority on this, but I've always preferred the grill on the Gen V over any other gen Viper. And the shape of the headlights, I think they are the best headlights yet, LEDs and all. And the Gen V GTS hood looks just perfect to me- 3 ports, no more. I like all generations of Viper, my two faves being Gen II and V. The V gets my vote in the end, as my wallet has shown, LOL. As policy limits said, the Gen V looks like a Gen II on steroids.

-Todd, ducking for cover
 

viperbilliam

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What stood out to me were the hood and trunk gaps in the Gen V; unacceptable for a car in that price range. Hopefully SRT has addressed that for the production cars.
 

terminator02

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The "lemons to lemons" pictures are as biased as any other still photos from the gen II posters. The most honest car impressions will come from seeing them in person and during videos when they are in motion like the linked comparison test. Obviously there are very dated aspects of the Gen II compared to the gen V. I will definitely admit that the overall design of the gen 5 is spot on and I also agree that the low window shape looks fantastic. However when seeing the car in person, the Gen II just looks a bit more exotic and oturageous. However, as a whole, the new car is just plain better. With that said, it's clear that the Gen II still looks amazing, still is plenty fast and most importantly, very fun to drive. Hopefully these cars stop being undervalued by the Viper community and people appreciate their actual worth. The Viper community dictates the price of the cars, not the market. It's just cheap people get the car for a discount, then try to unload for a little less and then that person does the same. When they come to the forum other people who sold their cars for cheap are the first to try to convince the other's to sell cheap. You don't see that in the NSX community. Just ours. heck even terminator 03 cobras tend to sell at a better price to MSRP than the vipers. There are not many vipers in existence and just because you see a lot on ebay or AT at any given time doesn't negate that there are probably only a few thousand 96-2002 GTS cars left in the US. In another 10 years, cut that in half. I would imagine price begins to climb sooner than later just from the rarity and continued totaling of these already limited productoin cars....
 

ipetrov

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I think one very distinct element that makes the II look more exotic than the V is the distance between the top of the front tire to the top of the front fender as a proportion of the height of the front tire. The larger that proportion - the more conventional the look (think vans on the one extreme and ALMS cars on the other). That's one of the key reasons why the ALMS Viper looks a lot more aggressive and better than the regular car. If you look at the comparison of the yellow cars above, the Gen V seems like it's riding on 16-17 inch front wheels, while the Gen II's look like solid 19's, exactly because of that proportion.

For the same reason, putting larger than stock diameter wheels on any car (within reason) makes for a more aggressive look - the proportion decreases because of the larger wheel.

alms.jpg
 
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Jack B

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That has been discussed sooo many times, these are test mules. If these cars did not get out, the production cars would not be out till the end of the year.

What stood out to me were the hood and trunk gaps in the Gen V; unacceptable for a car in that price range. Hopefully SRT has addressed that for the production cars.
 
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