Challenger Hellcat gets 707HP!

[Bruce H.]

I can live with a manual and have had a few recent manual cars such as 997.2 GT3 and an Ariel Atom. I would have preferred an auto as I get older and lazier though. It's the rest of the population that turns their nose up at manuals. And rightly so as they can be a pain to drive, especially in traffic, and few know how to actually use one. I tried to get my GT3 valeted once and none of the porters knew how to operate a manual. I have a new SL63 AMG now and when I'm tired of it will look at possibly the AMG GT, though it's looking disappointing from what I've seen so far. Other contenders could be a 991 GT3RS, McLaren P13, or maybe a Cayman GT4 depending on how that turns out. If the viper makes some improvements it could be in the running again.

Well you can certainly relate to a broad range of buyer needs. I think there's little doubt that the next Gen Viper will have an auto of some sort, and the availability of a manual might be more in question. The Viper faithful are aging and will want or need an auto among other things, as will most new buyers of an exotic regardless of where they live or roads they drive. Maybe the Gen V will have a short run before it's forced to either change or go away completely like so many other iconic performance cars from the recent past. It's a wonder they were able to bring the Viper back at all, and retaining so much of the Gen IV's chassis and powertrain made that possible, while adding refinements and updated styling for fresh appeal. That cursed it for some while making it irresistable to others...the majority of which have curiously been first time Viper buyers that obviously still embrace the stick. I suppose it's quickly becoming a love it or hate feature.

But two things are for sure...the bean counters are watching, and there's never been a better time to buy a beautiful, rare and exotic supercar with a stick!

 

[Bildad]

Well you can certainly relate to a broad range of buyer needs. I think there's little doubt that the next Gen Viper will have an auto of some sort, and the availability of a manual might be more in question. The Viper faithful are aging and will want or need an auto among other things, as will most new buyers of an exotic regardless of where they live or roads they drive. Maybe the Gen V will have a short run before it's forced to either change or go away completely like so many other iconic performance cars from the recent past. It's a wonder they were able to bring the Viper back at all, and retaining so much of the Gen IV's chassis and powertrain made that possible, while adding refinements and updated styling for fresh appeal. That cursed it for some while making it irresistable to others...the majority of which have curiously been first time Viper buyers that obviously still embrace the stick. I suppose it's quickly becoming a love it or hate feature.

But two things are for sure...the bean counters are watching, and there's never been a better time to buy a beautiful, rare and exotic supercar with a stick!

There's never been

I don't get a lot of this dissatisfaction with how the Viper looks. I think it looks great. It looks like a Viper. You see it and you immediately know what it is as there's nothing else that looks like it. I wouldn't want it to look like an Italian exotic or an Aston or a Porsche or whatever. You only reinvent the wheel if it sucked the first time. Mercedes tried to re-invent the Gullwing with the SLS. Some loved it, I hated it. I thought it was an insult to the real thing.

My personal beef with the Viper is headroom. There's not enough of it. Though that's not unique to the Viper. I had the same problem when I tried the R8 and the new F-Type Coupe. I could maybe have gotten by in any of them as long as I didn't hit any bumps and didn't mind compressing a few discs in my neck, but wearing a helmet was impossible. And that's a crime. A few inches of headroom please. We're not all Russian tankers.

 

[sunsalem]

How tall are you?

 

[Bruce H.]

There's a lot of dissatisfaction here. In fact, the happy members in this forum mostly seem to be owners...go figure!

I spoke with a tall gentleman this morning at Homecoming who drove his '06 vert there. He had done the Gen V drive at Chelsea Proving Grounds yesterday and commented on how much more room there was driving in the TA compared to the GTS. I don't know whether the TA would help you enough, but it might be worth a try if you haven't. They building more for 2015 I've heard.

I don't get a lot of this dissatisfaction with how the Viper looks. I think it looks great. It looks like a Viper. You see it and you immediately know what it is as there's nothing else that looks like it. I wouldn't want it to look like an Italian exotic or an Aston or a Porsche or whatever. You only reinvent the wheel if it sucked the first time. Mercedes tried to re-invent the Gullwing with the SLS. Some loved it, I hated it. I thought it was an insult to the real thing.

My personal beef with the Viper is headroom. There's not enough of it. Though that's not unique to the Viper. I had the same problem when I tried the R8 and the new F-Type Coupe. I could maybe have gotten by in any of them as long as I didn't hit any bumps and didn't mind compressing a few discs in my neck, but wearing a helmet was impossible. And that's a crime. A few inches of headroom please. We're not all Russian tankers.

 

[PDCjonny]

I don't get a lot of this dissatisfaction with how the Viper looks. I think it looks great. It looks like a Viper. You see it and you immediately know what it is as there's nothing else that looks like it. I wouldn't want it to look like an Italian exotic or an Aston or a Porsche or whatever. You only reinvent the wheel if it sucked the first time. Mercedes tried to re-invent the Gullwing with the SLS. Some loved it, I hated it. I thought it was an insult to the real thing..

Thirty people a month agree with you. That's the problem.

 

[Bildad]

How tall are you?

I'm only 6'0, but a lot of my height is from the waist up which makes headroom a problem in some cars. Car shopping is a little interesting as I take my helmet with me to make sure I fit in it properly. I get a lot of strange looks doing that.

 

[Texas1]

Not to knock the new Challenger but it will be overlooked next to any Viper...they are like Vettes...a dime a dozen with different badging...that being said I would not mind a Hellcat as a daily driver; but it would never be a Viper replacement...

 

[Bildad]

There's a lot of dissatisfaction here. In fact, the happy members in this forum mostly seem to be owners...go figure!

I spoke with a tall gentleman this morning at Homecoming who drove his '06 vert there. He had done the Gen V drive at Chelsea Proving Grounds yesterday and commented on how much more room there was driving in the TA compared to the GTS. I don't know whether the TA would help you enough, but it might be worth a try if you haven't. They building more for 2015 I've heard.

I heard the same about the TA. I tried out the GTS as that's what was on hand. Unfortunately there are no TA's around for me to try out. The GTS I tried was a '14 that already had the washers under the seats removed and pedals all the way back. If new TAs are coming in 2015 I'll keep an eye out for one to come here and go do another test fit.