Re: Don\'t Hold Your Breath! They\'re NOT Coming Out Any Time Soon?
And I will add my 2¢ here: As one of the ones chomping at the bit to get his SRT (garage is now horribly Viper-less), I am as eager as anybody. HOWEVER, I owned one of the first 2000 Vipers off the line. It was an incredible car and I miss it something fierce.
That said, you will find that the first +/- 200 cars produced for the 2000 model year (build dates 9-12/99) had a design problem. They used "powdered metal" cylinder sleeves which were compressed at some 600,000 pounds per square inch. The idea was to make the sleeve so hard that it would easily last for 100,000 miles with no real wear. It also made for better emmissions, as it allowed for tighter tolerances. This was new technology at the time and was not used before or since these +/- 200 cars.
So why didn't they continue to use it if it was so great? Well, they were SO hard that the rings would often not seat properly - if at all. No matter how you broke in the car, you would continue to get blow-by and burn oil. LOTS of oil. I was going through a quart every 300 miles or so. The solution? Either a crate replacement (and lose the matching numbers) or an Arrow rebuild. My car was gone for over two months. While it did not affect every one of those cars in question, I would guess that a good portion of those that actually drive their cars ended up with a rebuild. The garage queens could be in for an awakening.
Now, I was thrilled with the Arrow rebuild and it never burned a drop of oil after that. Yet if you had asked me up front if I would have waited a few months up front rather than a few months after I took delivery, well, you know the answer. I loved my car dearly, but I sure wish it didn't have a history of a rebuilt engine right off the bat. Given that the SRT is a brand new design from top to bottom, I am eager to get it, but not anxious. I want my car to arrive with no undiscovered problems and no blatent design flaws. If I have to wait until next spring to get it, big deal. At least I will be more confident that the car will STAY at my house and not go back for a recall.
Chris
PS. Now if they wait a few months to release the 2003's and then have "new and improved" 2004's a few months later (ala the 2001/2002 Z06), THEN I will have some serious concerns and may have to see if the Porsche Club needs any new members...
