ElDiablo Viper
Enthusiast
Owners want to keep Viper simple -- and fast
BY RICK POPELY
CHICAGO TRIBUE (KRT)
CHICAGO -- The last thing a 450-horsepower sports car would seem to need is more power, but that's what Dodge Viper owners put on the top of their wish list.
Even after Dodge obliged by boosting horsepower to 500 on the redesigned 2003 Viper, that didn't satisfy the owners, a tight-knit, rabid group that Dodge refers to as the "Viper Nation."
"The No. 1 request was, couldn't we have a little more horsepower, like around 520," said Herb Helbig, technical development director for the Viper, shaking his head. "There's a limit to what you can do."
The Viper debuted in 1993 as a 400-horsepower, bare-knuckles sports car that initially lacked standard air conditioning or roll-down side windows.
Dodge added anti-lock brakes as power increased, but the 2003 model remains short on electronic wizardry, an anachronism in an industry enamored with computerized gadgets.
Other vehicles in the $80,000 price territory typically have traction control, skid control, adjustable suspensions and other electronic aids that can make ordinary drivers look like Mario Andretti. Viper continues to avoid them.
"The original philosophy was for the Viper to be a back-to-basics driver's car. We didn't think traction control fit that philosophy," Helbig said. "It's all about passion, having the right senses, the right sound, the right feel."
Even if Dodge wanted to add features such as traction control, the vocal owners probably wouldn't stand for it.
"If you need traction control, you shouldn't be driving it," said Steve Ferguson, a former president of the Viper Club of America and its Illinois chapter. "I don't want the car to control everything. Isn't that why they sell Corvettes and Porsche 911s? They'll even shift for you, won't they."
Ferguson was referring to the fact that an automatic transmission isn't offered on the Viper but is installed on more than half of Corvettes.
The Viper also doesn't come with cruise control, heated seats or a cupholder, and that suits Ferguson, who demands that the car stay true to its macho heritage.
"I don't want my sports car to be so posh that I'd want to drive it every day," he said. "If it's too comfortable, you lose the thrill of driving it. I'm looking for a thrill when I drive, not to be coddled."
The inspiration for the Viper was the Shelby Cobra, a legendary sports car of the 1960s created by race driver Carroll Shelby, who installed a Ford V-8 into an obscure British sports car, the A.C. Ace.
Shelby consulted for Dodge on the Viper, which followed the same formula as the Cobra by stressing performance over accoutrements.
"The Cobra was the sire for the Viper, and the original mission is still viable for the new car," Helbig said, "but we've raised the bar for performance."
In addition to more horsepower, other items requested by owners and found on the 2003 model include tighter-sealing side windows, a "dead pedal" that gives the driver a place to rest his left foot and a manual convertible top the driver can open with one hand. The new top replaces a removable soft top owners called a "toupee" and cursed because it was difficult to fold properly.
Despite such changes to make the Viper more livable, Helbig refuses to describe the 2003 as "more refined" or "sophisticated."
"We don't want people to say you've made a Corvette out of it," he said. "We like to say we've allowed the car to grow up."
The Viper Club of America, which despite its name has chapters in Japan and Europe, has 4,900 members, a high number considering only 15,000 Vipers have been built. Several members, including Ferguson, regularly talk with Dodge and Chrysler Group executives by phone and e-mail and rub elbows at club events, where they recommend changes.
Ferguson, who owns a 1993 Viper and has ordered a 2003, says the open communication between owners and Dodge is one reason the Viper has such a loyal following.
In an arrangement with Dodge engineered by the club, current owners got first crack at 2003 models, and they snapped up the 1,500-unit production run in less than two weeks.
"No other club in the world has a nonofficial but direct working relationship with the corporation," he said. "We have direct access to their executives on a regular basis, and this is not a quiet group."
Ferguson is an account executive for an Elk Grove Village, Ill., insurance underwriter. The company's owner also has a Viper. His office is painted Viper red and the walls are covered by photos and paintings of the car. His home office is decorated with the same red paint used on the cars; a white racing stripe runs across the ceiling.
His lust for the Viper began in December 1988, a month before Dodge showed a prototype at the Detroit Auto Show.
"I called a dealer and said there is a buzz around that Dodge would be showing a modernized version of the Cobra. I said, 'If they build this car, I want one.'
"The Cobra is the pinnacle of performance, brute performance. The Viper was like a Cobra being built for me. It was modernized and a little more practical, but it still had untouchable performance."
D
BY RICK POPELY
CHICAGO TRIBUE (KRT)
CHICAGO -- The last thing a 450-horsepower sports car would seem to need is more power, but that's what Dodge Viper owners put on the top of their wish list.
Even after Dodge obliged by boosting horsepower to 500 on the redesigned 2003 Viper, that didn't satisfy the owners, a tight-knit, rabid group that Dodge refers to as the "Viper Nation."
"The No. 1 request was, couldn't we have a little more horsepower, like around 520," said Herb Helbig, technical development director for the Viper, shaking his head. "There's a limit to what you can do."
The Viper debuted in 1993 as a 400-horsepower, bare-knuckles sports car that initially lacked standard air conditioning or roll-down side windows.
Dodge added anti-lock brakes as power increased, but the 2003 model remains short on electronic wizardry, an anachronism in an industry enamored with computerized gadgets.
Other vehicles in the $80,000 price territory typically have traction control, skid control, adjustable suspensions and other electronic aids that can make ordinary drivers look like Mario Andretti. Viper continues to avoid them.
"The original philosophy was for the Viper to be a back-to-basics driver's car. We didn't think traction control fit that philosophy," Helbig said. "It's all about passion, having the right senses, the right sound, the right feel."
Even if Dodge wanted to add features such as traction control, the vocal owners probably wouldn't stand for it.
"If you need traction control, you shouldn't be driving it," said Steve Ferguson, a former president of the Viper Club of America and its Illinois chapter. "I don't want the car to control everything. Isn't that why they sell Corvettes and Porsche 911s? They'll even shift for you, won't they."
Ferguson was referring to the fact that an automatic transmission isn't offered on the Viper but is installed on more than half of Corvettes.
The Viper also doesn't come with cruise control, heated seats or a cupholder, and that suits Ferguson, who demands that the car stay true to its macho heritage.
"I don't want my sports car to be so posh that I'd want to drive it every day," he said. "If it's too comfortable, you lose the thrill of driving it. I'm looking for a thrill when I drive, not to be coddled."
The inspiration for the Viper was the Shelby Cobra, a legendary sports car of the 1960s created by race driver Carroll Shelby, who installed a Ford V-8 into an obscure British sports car, the A.C. Ace.
Shelby consulted for Dodge on the Viper, which followed the same formula as the Cobra by stressing performance over accoutrements.
"The Cobra was the sire for the Viper, and the original mission is still viable for the new car," Helbig said, "but we've raised the bar for performance."
In addition to more horsepower, other items requested by owners and found on the 2003 model include tighter-sealing side windows, a "dead pedal" that gives the driver a place to rest his left foot and a manual convertible top the driver can open with one hand. The new top replaces a removable soft top owners called a "toupee" and cursed because it was difficult to fold properly.
Despite such changes to make the Viper more livable, Helbig refuses to describe the 2003 as "more refined" or "sophisticated."
"We don't want people to say you've made a Corvette out of it," he said. "We like to say we've allowed the car to grow up."
The Viper Club of America, which despite its name has chapters in Japan and Europe, has 4,900 members, a high number considering only 15,000 Vipers have been built. Several members, including Ferguson, regularly talk with Dodge and Chrysler Group executives by phone and e-mail and rub elbows at club events, where they recommend changes.
Ferguson, who owns a 1993 Viper and has ordered a 2003, says the open communication between owners and Dodge is one reason the Viper has such a loyal following.
In an arrangement with Dodge engineered by the club, current owners got first crack at 2003 models, and they snapped up the 1,500-unit production run in less than two weeks.
"No other club in the world has a nonofficial but direct working relationship with the corporation," he said. "We have direct access to their executives on a regular basis, and this is not a quiet group."
Ferguson is an account executive for an Elk Grove Village, Ill., insurance underwriter. The company's owner also has a Viper. His office is painted Viper red and the walls are covered by photos and paintings of the car. His home office is decorated with the same red paint used on the cars; a white racing stripe runs across the ceiling.
His lust for the Viper began in December 1988, a month before Dodge showed a prototype at the Detroit Auto Show.
"I called a dealer and said there is a buzz around that Dodge would be showing a modernized version of the Cobra. I said, 'If they build this car, I want one.'
"The Cobra is the pinnacle of performance, brute performance. The Viper was like a Cobra being built for me. It was modernized and a little more practical, but it still had untouchable performance."
D
