Gallardo.....Scuderia.......Gen V Viper

[Mopar488]

For some reason, I could not see myself in a Ferrari, but could in a Lambo. Kind of the same way, I would not have a Mercedes, but I have had a BMW and would not mind having another one. Different strokes, different folks. I will not make a choice over the current Viper I have, but if I was not a Viper owner and was looking for a reasonably priced car under $200k, it would be a 2012 black Lambo Gallardo 550-2 that I just saw on AT.

 

[ViperSmith]

ViperSmith,

Great comment and thanks for correcting me, since I was ineffectual in clarifying that stereotyping any driver of a certain vehicle gets one in a bind. What one thinks is a specific Ferrari owner or Viper owner or Corvette owner , is usually their biases and heck how can anyone really define what one buyer of a vehicle is like -- they can't .

Needless to say , the statement I should have used was since we have had Viper owners buy Ferraris and Ferrari owners buy Vipers , what is a Viper buyer or Ferrari buyer actually like?

Just curiosity more than anything.

You could say that Ferrari and Lamborginis, you are paying the price for exclusivity. But (from what I can gather) around 1300 458s and around 1500 Gallardos are produced a year. Same as Viper will be putting out (1500-2000?).

Granted, the customization of the F and L are well beyond what SRT offers.

They are beautiful cars, I want them all

 

[Poor Richard]

Buy the Viper......if you don't like it, trade it in for the Gallardo.

 

[Poor Richard]

What is the "stereotype" for a Viper owner? I mean, we all know the Vet stereotype of being 40 and/or having a mullet - but where does the Viper owner fall in a classification?

Whats a mullet?

 

[ViperSmith]

Whats a mullet?

Business in the front, party in the rear!

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[SilveRT8]

What is the "stereotype" for a Viper owner? I mean, we all know the Vet stereotype of being 40 and/or having a mullet - but where does the Viper owner fall in a classification?

Viper owners have overcome the Vette stage !
So, add another 10 years and a bigger mullet !
No, No that does not sound too good
LOL

 

[Policy Limits]

never owned a ferrari but after 3.5 of ownership on the lamborghini i can tell u that its not the high maintenence you'd expect. and my hummer was in the shop way more. costs about a grand a year to properly maintain. considering the gen V; this car is outstanding and i love it in every way: performance, styling and well guess i'll hafta take the word of the reviews on comfort until i get the chance to sit in one. but the speed of the aventador at 30% of the cost will catch your eye at any budget level. i have the ability to spend more and get the mclaren, but honestly, I like the viper better. i like the scud better than the 458 styling-wise. really looking forward to the gallardo successor but figure it'll be about 2 years until its available in spyder form. considering the snake as a very cool gap car.

 

[ACRucrazy]

It depends. Is the price the same in the 100k ballpark or the price the same in the 200k ballpark?

@100k I'd take the Viper. @200k I would look elsewhere.

Part of the Viper appeal to me is it's an American made working mans Supercar. It's been a dream of mine since I was 12. To say I have one in the garage puts a smile on my face. It's affordable to insure, affordable to maintain yet demands respect and gets looks everywhere. Relatively affordable to repair and modify compared to the Scud or G.

Now to say, you just won a free car of your choice, the Viper would be and has been the first car to come to mind for the last 20 years.

I am not interested in spending 200k on a "Dodge" nor a SRT or even a Viper.

 

[VIPER GTSR 91]

If all 3 were in the same price range, would you still take the Viper?


Brutal honesty......

Same price, Gallardo by far. No brainer there. Hand assembly in a Lambo has a whole different definition plus looks.

 

[Bobpantax]

You better keep it on the road. With a carbon fiber and aircraft aluminum body, any uninsured ( Think track day) adverse driving events are going to be a big ouch.

Agree, good point, but having chatted extensively with some of the SRT Engineers, do not expect European Exotic maintenance --- still we be a bundle less to keep it on the road!

 

[Bobpantax]

Please clarify the question. Are all three cars the price of the Viper or is the Viper the price of the other two?

 

[MTGTS]

I'm taking the Scud

 

[Rizzo]

Id take the Gallardo but it would have to be a 6 sp. the egear ***** and is boring. The maintenance on the new ones is way better than the older ones. They are a fun car to drive. Oh ya. Id get rid of the awd too.

 

[PDCjonny]

Id take the Gallardo but it would have to be a 6 sp. the egear ***** and is boring.

Never really understood this line of thinking. I like the e-gear. In sport/corsa mode you completely control when you upshift, when you downshift.
The only difference is you're not moving your right hand and left foot. But you are in control of the car. It's faster and never misses.
Just like it took Dodge 20 years to finally put a decent interior in a Viper they're are equally behind the curve on the tranny.

A 135K Viper isn't targeted at the "gotta have a manual" caveman crowd.
You'll see paddle shifters in the Gen 5 before it's run ends.

 

[mnc2886]

Never really understood this line of thinking. I like the e-gear. In sport/corsa mode you completely control when you upshift, when you downshift.
The only difference is you're not moving your right hand and left foot. But you are in control of the car. It's faster and never misses.
Just like it took Dodge 20 years to finally put a decent interior in a Viper they're are equally behind the curve on the tranny.

A 135K Viper isn't targeted at the "gotta have a manual" caveman crowd.
You'll see paddle shifters in the Gen 5 before it's run ends.

You're right. Ralph already said it will happen, but I still would prefer a true manual. I'm sure the ACR will get it, but I hope it is an option and a true manual will always be available no matter what. It is hard to argue with the performance of an automated manual, but we do have the ring record without it. However, the ring record is about to be taken down IMO. The new Porsche ran a 7:14 and they aren't finished developing it, the new McClaren P1 is sure to be even faster than the Porsche, and the F70 I'm sure is being designed well enough to take it down. If Viper wants to have the record stay in its court, it will need to have more power, weigh a little less, and have an automated manual. The times will be so close that you'll need those perfect shifts.

 

[Kratos]

Sorry I didn't clarify the question a little more.......All 3 vehicles are the same price.....100K.

I love the variety in the answers. This thread is turning out better than I thought.....

 

[emericr]

Bloody hell, it must be Xmas. I agree with ViperJon

Never really understood this line of thinking. I like the e-gear. In sport/corsa mode you completely control when you upshift, when you downshift.
The only difference is you're not moving your right hand and left foot. But you are in control of the car. It's faster and never misses.
Just like it took Dodge 20 years to finally put a decent interior in a Viper they're are equally behind the curve on the tranny.

A 135K Viper isn't targeted at the "gotta have a manual" caveman crowd.
You'll see paddle shifters in the Gen 5 before it's run ends.

 

[PDCjonny]

Bloody hell, it must be Xmas. I agree with ViperJon

All is forgiven!

 

[ViperSmith]

Never really understood this line of thinking. I like the e-gear. In sport/corsa mode you completely control when you upshift, when you downshift.
The only difference is you're not moving your right hand and left foot. But you are in control of the car. It's faster and never misses.
Just like it took Dodge 20 years to finally put a decent interior in a Viper they're are equally behind the curve on the tranny.

A 135K Viper isn't targeted at the "gotta have a manual" caveman crowd.
You'll see paddle shifters in the Gen 5 before it's run ends.

I don't understand why people are so against it. Sure, I like driving stick. But, progress is progress. You can still have a raw sports car without a stick.

While I want a Gen V because it IS a manual, I'd have no issue taking one with paddles.

 

[Bobpantax]

All three are good looking cars. Whichever one is the most durable, reliable, handles the best and is the fastest is the one I would choose. Since I do not have accurate comparative data to determine same, it remains to be seen which one I would choose.

 

[PDCjonny]

I don't understand why people are so against it. Sure, I like driving stick. But, progress is progress. You can still have a raw sports car without a stick.

While I want a Gen V because it IS a manual, I'd have no issue taking one with paddles.

Would be very interesting to see (given the option) what would win out, manual or paddle shifters.
This isn't your daddy's Viper anymore.

 

[emericr]

I stated most of them do not cross shop. Let me clarify. For the people who buy a new Ferrari, they do not cross shop with a Viper. They can afford it but when you spend $250K, you cross shop it with a Lambo, Mc Laren, Aston, Bentley, Maserati and maybe AMG black series. Most likely, those people take the Ferrari out to their club and the car will never see a track as it is a "status" purchase. They obviously can afford a Viper but it will take a special enthusiast to buy it and they will buy the Viper for a different purpose.
Now that the OP has clarified his question and for the people that would have a budget of $100K for a toy, then those people could cross shop the Viper. I would probably buy a Scuderia as for that price, the early Gallardos had mechanical issues and were "slow". I am not sure if the OP meant that if the Gen V would be $100K (i know the base is 100K but when you add options, it will at least be $110k and the gen V I would want is more like $140K), then I would take the GTS Viper.

Would have to politely disagree that Viper and Ferrari owners don't cross shop. We often make generalizations on things from folks we may know in one part of the Country , but often they do not hold true in another. Ferrari and Viper had a very strong mutual respect for a long time , as there was an annual race held at Gingerman Raceway ( Michigan ) - Ferrari and Viper Wars. May have the name slightly off but it went on for 5-6 years and was never won by Ferrari. The fact that Ferrari saw the Viper as a worthy adversary , though, says it all when it comes to respect.

Have had Viper owners buy Ferraris, and have had Ferrari owners buy Vipers, but what I think was meant to be said is there is a stereotypical buyer for each brand. I do believe the guy that buys both is a Motorhead and maybe that makes him unique in a different subset, but feel a blanket statement saying essentially they would never cross buy seems a little naive ---- since one of the guys on this Forum actually goes by FerraritoViper.

Respectfully,

Bill Pemberton

 

[Kratos]

I was wondering if anyone would approach this topic from the mechanical side of it. For example, don't Lambos have to replace their clutch after 15,000 miles or so? (I don't know the average, just throwing a number out there). Contrasting that, does the Viper have any mechanical parts needing replaced at a mileage point, or can it go 100K miles with just oil and fluid servicing. If so, the viper wins in this category.

 

[emericr]

X3. I would take a paddle shifter DCT any day. I have driven the 458 and the SLS and both boxes are as satisfying as a manual gearbox and it allows me to focus more on having the perfect line on a track. The DCT on the TT is phenomenal as well and coming on the new R8.

Would be very interesting to see (given the option) what would win out, manual or paddle shifters.
This isn't your daddy's Viper anymore.

 

[PDCjonny]

I was wondering if anyone would approach this topic from the mechanical side of it. For example, don't Lambos have to replace their clutch after 15,000 miles or so? (I don't know the average, just throwing a number out there). Contrasting that, does the Viper have any mechanical parts needing replaced at a mileage point, or can it go 100K miles with just oil and fluid servicing. If so, the viper wins in this category.

The first year 04 Gallardo's had weak clutches, many were replaced under warranty and many failed in less than 5K miles.
That was rectified in the '05's and beyond with physical and software updates.
The Gallardo's from 2005-2008 (pre LP) have decent clutches under normal driving conditions many have seen 25k+ or more miles.
Which is a lifetime on a car driven on weekends.

The 2009 and up have greatly improved egear clutches and they are not even an issue.
It's completely dependant on how they are driven. Stop and go traffic or hard launches will effect longevity.
My 2008 had 4K miles on it when purchased and showed 95% clutch life left.

My first Viper was a 1998 GTS I bought with 9K miles on it. It needed a new clutch at 10K miles on it.
Previous owner trashed it, along with the tranny which I also had to have rebuilt. Chuck Tator did the work.
So it all depends on how the are driven.

 

[emericr]

You can easily burn a clutch with a manual box. Mine went out after 30,000 miles on my RS4.
The maintenance will be more on the Italian cars but it is a risk I would be willing to take if my budget was 100K on a toy. At that level, I could afford the repairs on the toy and I would rather own the Ferrari.
A quick search on the internet shows that I would not be able to get a Scuderia for 100K, more like a high mileage F430 or a 10 year old F360. I will change my response then that I would rather buy a base new Viper than an 80K mile F430 lol.
If the price would go up to $150K, then the choice becomes very difficult and my answer would probably change on the mood I am in lol.

I was wondering if anyone would approach this topic from the mechanical side of it. For example, don't Lambos have to replace their clutch after 15,000 miles or so? (I don't know the average, just throwing a number out there). Contrasting that, does the Viper have any mechanical parts needing replaced at a mileage point, or can it go 100K miles with just oil and fluid servicing. If so, the viper wins in this category.

 

[PDCjonny]

I'm pretty sure the OP's original question was:
If a NEW Lambo, NEW Ferrari or NEW Viper were all 100K, which would you choose.
All NEW cars, not what 100K would buy in the real world.
I could be wrong.

 

[Viper #53]

Good point. You can buy a 2009 Gallardo with less than 8,000 miles, cheaper than a new SRT GTS. I'm one of those guys that own both the Viper (owner for 18 years now) and European sports cars (mostly Lamborghini and Aston Martin.)

The Gallardo is a good car and sounds amazing. Service costs for European cars are expensive but they don't need the maintenance that the 1980s and 1990s car required. My Gen 1 and Gen 2 cars have only needed clutch and brake service over the years. I typically set aside about $3K for yearly serice (each) on my European cars.

 

[PDCjonny]

You can buy a 2009 Gallardo with less than 8,000 miles, cheaper than a new SRT GTS.

Link to one please. I've never seen a sub 8K mileage LP560 in the 140-145K price range.
I see 155-160K and up.

 

[Kratos]

I'm pretty sure the OP's original question was:
If a NEW Lambo, NEW Ferrari or NEW Viper were all 100K, which would you choose.
All NEW cars, not what 100K would buy in the real world.
I could be wrong.

You are correct. That's exactly what I meant.