Well, just got back on Tuesday night from a 13 hour run from San Franciso to Chandler, AZ in the new (to me) Viper. Some impressions;
1. Ditched the Michelins right away do to excessive sidewall cracking. Looked like I was gonna throw tread. Installed BFG KDW NT's, and really enjoyed the ride. I heard complaints about noise, but they seemed fine to me. No quieter or louder than the Michelins they replaced, or any other tire I run. $1300 for all four (stock sizes) from Discount Tire.
2. I also didn't find the rear springs disagreable. From the FFR Cobra, I'm used to firm springs (2200 lb car with 800 lb rear springs), so I may be biased or just used to a very firm ride. I'm gonna run it for a while more before I make any suspension changes.
3. Freaking car ran like stink! The only hiccup during the whole trip was about 5 seconds of slight hesitation while cruising @ 80 mph. I wrote it off to a bit of bad gas, injector hiccup, who knows. Happened about 10 hours into the trip, and never happened again. The car ran @ 185-190 on the open road, and never got above @ 210, even in an hour of Los Angeles rush hour crap! Ambient temps were @ 80.
4. The motor sounds like a damn truck in 6th gear at 75-85 mph, but I was averaging @ 19-22 mpg.
5. I thought the stereo and A/C were very adequate. We'll see how I feel in July/August in Arizona.
6. This car has more personality in it's clam shell hood than my Z06 had bumper to bumper.
7. I can't wait to get in it tomorrow!