Guys with RT10 Vipers

[Tiepilot]

I love my RT, the top comes off very easily and quickly. I don't ever worry about the rain and as a matter of fact I haven't had the roof on the car since I brought it home.

You either like no top or you dont, I have had several ragtops and either you like convertable experiance or you don't. I don't race so I don't care about coupe vs rt top speed. I love the GTS cars and will have one beside my RT one day but you'll not see me w/o a car that can go *******. I also love motorcycles and have ridden in all kinds of weather so I guess thats why I like convertables.

I feel like I'm on vacation when I drive my RT, no windows, no top, no back glass, especially on a warm southern night looking up at the stars.

 

[CitySnake]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joseph Dell:
4 - The soft top may not "****", but I wouldn't want to put it on and off while i left my car at the office. Partsrack _does_ sell a tonau (sp??) cover for the RT/10 that would be fitting for you. That is cake to get on and off. If I were going to do as you described, I'd buy that cover.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mystic:

JD is correct. Get the "bikini" fabric top (Mopar used to make one but I believe their production was stopped). It fits (stuffs) in its own bag (size of a shoe box) and you lay it over the entire open cockpit area - begins in front of and over the windshield and "locks" into the leading edge of the trunk. It has side mirror pockets and velcro tabs that hold it forward and down. Probably takes 15 seconds to take off and 30 seconds to put on. The soft top takes a bit of getting used to, but after some practice it becomes a only minor and brief inconvenience. In the cold season the hard top turns the car into a coupe. I actually enjoy the change (but with the hard top I'm MUCH more prone to go just a bit more beyond the local limit

).

As for the RT/10 V. GTS...both are great but appeal to different drivers. Each is quite happy!

 

[Joseph Dell]

Since we are taling about comparisons, here are a GTS and an RT/10 side by side:

 

[Rich01RT10]

<FONT size="5">NO REGRETS!!</FONT s> There's NOTHING like a nice evening cruise with the top off.
Quoted from Tiepilot: "I love the GTS cars and will have one beside my RT one day"
YUP!! but my first choice will always be the RT (except when it rains...)
Hope this helps -

 

[mystic]

Hello guys

Do you regret getting a rt10? How hard is it to take off the top? With the convertible tops, how hard is to take it off? I've also heard there is no place to store the top, is that correct? I for one like to let my hair blow in the wind, so id opt to have the top off on my way to work, put it on while it sits at work and then take it off when I am leaving, this possible?

Thanks

Dave

 

[snowmann]

Here are the answers to your questions from a RT/10 owner...

1) Do you regret getting an rt10? Hmmm... I wouldn't say regret, but I want to get a GTS with some mods instead of my RT/10, - I very much enjoy my RT10.

2)How hard is it to take off the top? If you have a hard top (you really need a hard top, the "free" soft top that comes with the car is absolute trash), I would say it is a pain to take off. This is not something you would do on a daily basis. You take the top off every year, that's it.

3)I've also heard there is no place to store the top, is that correct? I have heard the soft top can be stored in the trunk (barley fits). Hard top - no way.

4)I for one like to let my hair blow in the wind, so id opt to have the top off on my way to work, put it on while it sits at work and then take it off when I am leaving, this possible? It would be a pain if you ask me, also you would need to to take the windows in and out too (depends on the year). My suggestion for you is to get the SRT. MUCH, MUCH, easier.

 

[Joseph Dell]

1 - Hell no! I love my RT. I wish I could have the RT for the perfect days, and the GTS for all the others.

2 - The hard top comes on and off all the time for me. In GA, I drive the car almost every day... a string of good days keeps the top off, and a string of bad ones puts the top back on and might even put me in my "other" car (jeep wrangler, ******).

As for the soft top, I keep it either in the trunk or at the office (have covered parking deck at work). I do use the soft top when it looks great in the morning but weather turns in the afternoon. It doesn't **** as much as people say it does, though it isn't like pressing a button and the top goes up.

I take the hard top on and off myself (I am 6", 180) though a second set of hands would make it easier.

3 - The soft top stores in the trunk, while the hard top stores on my wall in the garage.

4 - The soft top may not "****", but I wouldn't want to put it on and off while i left my car at the office. Partsrack _does_ sell a tonau (sp??) cover for the RT/10 that would be fitting for you. That is cake to get on and off. If I were going to do as you described, I'd buy that cover.

I don't regret my decision to get an RT/10 at all. If I could have 2, I'd have one of each!

JD

 

[mystic]

Thanks for the replies. Besides the looks, is there really any difference between a Rt10 and a GTS when looking at newer yrs 96+? What are your dislikes about the rt10?


Thanks
Dave

 

[jimandela]

Love mine! it is the best of both worlds!
want it GTS like throw on the hardtop want a true summer car
go *******!!!

JIM

 

[racetech]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mystic:
Hello guys

Do you regret getting a rt10?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not at all. The car is impractical to the extreme, making it a kind of art form in itself...like a Harley. So my thought process was--why start making it more practical with a hard top? There is nothing like it on a cool evening tooling around & sightseeing. This is no knock at all against those with the GTS. They get to enjoy other things, like the classic styling and improved aero. I think the main thing is to revel in the attributes of the one you choose. The only bad choice is something other than a Viper.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mystic:
How hard is it to take off the top? With the convertible tops, how hard is to take it off?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't think it's hard at all. There are ways to make it a one-person job, but use a helper any time you can. The top isn't all that bad, and at least it doesn't creak like a lot of the hardtop add-ons do.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
I've also heard there is no place to store the top, is that correct? I for one like to let my hair blow in the wind, so id opt to have the top off on my way to work, put it on while it sits at work and then take it off when I am leaving, this possible?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The convertible top collapses and can be slipped into a carrying bag that comes with the car. It fits--barely--into the trunk. Just slide the left end in first to the deepest part of the left well, then the right end will go in. Again, get help if you can when installing or removing the top or you risk putting a scratch in the paintwork.

Hope that helps!

 

[mystic]

The softtop, does it leak? I'd love to drive the car ******* all that I could and only put the soft top on when I go inside or if it looks like its going to rain. Say it is a really hot day, with the softtop on, will the inside of the car be unbearablly hot even if the A/C is full blast?

 

[RedEnuf93]

<FONT COLOR="Red">W H A T T O P ? ? ? ? ?</FONT c>

Lauri

Absolutely no regrets, just came back from a 20 mile ride looking at sunset....

 

[Roland L-Ocala FL]

Regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention. (There goes the Chairman of the board in me!) No, no regrets with the RT/10, it is great! I love driving it with the top off, and the wife is getting more used to it now, and she loves it too! We have had an unusually warm summer so far here in West Michigan, and the top has been off the car more than it has been on. There is nothing like blasting down a country road with the open feeling you get in the RT/10, (the radio isn't worth a darn though, you can't hear it with the top off.) You get such an open and free feeling, and the sensation of speed is amplified, I think. I will have to put the top on Friday though, I'm going to a Viper driving school at the Gingerman race track on Friday, should be fun! Then it's off to watch the Viper War on Saturday and Sunday at the Gingerman, again , two fun days to watch those guys run the heck out of their Vipers.

 

[Gerald]

Hi! I used to have an RT... In Florida it kind of becomes a pain. If you're thinking it MIGHT be a pain, it WILL be a pain. YOu'll always have to wonder about the afternoon thunder showers, etc. Whether you should put your hardtop on or risk driving without it and if you get stuck in weather (which will happen weekly) it's embarrassing driving while it's raining.

It's so humid and hot here in FL , the RT A/C works very hard as with some hardtops, it's not very tight..

It WILL leak like a old bucket in the 5:00 o'clock can't see your hand in front of your face rains....

Not Knocking, but it looks like you have a choice in front of you and your worried about what will happen. RT's look NICE though..

If you can brave it, I say go for it. I sold my RT and opted for a hardtop.. Miss the open air feeling sometimes.....nah, not really

Good Luck

Gerald

 

[mystic]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gerald:
Hi! I used to have an RT... In Florida it kind of becomes a pain. If you're thinking it MIGHT be a pain, it WILL be a pain. YOu'll always have to wonder about the afternoon thunder showers, etc. Whether you should put your hardtop on or risk driving without it and if you get stuck in weather (which will happen weekly) it's embarrassing driving while it's raining.

It's so humid and hot here in FL , the RT A/C works very hard as with some hardtops, it's not very tight..

It WILL leak like a old bucket in the 5:00 o'clock can't see your hand in front of your face rains....

Not Knocking, but it looks like you have a choice in front of you and your worried about what will happen. RT's look NICE though..

If you can brave it, I say go for it. I sold my RT and opted for a hardtop.. Miss the open air feeling sometimes.....nah, not really

Good Luck

Gerald

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Exactly, I'm in Florida aswell and those mid-day rains are a pain sometimes. I'd be worried about it raining everyday I drove the car. Oddly enough it will just rain out of no where and I'm bound to have the top off on one of those days.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gerald:
If you're thinking it MIGHT be a pain, it WILL be a pain.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Gerald is probably right, but in my case I have no regrets. The RT/10 is perfect. I just came back from a 5 day 3,500 mile trip in my RT/10. Loved every mile of it. And for those who think the RT/10 can't hang with the GTS at top speed...guess again. 175mph + with the soft top.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

The soft top is a trick. But the more you use it, the better you get at it. It fits well in the trunk once you get the hang of it.

If there is anything I don't like about the RT/10 it's the look with the soft top. But going ******* makes it all worth while.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Oh and my soft top leaks a lot, my hard top leaks a little. 450 hp makes me forget all about it.

 

[Snakester]

I would not have bought a Viper if the roadster version wasn't available. I didn't buy the ZR1 or Z06 Corvette because they are only available in non-convertible form.

I have the factory soft top, and the tonneau, but I haven't used them yet. I put the hard top maybe once a week. It's a balancing act to get it on and off myself, but it's not bad once I got used to it, and when I can get my wife to help it's a piece of cake.

But I take my car to work every day, and I just cover it at work with a regular car cover. It keeps of all of the dust that would collect on the paint otherwise, keeps the car relatively cool and hides the car from prying eyes. And if it rained then it would keep it dry too, but it's not going to rain again for several months yet.

-Dean.

 

[Andrew2KRT10]

First off Dave.....watch out with the "hair blowing in the wind" stuff. Sounds a little ...........

No, no regrets. I hardly ever use the top anyway. The soft top stays in the garage all assmebled and it goes on only when I have to go out and think that it may rain or if I have to stay over night somwhere. It does fit in the trunk. I never go out when it is raining. If I have a long trip, the hard top goes on anyway. Otherwise, I always keep the material....fold-up top in the trunk. It velcros on in seconds and is perfect if I have to leave the car for a while and don't want to deal with Bird-sh*t or maybe a drizzle or something. If it's raining, screw it, I use my truck to go where I have to go....not a big deal.

AC

 

[Kurt 97 GTS]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gerald:
Hi! I used to have an RT... In Florida it kind of becomes a pain. If you're thinking it MIGHT be a pain, it WILL be a pain. YOu'll always have to wonder about the afternoon thunder showers, etc. Whether you should put your hardtop on or risk driving without it and if you get stuck in weather (which will happen weekly) it's embarrassing driving while it's raining.

It's so humid and hot here in FL , the RT A/C works very hard as with some hardtops, it's not very tight..

It WILL leak like a old bucket in the 5:00 o'clock can't see your hand in front of your face rains....

Not Knocking, but it looks like you have a choice in front of you and your worried about what will happen. RT's look NICE though..

If you can brave it, I say go for it. I sold my RT and opted for a hardtop.. Miss the open air feeling sometimes.....nah, not really

Good Luck

Gerald

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree completely!!