How driveable is your supercharged Viper?

[Nuck]

How loud are your cars? Can you still move through normal traffic comfortably or does your car lunge and surge because of all that juice. Can you still take the car on any kind of a road trip?
A 600+hp car seems like it would be a bear to drive but there are almost no other cars that start off with 450hp so really that is only a 33% increase. If I compare that to a s/c LT1 Vette that goes from 300hp to 425hp does that make any sense? Over a 1/3 increase in hp and very driveable but the small displacement mouse motor has to pull even more boost to make 425hp than a 650hp GTS.
Most people have no interest in these cars as a daily driver but how often, racing aside, can you use it? Is this still a car you can drive to work once in a while or is the driving experience now a little too intense? Does the noise mean that she is a short haul ride only?
How does your Viper compare to the car it was before the blower?

 

[GTS1998]

My Roe Supercharged GTS is as smooth as stock in traffic. It drives like it has 200 cubic inches of motor. I drive it every other weekend. Very smooth and drivable.

 

[Mr Hemi Head]

The only problem is controlling the urge to mash the pedal.LOL

 

[vviperr]

I drive my Roe supercharged ACR almost every weekend - dynos at 600+hp. Car drives very smooth. Borla exhaust is quite loud, but thats the way I like it. Love to come around a 65mph driver in the passing lane and floor it. Scares the hell out of those idiots. Did it last year on the way to Cars for the Cure when someone kept blocking me driving 60mph in the passing lane on I4, and was told I could be hard 100 yeards back with the windows closed.

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

I don't....but I could drive it every day. Controlling the urge to mash is very hard! As stated in another thread, my car has nothing but Roe HiFlo cats....it can be very loud.

 

[1TONY1]

With the correct mufflers they don't have to be loud.
Short Story: 2003 Viper V10 nationals in Bradenton Florida. Sunday I run a 9.85 with the s/c and nitrous, low tens without nitrous. We load the car in the trailer and head home. About 2am in the morning the tow truck engine takes a crap in north Florida. No big deal, we roll the Viper out...do a nascar pit stop and bolt the street rubber back on and head to the house another 300 miles. I didn't even think about it....I had been driving the Viper 4 out of 5 work days anyway. Good luck to you.

 

[Bobpantax]

You can adjust the sound to your taste by adjusting the various components of your exhaust system. Per Sean's website, high flow cats are recommended.Your car, regardless of what you do will likely be louder with the supercharger than without it. More air usually means more noise - at least outside the car. As to driveability, after about the first mile, the warm up period, which can sometimes be a little finicky - nothing serious, everything is normal. One more thing. The sound of the supercharger, under certain conditions, is a gearhead symphony to which you always have a front row seat. Enjoy.

 

[JohnnyBravo]

I have the Roe blower on my car, as well. Until you put your foot to the floor, you'd never know it was there. I have the big TNT 1 3/4 headers, 1.7 rockers and a custom exhaust built to my specs with mufflers and resonators which I picked. I "allegedly" don't have cats on the car, but it's still relatively quiet.

The car dyno'd 610/665 on pump gas and there is nothing that would give that away from the sound or partial throttle driving. I drive that thing every chance I get. I'm going to put a boatload of miles on this bad boy. It's WAY too much fun to leave sitting in a garage under a cover. I wouldn't hesitate to drive it across country.

The blower was one of the best purchases I've ever made. As long as you have a good tune on the car, it drives just like stock until WOT. I had Joe Donovan at Performance by Joe in St. Louis tune it and couldn't be happier.

 

[Schulmann]

Mr Bobpantax, I am happy to see that your Viper is running better. At least it sounds like.

Nuck, here is a part of the PM that I sent you.
Others will be able to comment it ...


7.5psi boost is a lot on a newer Viper. All vipers from 2000 use cast pistons. This is real problem to boost these engines over 5-7psi. Best Viper to boost are 96, 97,98,99. Then you have the 01 and 02 which have ABS but they have cast pistons. It is not so difficult to replace those pistons.

600rwhp+ on a 01 Viper is really on the edge. But if the guy is talking about 600 at the engin that’s a different story. It means that at the wheels the Viper has around 530rwhp which is acceptable.

The best Vipers are those with a Roe Supercharger. www.roeracing.com Sean Roe is one of the most honest man on earth.

Reliablitity ? Have always some money in your pocket to fix a couple of things. As all cars Vipers too need maintenance. Especially with 600hp. More HP means more maintenance. There is no way to get around. Mine has 700hp and cost me around 6000$ a year. Those with 450hp cost around 2000$ a year in maintenance.

But beyond 600hp everything is a challenge. Vipers are very reliable because of the engine’s size. They don’t rev very high. There is o ignition issue. The only real trouble with vipers is that they don’t have knock sensors. So you will have to run your Viper at least on a 91 oct fuel.

Noise issue? It’s music. More it makes noise more we love it ! If you became a real Viper guy, you will have straight pipes from the engine to the rear … You will upgrade your stereo and you will run with ear plugs. It is fantastic. It’s like being at the command of an F18 plane.

Short distance driving ? As long as you can pay the fuel there is no issue. Last year I drove over 15000mi and I bought two boxes of ear plugs. I have an ACR it doesn’t have A/C and I have been all around the States with.

How drivable is my Viper in traffic? Like my Mercedes. But it will take about 1-2 months and 2000-3000mi before you can safely drive. Viper is like a NASCAR on street, it is only for fanatics. This is why all journalists complain about the Viper. You can’t just sit in and enjoy it. It takes a lot of time to master the beast. I have seen guys selling their viper after a week and I know guys who own several ones.

Corvette is a great sport car however the Viper is street legal race car. I hope you understand this difference.

Pavement troubles ? Be careful and everything will be fine. You will have to slalom between the wholes. The Michelin Pilot Sport are great all weather tires.

Don’t forget to join the VCA. It is a great club where you can meet other Viper owners. But I don’t know if there is a club in Alberta. You can still open it …

Hope to see you in VCA, A.

 

[jdoc7]

Reliablitity ? Have always some money in your pocket to fix a couple of things. As all cars Vipers too need maintenance. Especially with 600hp. More HP means more maintenance. There is no way to get around. Mine has 700hp and cost me around 6000$ a year. Those with 450hp cost around 2000$ a year in maintenance

Please enlighten me as to why a 700hp car costs $4000 more per year in maintenance compared to a 450hp car? Assuming you drive both exactly the same. Where are your 'extra' maintenance costs? Not trying to be a pain, just trying to understand the logic.

 

[viprvenm]

See the sig...

I asked Sean to tune my car for everyday driveablity because I do not race the car. I also do not drive it daily by any means however one of us in this thread knows very well I do drive it to work occasionally

It has been said that as long as you don't lay into the throttle.... it is a pleasure to drive around town as is any manual tran car. I love driving my Viper no matter what!

Jason

 

[Schulmann]

Please enlighten me as to why a 700hp car costs $4000 more per year in maintenance compared to a 450hp car? Assuming you drive both exactly the same. Where are your 'extra' maintenance costs? Not trying to be a pain, just trying to understand the logic.

Breaks, tires, maintenance frequency, some extra and body work (bugs hit the bumperstronger at 200mph). But if you drive your Viper as your Dodge Ram it will not cost you much. Look if somebody installs a SC I don't think that guy will drive his viper as a Toyota Echo.

 

[jdoc7]

Breaks, tires, maintenance frequency, some extra and body work (bugs hit the bumperstronger at 200mph). But if you drive your Viper as your Dodge Ram it will not cost you much. Look if somebody installs a SC I don't think that guy will drive his viper as a Toyota Echo.

Ok, this thread specifically asked what is the driveability of a S/C'd Viper on a day-day basis and the poster even said "Racing Aside", meaning, he will not likely be racing his Viper. So, to say that brakes and tires wear out faster on a street driven supercharged Viper to the tune of $4000 dollars more per year is simply unbelievable to me. Bodywork? 200mph? If that's happening on a regular basis to cause premature wear then you should be out on a road course, not the streets. Thirdly, what Viper owner, supercharged or not, drives their Viper like a Toyota Echo? It sounds like you do a lot of racing, as you allude to this fact in other posts. Sure, road-racing any vehicle is gonna cause lots of wear and tear and increase maintenance costs. I think you are missing the posters point here.

 

[Marc Lublin]

Very!

 

[Gerald]

100% driveable.
800+RWHP and I don't think I've spent over $8.00 in two years. (my upper radiator hose split the other day, bought a 6" radiator hose to fix it)

Get it done right by a professional and you'll have a great install/package !

 

[Schulmann]

jdoc7 you are right that Nuck didn't ask these questions but he asked me through an email.

Gerald is an other good exemple. He pretends that he only spent $8 on his Viper in two years. Does this mean he uses Walmart oil and Walmart filters ?! I don't think. They cost more expensive.

I wouldn't buy a Viper whose owner can't show me the maintenance bills.

My Viper costs me around 40c per mile in maintenance and hopefully it will last very long.

 

[GR8_ASP]

jdoc7 you are right that Nuck didn't ask these questions but he asked me through an email.

Gerald is an other good exemple. He pretends that he only spent $8 on his Viper in two years. Does this mean he uses Walmart oil and Walmart filters ?! I don't think. They cost more expensive.

I wouldn't buy a Viper whose owner can't show me the maintenance bills.

My Viper costs me around 40c per mile in maintenance and hopefully it will last very long.

Wow! $400 in maintenance for every 1000 miles. That is nuts. For an average year that would be $1600 in maintenance for me. An oil change is about $50 in material. Coolant, trans and diff lube every 2 to 3 years adds maybe $50 per year on average. Brakes and tires should last about 15,000 miles (call it 4 years assuming only occasional track use) for a generous $400 per year. All total I can only come up with about $550 per year for about 3500 to 4000 miles.

 

[jdoc7]

Wow! $400 in maintenance for every 1000 miles. That is nuts. For an average year that would be $1600 in maintenance for me. An oil change is about $50 in material. Coolant, trans and diff lube every 2 to 3 years adds maybe $50 per year on average. Brakes and tires should last about 15,000 miles (call it 4 years assuming only occasional track use) for a generous $400 per year. All total I can only come up with about $550 per year for about 3500 to 4000 miles

This sounds more reasonable. Which leads me to believe that someone here with a 700hp Viper and spending $6000 in maintenance per year, must be driving the Hell out of his car and breaking things. Or, he's a lot more anal than most and changes/replaces parts even if they don't need to be replaced.

 

[Qualitywires.com]

My system (Novi 2000) I built drove fine. Stumbled a little when it's cold out when I first start it up due to cold plugs..but when it warms up...it's fine. My car sounded like a ********** banshee when she was a live. DLM's systems also sound very good if you get to hear one in person. I personally like the way the blower cars sound..I had a deep throaty sound and also a PSSSSHHHH! sound! Turns heads everywhere and made grins.

 

[IEATVETS]

Holy shiite Batman, thats a lot of money to drive a S/C Viper! I may be rethinking this whole blower thing.

 

[BLWNV10]

Roe SC is no trouble to drive at anytime. Low torque curve and smooth power. You are only in the big HP when you are pressing really ******* the gas pedal. If you are not in boost then your 600hp potential car is actually at lower HP than stock because of the load the SC puts on it. Belts on the Roe last a long time and only take a couple of minutes to change becaue of the spring loaded tensioner/idle pulley. There is the SC whine, which is actually nice. I turn down my radio just to listen to it.
Once you have gone to more HP you will never go back.
BLWNV10