Several of the press reporting on development cars have mentioned the interior noise from the exhausts as being uncomfortable. I'm wondering if a valved exhaust which would direct exhaust to the side outlets or to a rear outlet would be an interesting after market offering. If the design is done correctly, the rear facing exhaust could add to the down force by blowing over the rear areo aids.
New Gen V owners will give us a better understanding of the interior noise. Perhaps it was just a development car item.
Gents
If you loved the traditional Viper with no sound-absorbing materials on board, and all the raucous road noise, then buy the elemental SRT Viper. It is fast as h*ll with all those traditional noises. But frankly, most everyone I know would pick the Viper GTS, which carries some added sound-absorbing material, and is noticeably quieter inside the cockpit. Inside the GTS, you hear more of the V10 exhaust, and less of the other 'bad road rash noise'. This is really a good thing you cannot appreciate until you have driven both cars.
The beautiful thing about SRT Engineering is that the new GTS model, even with it's modern civility, is still lighter than the Gen 4 car, and with more power (and better gear ratios, and far stiffer space frame, etc...). Need we say more?
It is good when engineers invest their working lives into the things we love.
On the noise point, relax: the GTS is still FAR louder than most every other car on the planet (it is a Viper, after all...) But inside the GTS, you hear more of the V10 music, and less of the annoying 'road noise' which is what you hear in race cars, and historic Vipers. The GTS makes a small but significant step toward Viper civility!
So, if want the lightest, fastest race car you can buy, without regard to civility: SRT Viper is your winning car. On the other hand, if you would like SRT to drop in a small amount of civility (and a large amount of leather
), then check the 'GTS' box.
Either way, you will be pleased. America's Supercar boldly lives on! (and thanks for listening)