It's here! It's here!

[treynor]

It\'s here! It\'s here!

Santa was a little late arriving at Chez Treynor this year, but he made up for it with what he finally brought:

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(that's yours truly holding the driver's door)


What an engine!

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The most common view of a Viper:

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Now all I've got to do is get it broken in and dyno'd, and the modifications can begin

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[Roland L-Ocala FL]

Re: It\'s here! It\'s here!

Congratulations, it is a beauty, I love the color! That bow on top really sets the Christmas mood. Having said that, I am now going to do my best Fred (driving school) Kinder impression, "Get thee to a driving school!" That is the first modification you want to make to your car, bar none. None of us in the Viper Nation want to see or hear of any more infamous first 60 day spin outs, etc. The first 60 days of Viper ownership seems to be the critical time when most new (or new to the owner) Vipers wind up looking like "road rash", not to mention potential harm to the owner/ occupant. Enjoy your new Viper, but learn how to operate it properly by attending a driving school if you haven't done so before. Vipers are awesome performers, and they can "get away" from you in the blink of an eye if you aren't ready for their gut wrenching, tire smokin, high speed cornering abilities, just to mention a few. BTW, before we got our red '94 RT/10, we had a yellow (Top Banana) 340 SIXPAK T/A Challenger), so I love Yellow! Enjoy!

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[treynor]

Re: It\'s here! It\'s here!

Be at ease, Roland. I've already taken the Russell racing TRC and ARC 3-day courses, and have several thousand miles of racetrack experience under my belt. The Viper's a fast car, but it's a *****cat compared to (say) my 149 RWHP YZF-R1 or my old 619 RWHP turbo Supra.

On a separate note, I have driven a couple Gen-I Vipers before, but had never been in a gen 2. Now that I have -- what a wonderful-handling car! It feels for all the world like driving one of Russell's formula Mazda cars -- instant steering response, great balance, and massive grip. I always knew the Viper would be a fun straight-line car, but I'm really pleasantly surprised at how well rounded a performance machine it is. I suppose you all already knew that

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[Roland L-Ocala FL]

Re: It\'s here! It\'s here!

Hey Ben,
Glad to hear of all your driving experience and driving schools as well, Way more than me. No, I have not been able to "test drive" a Gen-2 car yet, but from the way you make it sound, there is a world of difference between the two. Maybe in the not too distant future, I can move up to a Gen-2 RT/10, just have to shake the bushes and free up some funds. Have to convince my wife though too. You have a beautiful car, enjoy breaking it in correctly.

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[Tom Welch]

Re: It\'s here! It\'s here!

Ben,

AWESOME Ride!! I guess you are the guy who Santa made up for putting the Raindeer POOP in my stocking!

I look forward to hearing how your mods perform.

Tom Http://btrviper.com

 

[Matt]

Re: It\'s here! It\'s here!

Do you mind if I ask you what you are planning to do regarding smog checks with the Belanger exhaust? I'm in CA also, and figured I may be limited to an Edelbrock/Borla combo.

Congrats on the beautiful RT/10.

Matt

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

Re: It\'s here! It\'s here!

In my experience, most shops can't tell a stock-looking aftermarket exhaust from a stock exhaust. The car will easily pass the sniffer test with the mods I describe, and that should be that. Worst case, I'll bolt a stock exhaust back onto the headers and smog it with that -- I don't think any shop's going to be able to recognize aftermarket headers or smooth tubes.

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

Re: It\'s here! It\'s here!

Keith,
I'm planning all the normal "BPU" mods for the Viper, plus NOS for dragstrip visits and occasional motorcycle baiting. Amusingly, all the parts (except NOS) are already sitting in my garage awaiting their turn

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* K&N air filters (+5 RWHP)
* Smooth intake tubes (Hennessey) (+5 RWHP)
* Belanger headers + exhaust (BTR) (+40 RWHP)
* Stock catalytic converters (-8 RWHP)
* Roe Racing VEC-1 (+12 RWHP)
* Strengthened half shafts (BTR) (prevents -460 RWHP...)
* NOS/Propane (BTR) (+180 RWHP when active)
* Roe Racing steering pump cooler

Under consideration:
Hennessey 1.7 rocker arm / pushrod upgrades (+10 RWHP)
Rear brake upgrade (depends on how new 2001 brake system works on the track)

I guesstimate I'll have 460 +/- 10 RWHP with these mods, and about 640 on NOS. With slicks, that should be good for mid-10sec 1/4 mile times.