Well, the car is finally here and I must say that pictures just don't do it justice. It's more striking than I ever imagined. Keep in mind that I have never seen an SRT/10 in person and have never been in a Viper before today. I spent the whole day detailing it and going over every nuance of the car as I am a perfectionist about my vehicles. I am overwhelmed by the vehicle as a whole; however, I do have some minor complaints. First of let me say that the guys at Buehler have taken excellent care of me. They gave me a good deal, there was no dealer mark up etc., and Paul has always answered my calls even when he was with other customers. Hats off to them. The problems that I have with the car are as follows:
1. I was not very impressed with the delivery--It came in a packed 18 wheeler with a dirty cover on top of it and there was a bunch of dirt in the drivers seat as well as some scratches on the car. I sort of expected this, but was a little disappointed as it appeared there has been a lot of traffic around the car. The rear deck has a couple scratches, the drivers side door and sill, and the left rear bumper have some scratches as well. There is nothing to dramatic but I was hoping it would be perfect. The drivers sill looks like sandpaper effect from dirty shoes scuffing against it and the door looks like somebody with a large ring shut it a few times by palming it with the window down. I used some Meguires Scratch X and got the scratches to where you have to be looking for them to see them.
2. There was a bunch a white overspray type stuff on the rear bumper but an hour with the clay bar fixed that.
3. I ordered the car cover and mats, but neither were with the car. Not a major problem and I am sure Paul will get them to me ASAP.
4. The convertible top--what a hassle. Manual tops ****. I know it's a weight saver, but nothing beats pressing a button and having the top close right up. I would hate to leave the car unattended somewhere with the top down. I can see it really being a nusance if you are in a hurry.
5. The trunk--finishing kit should be standard; and what's the deal with them being backordered.
Well, those are really the only complaints I have about the car. The positives far outweigh the negatives. I was blown away with the fit and finish once I had it detailed. Everything is rock solid and all of the components fit so well together. There are no excessive gaps between any of the panels etc. The interior is incredible in my opinion. I don't know what these magazine review guys are thinking. Other than the cheap AC controls the rest of it is perfect. I have a friend with a BMW Z-8 and the interior has nothing on this car. As far as comparing the interior finish to the Corvettes, it simply blows it away.
I know I am rambling, but let me leave with one last blurb. The exhaust note is simply not as exciting as I was expecting. I'll probably get flamed for this, but it sounds like a wind up toy on steroids to me. I love the sound of a throaty burbling V-8 and I just couldn't wait to here the V-10. To my surprise, my cobra sounds much more menacing than this car does.
LOTS OF PICS LATER THIS WEEK!!! (it got dark before I finished detailing)
Austin
