Nicer thoughts on the SRT after the SE Rendezvous.......

[Janni]

As some of you may know, I have had lingering doubts about my love for the SRT/10 that sits in Garage #2.....

Well, this past weekend was really the first time I have had a chance to drive the car hard. We had about 1500 miles on it when we arrived in Atlanta. The ride down was very nice - I still think the seats are GREAT! and the brakes continue to impress me.

Mid morning, we took the cars to the mini-roadcourse / autocross course and that's the first place the car got to shine. Had I been driving my 1996 GTS, I KNOW I would have been much slower on the course because the oversteer would have been worse and the braking would have probably sent me flying through the stop box more than one. I had such a BLAST driving this car around the course - it is so easy to drive fast and so controllable - I could start the corner, hang the back end out just a little and then control the car all through the corner with the throttle. Then, on exit, the power transferred to the rear wheels so smoothly and predictably, it was a very confidence inspiring ride. Then, at the end, engaging the ABS truly allowed the car to come to a very controllable stop.

At this time, I am smiling a little more when I am behind the wheel...

Then, we moved down to the slalom. All I can say is HOLY COW! We would slalom back and forth with a cone box at each end. The car handled so well and the tire combination is outstanding! I could four wheel drift through the entire lineup and bring it back in to the box for an amazingly smooth stop.

During the morning slalom session, the FnF SRT's were available to drive. Most folks drove their own cars thorugh the slalom for the first pass, and then switched over to waiting in line for the SRT/10. The looks on thier faces when they drive the cars (Gen I, Gen II and SRT) back to back was outstanding. They were just thrilled with the handling, braking AND accleration.

We repeated these exercises in the afternoon and I played even harder with the SRT/10 on the slalom. Even with Henry as a passenger, I was loving tossing this car around. I made it down to the far end and the Panoz guy said "well, you couldn't get any better than that unless you had slicks" - what an awesome car. I continued to push the car and did end up wiping out a few cones as I did get he tail end WAY wide a few times, BUT, I never felt that it was out of control and it never came all the way around on me.

The Pilot Sport runflats were excellent, as well, even though I did not play with tire pressures AT ALL - they were very progressive and held up amazingly well.

So, after a lukewarm start to our relationship, I have now falen in love with the SRT - mostly based on it's dazzling performance. I did also, though, as the weather was a little cooler, enjoy the convertible top!

So, now that I have definitely decided to keep the car - I'll be more aggresively selling my 1996 , and be in the market for some upgrades to the 2003. (MGW goodies to treat it well, and looks like I'll be removing some side sills......)

 

[1TONY1]

Hi Janni, I have been meaning to do a post about my SRT views. While I won't go into my preferences between the cars I will report cold hard facts.

My car:
1996 GTS, Hoosiers on four corners with 315/35/17 front and stock size 345/35/17 rear, aftermarket front sway bar, sport shims removed from the front, very usable 575-600 RWHP, I have about ten autocrosses in my car this year and it is very common for me to be the fastest time or at worse, in the top two or three cars....prepped Hondas etc. included. Large southeast events I placed about 10 and 13 out of 180+ cars.

SRT10 Yellow:
Stock tires...probably overheated from back to back to back runs, I have ridden in a SRT for a total of 10 miles and got to drive one at VOI for about 1/4 mile.

Best mini roadcoarse/autocross times:

My GTS...... 24.2
SRT10 ...... 24.5

I am still amazed and shocked !! Fortunatly for us gen2 folks, they did not time our forth run in the SRT.....that run for me was much better than the 24.5

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Janni -

Great to hear you "come around" and that you discovered more of your car this past weekend! It's funny, because I went through something similar:

I (like most everyone else) ordered the car in January of '02. Ordered it because I "qualified" for a certificate and because I felt sure I could turn the car for a profit if I didn't like it. Well, the more I saw it in magazines the more I DIDN'T like it. By the summer of 2002 I was trying to figure out how much I might be able to make when selling the SRT and if it was okay to do so (essentially "scalping" the car, which was not the intent of the certificate program). By the time VOI 7 rolled around I knew that I would not part with my GTS for this "lesser" Viper. It simply didn't hold a candle to my beloved GTS, certainly as far as the looks go at the very least.

Well, I arrived in Nashville and got my first look at the SRT-10 in person. A red one (my least favorite color) and in the pouring rain. It was the one parked on a hillside next to a red GTS. Looked a little better than the pictures I had seen, but not much. The next day I got to see a black SRT-10 in person for the first time - also in the pouring rain and with Sterling Marlin at the wheel. I went over with my umbrella and got up close with it. Hey, that car is actually pretty nice looking! No GTS by any means, but still a good looking car. And Sterling Marlin thought I was trying to check him out.

On Sunday morning we get a chance to take the SRT-10 on the autocross for ourselves. That Pemberton guy very graciously trades me his early "ticket" for my later ticket so I can go early and then make the drive back to Kansas in the GTS. Mind you, I have had an absolute BLAST with the GTS all week and still looked at the SRT as an also-ran. I walk by the "short" autocross course where two black SRT-10's sit. Tops down and in the sun, they looked pretty damn good. I then get to the longer autocross where two silver and two red SRT's await. I luck out and get the main Skip Barber instructor for my passenger in a silver SRT-10.

Confession: I am not a natural-born racer. Love to drag race and am getting better by the day. Love to road race and autocross, but can't afford the tires and thus am only fair at it. Still, I had spirited my own GTS around that very same course the day before and turned some pretty respectable times. Well, we hopped in this SRT and the first thing I noticed were the seats: They fit like a glove. No time to get well-acquainted, my passenger yelled "hit it!!" And so we did. The first lap was a "get to know the car" lap and yet it was just barely below my best run in the GTS. I was surprised, because it didn't feel like it. The next lap was faster and we were going far deeper into the corners than I could ever imagine with my non-ABS GTS. On my last pass it got just plain nuts: As we rapidly approached a hairpin my "instructor" gave me a grin and said "get ready...". Before I knew it he had yanked the parking brake and we were whipping around that corner like Starsky and Hutch. Before I could even gasp my surprise he drops the handle and yells "NAIL IT!!!" And we did. Took that long straight and had my foot ready to the hit the brakes as he said "wait... wait...". I decided this guy was certifiable and that we would mow down some cones at the very least and probably jump the outer curb and wreck the car more likely. "Hit the brakes NOW!" and I stabbed them for all I was worth. It was like hitting a wall of peanut butter - the car slowed that quickly. A quick yank to the left and we finished the course. I had crushed my GTS time by a HUGE margin and enough that it would have been a "podium finish" for the regular overall event (non-SRT). And I am not that great a driver. As I climbed out, I had the biggest grin I have ever had getting out of a car (okay, there was that time at the drive-in when I was a teenager, but that is a different story).

I immediately called the wife and let her know the GTS was going up for sale. Within a month she (the car!) was on a trailer to head off to a new home in Georgia. Having been my ride for three years at that point, I thought I would be a lot more heartbroken to see her go. It was a sad occasion to be sure, but was slightly overshadowed by the anticipation of this new "wonder machine". Since then, I have grown to really love my SRT-10. It wasn't immediate, as the GTS looks (black with silver stripes is the bomb) are still more striking and I missed that to be sure. However every time I go out and exercise this car I realize what a competent machine it really is. And the reaction of the general public is every bit as crazy as it was for the GTS. It's a keeper!

So Janni, go out and buy some MGW goodies to make it even better: The short shift First Strike knob is perfect, while the ashtray/cupholder bezel and A/C control trim rings will surprise you with how good they look. Have fun in your rediscovered ride!

Chris

 

[doctorbob]

Y2K3SRT...excellent write up. There are days I miss the looks of my GTS but everytime I get into my SRT, I have a grin on my face. I agree with the First Strike Knob and ashtray bezel....not sure about the control rings. My car went into the Dodge dealer for Eddie Martin(great viper tech) to have the Corsa exhaust done this week. I even got an email video on the sound and appearance on the SRT from the Corsa guys after I posted a request if anyone had one yet. It is a keeper and I look forward to the street SRT coupe(Go Dodge)!

 

[OutThere]

Dr. Bob - If you're talking GTS you had just about the nicest one possible! Smoke the windows a bit and that's the perfect GTS...

Congrats on trading up to the SRT though. Be very interested in hearing the Corsa too.

 

[knuk]

At our last autocross for our region the SRT's came out on top! I came in second place in my srt, very close behind the winner in his srt. The other 18 drivers were all driving gen 1 & 2 cars (also 1 VW bug!), some with big modifications. My car (at that time) was in need of the valve replacement and the winners car was a stock srt - with good valves! We had about 8 runs each and the srt was awesome to drive in comparison to my 97 gts and my 96 rt. I never spun the car or even felt that I came close, unlike my gts - if I were to push my gts like I pushed th srt I definitely would have spun.
Still love the looks of the gts but the srt is a much better car to drive.

 

[OutThere]

A guy with all 3 Viper versions... pretty cool.

Make the RT a Gen1 and you'd have the perfect line-up!

 

[ABADASP]

No the genII is much better than the genI RT/10`s. The handling and the windows for starters. But I did like the bare bones look of the genI.