doctorbob
Enthusiast
I expect the new coupe to be built. I am building a new house and garage space for the car. IF not I will have to send DC the bill! 
No Viper Coupe
- Thread starter viperrwk
- Start date
DR VIPER
Viper Owner
Not to build a coupe wouldn't make sense for the Corporation.Why lose that market to another manufacturer.
When the Viper was first introduced until 1996-it was just a convertible.Have they made the same rumours back then about not making a coupe?
When the Viper was first introduced until 1996-it was just a convertible.Have they made the same rumours back then about not making a coupe?
Lee00blacksilverGTS
Enthusiast
Janni summed it up nicely. It's a huge expense to bring out a new model, emissions, crash testing, etc. Different body style=new model. DC OVERALL has to be more profitable to justify the expense of developing a new model. Now here's the marketing kiss of death in a company struggling for enough profit.....I bet they soundly believe the coupe would take buyers from the convertible, thereby leaving them with about the same number of units sold every year, AND IF they believe that they COULD double the units with a coupe then it would require LOT'S more investment in the plant and equipment, remember Prowler is not made there anymore and I think engine production was pulled in there. So I bet that plant is maxed out with current SRT production. So their marketing mystery will be, how many $ for plant improvement to push out how many models that may steal from the existing convertible...therefore, no increase in production, or pprofit. Or a 500-1000 unit increase in production at VERY high costs because of the limitied production and costs of plant expansion. As opposed to developing the 300C or another model for the same INVESTMENT which will return much higher production numbers and sales and profits. They are cranking out a lot of new models right now, doing a lot better job than GM or Ford at it and they have to carefully invest where they get their best return. The two best ways to get the coupe built are to NOT buy the SRT, then demand goes down and they might fill up the line with the coupe, that way they don't have to expand the plant, the second way is easier, buy some stock, it's way down, but anybody can see they are on the way to developing grat product, they just need some more bread and butter models before they expand the halo car line.
Snakester
Enthusiast
Your logic was good up to the point of NOT buying the SRT-10 to push D/C into building the SRT-Coupe. If there is no sales for the SRT-10, the SRT-Coupe will never be built.
But I think that it WILL be built, and within a few years.
The BIG reason is that the Viper has never been a profit-center for Dodge, but it HAS been an image leader, that helped change the perception of Dodge in the 90s.
There are many automakers releasing new supercars now and soon from the Saleen S7, Ford GT, Shelby Series 2, Lamborghini Gallardo, Mercedes SLR, Porsche Carrera GT, Ferrari Enzo. And I doubt that any of these supercars are profit centers for the respective companies, but they DO get a lot of attention.
Add to the mix that GM is coming out with a lighter and more powerful C6 Corvette, and a new NSX is probably due out as well.
At the very least, D/C will have to raise the power of the SRT-10 Viper to 550-650HP to distance itself from the Corvette and Mustang in performance and in the public eye. plus it needs to look reasonably comparable to the new run of $$$ European exotic supercars.
I personally think that D/C should take advantage of their Mercedes ties and borrow the twin-turbo setup from the S600/CL65 (as well as the active handling electronics) and crank the Viper up to 700HP+.
THAT would get the world's attention!
With the chassis and drivetrain being the same on a coupe version of the SRT-10 Viper, I'd say that getting approval for the Coupe would be relatively easy, and I'd say that it will be a "when" rather than "if" proposition to create a closed-roof Viper that will be more suitable for racing.
But the car won't be out early either.
I'd expect to see the SRT-Coupe as a 2005/2006 model.
-Dean.
But I think that it WILL be built, and within a few years.
The BIG reason is that the Viper has never been a profit-center for Dodge, but it HAS been an image leader, that helped change the perception of Dodge in the 90s.
There are many automakers releasing new supercars now and soon from the Saleen S7, Ford GT, Shelby Series 2, Lamborghini Gallardo, Mercedes SLR, Porsche Carrera GT, Ferrari Enzo. And I doubt that any of these supercars are profit centers for the respective companies, but they DO get a lot of attention.
Add to the mix that GM is coming out with a lighter and more powerful C6 Corvette, and a new NSX is probably due out as well.
At the very least, D/C will have to raise the power of the SRT-10 Viper to 550-650HP to distance itself from the Corvette and Mustang in performance and in the public eye. plus it needs to look reasonably comparable to the new run of $$$ European exotic supercars.
I personally think that D/C should take advantage of their Mercedes ties and borrow the twin-turbo setup from the S600/CL65 (as well as the active handling electronics) and crank the Viper up to 700HP+.
THAT would get the world's attention!
With the chassis and drivetrain being the same on a coupe version of the SRT-10 Viper, I'd say that getting approval for the Coupe would be relatively easy, and I'd say that it will be a "when" rather than "if" proposition to create a closed-roof Viper that will be more suitable for racing.
But the car won't be out early either.
I'd expect to see the SRT-Coupe as a 2005/2006 model.
-Dean.
Lee00blacksilverGTS
Enthusiast
Dean, that was my little bit of humor about not buying, but it would affect the solution. The final answer about when the coupe will be built will be decided when demand for the convertible starts to fall. This happens with auto manufacturers worldwide, somtimes in reverse, Volkswagon, finally brought out the convertible after waiting so long that conversions were being done and they were denying total warranty on the cars to stop private convertible conversions. Sales dropped...voila'... convertible is announced. Corvette introduces C5 Coupe in 97, even though it was designed as a convertible first, sales are not quite as expected, convertible arrives in 98. This is the most common thing the car companys do and I think everybody here underestimates how well the SRT has sold, I was shocked at how many were at the MD/VA crab feast, out of 57 cars I counted somwhere in the area of 6+ red SRTs. No black, no silver, that's a huge percentage of the total cars there. DC has been very successful with this car. They simply don't need to build the coupe yet.
vipah
Enthusiast
I think DC will raise the bar to keep up with the other super cars. I just expect it to be under the Mercedes name, not Dodge. The Viper will not be a super car in the future DC lineup. I hope I am wrong, but it is the way things are going right now.
Viperfreak2
Enthusiast
"remember Prowler is not made there anymore and I think engine production was pulled in there. So I bet that plant is maxed out with current SRT production."
If memory serves, the Prowler production was 25 per day with 8-10 RT/10's and GTS's per day. The plant is tiny (compared to others) but at 10 SRT's a day, there should be plenty of capacity left. The new Viper is also much easier to assemble. No clamshell hood. It makes me sad the DC has plenty of money for not one, not two, but THREE high performance versions of the SL Mercedes! Why have the AMG SL55 and the SL600? They have the same horsepower. Now comes the SL65, which should out perform the Viper. I dread the day I pull up next to one of those at a traffic light. Mr. Roe better be working on a supercharger for the SRT-10!
If memory serves, the Prowler production was 25 per day with 8-10 RT/10's and GTS's per day. The plant is tiny (compared to others) but at 10 SRT's a day, there should be plenty of capacity left. The new Viper is also much easier to assemble. No clamshell hood. It makes me sad the DC has plenty of money for not one, not two, but THREE high performance versions of the SL Mercedes! Why have the AMG SL55 and the SL600? They have the same horsepower. Now comes the SL65, which should out perform the Viper. I dread the day I pull up next to one of those at a traffic light. Mr. Roe better be working on a supercharger for the SRT-10!
ledfoot
Viper Owner
I was bored.....thought this was an interesting read..
Viperfreak2
Enthusiast
I guess we now know the truth about what we were all guessing at....
No one guessed that the Firepower (or whatever they end up calling it) would take up the excess capacity at Conner Ave.
We still don't have a GenIII Roe S/C system
No one guessed that the Firepower (or whatever they end up calling it) would take up the excess capacity at Conner Ave.
We still don't have a GenIII Roe S/C system
DT04R
Enthusiast
This thread (and mosts of the posts) is from July/August of 2003 - ledfoot was commenting on the speculation from "back then" vs. what we know now (that there _is_ actually a Coupe headed for production, though without the HP bump that many suggested).
Seeya -
DT
Seeya -
DT
Makara
Viper Owner
:redbeard:
damn, it didn't work
damn, it didn't work
jwwiii
Viper Owner
Hello all;
Would a moderator please remove this old post? There is a Coupe coming.
We shouldn't confuse folks IMHO.
I apologise if I just don't grasp why "No Viper Coupe" is now re-posted.
Thanks,
Jim W.
Would a moderator please remove this old post? There is a Coupe coming.
We shouldn't confuse folks IMHO.
I apologise if I just don't grasp why "No Viper Coupe" is now re-posted.
Thanks,
Jim W.
Viperfreak2
Enthusiast
Fun to read...
No harm bringing it back to the top.
'Old' info can still be useful and the moderators shouldn't have to decide what is and isn't needed. Searches sometimes bring up good 'old' info.
IMHO
No harm bringing it back to the top.
'Old' info can still be useful and the moderators shouldn't have to decide what is and isn't needed. Searches sometimes bring up good 'old' info.
IMHO
We discussed these goofy #s years ago ! This thread from 2003 !
V10SpeedLuvr
Enthusiast
Seeing this thread on page 1 will probably scare a lot of people into thinking there's gonna be no coupe for 08' LOL
Scott_in_FL
Viper Owner
Very interesting predictions from '03. Almost unanimously, everyone anticipated that the introduction of the coupe should have come with additional hp in the 550-600 range. Now that '08 is coming with that exact configuration, I wonder if DCX had also planned it that way and that the '06 coupe was released too early?
It almost seems like the coupe body design and engineering was done and waiting long before the new engine specs were finalized. DCX, faced with slow sales of the SRT, decided to launch the coupe prematurely to excite the market. Or, maybe the '08 engine specs were supposed to be ready for '06, but could not be finalized in time.
Either way, it does not appear that the '06 coupe (without the power increase) is what DCX intended from the beginning. A timely launch of the 600hp car in '06 would have also ensured that it trumped the Z06 as soon as the Z came out.
DCX lost a real opportunity there.
It almost seems like the coupe body design and engineering was done and waiting long before the new engine specs were finalized. DCX, faced with slow sales of the SRT, decided to launch the coupe prematurely to excite the market. Or, maybe the '08 engine specs were supposed to be ready for '06, but could not be finalized in time.
Either way, it does not appear that the '06 coupe (without the power increase) is what DCX intended from the beginning. A timely launch of the 600hp car in '06 would have also ensured that it trumped the Z06 as soon as the Z came out.
DCX lost a real opportunity there.
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