So long for now..

[Jasone]

The Viper club has been an amazing experience for the last 6+ years. After I bought my first “super car” (2003 Viper SRT) in 2005, I signed up for a Viper Days event to learn how to drive my car without killing myself. It was the most amazing experience in my life until then. A shortage of instructors and a few no shows was a blessing to me as my very first instructor was Skip Thomas @ Sebring. That very first lap was all it took to get me hooked on the Viper and the track. Over the years I have participated in many Viper Days/NARRA events and in the process won 1[SUP]st[/SUP], 2[SUP]nd[/SUP], and 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] place titles in the challenge series with my faithful ’03 SRT.

I recently got the itch for a new car and after lots of soul searching, I decided to purchase a Ferrari F430 while I wait for my new 458 Spider to be delivered. The worst new of all is I had to let the SRT go due to lack of space in my garage. I almost shed a tear when I handed over the keys to the Viper and assumed it would be a decision I regretted for a long time to come. Well, I was wrong… the F430 is an amazing piece of machinery.. for all you “purists” out there.. all I can say is GET OVER IT!!.. the F430 is f’ing awesome.. when you turn the menettino past the “race” setting it is pure unadulterated Manheim.

I will always love the time I spent with my Viper and all the fantastic people I’ve met over the years at our events and track days. I wish I had room in the garage to keep my Viper.. it was a childhood dream when I bought it and it didn’t disappoint.. every last second behind the wheel is still engrained in my mind but I’m not looking back since taking possession of the F430. Two completely different cars and driving experiences.. I won’t bother with the details but suffice to say that it’s the difference between driving a dump truck and a radical.

I hope the new Viper is killer and I somehow find room for it in my garage but until then I’m busy driving my F430..

I’ll still be lurking on the site.. the Viper is an amazing machine and I’ll always love it…

 

[plumcrazy]

id kill for a 430. good luck to you.

 

[tucker]

id kill for a 430. good luck to you.

Free lead for you above.

 

[09 Venom]

Funny, I just posted a thread in the general discussion section re: the Gen V Viper. If there is no improvement in headroom and the seat can't be lowered then an '09 Scuderia has my name on it. Got a great price on one.

 

[georgethedog]

I'll drive my "Dump Truck"... Can't afford the F430...

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

If I could afford 20 Vipers one of them would be a Ferrari.

 

[madninjaskillz]

As someone who as driven an F430 and 430 Scud, I can say that I still really enjoy the Viper. The Ferraris aren't mine (a friends) and I wouldn't want them to be for a lot of reasons. They are great driving experiences though.

 

[Twister]

Dump truck. Jeeze typical ferrari owner already! Lol j/k

How bout some pictures and a nice write up comparison???

Cant give up my 03 for a used 80k gallardo that I could afford. But would defiently give it up for a 130k f430 that I cant afford

 

[swexlin]

There are a couple 430s (and 458s) at my local C&C that I attend. I have driven behind one of the 430 Scuds, and let me tell you - those cars are BRUTAL fast. Our Vipers out-torque them by a good bit, but those cars rev to the stratosphere, and just FLY!

Good luck with yours, it is my understanding that they are very dependable, and not the maintainence nightmare that some would have you believe.

 

[Twister]

Everything Ive ever seen/read has had a f430 and gen3 nearly the same in performance. from the quartermile to the track. Just ones a scalpel and the other a dump truck..hmmm. chainsaw.Both low 120's in the quarter and high 7s at the ring

same applies to the f458 and gen4. both around 130 mph in the quarter and both mid 7s at the ring

 

[Rizzo]

Did the Viper just get compared to a DUMP TRUCK ??????????? Yikes. Well at least we have a new use for the Viper. It can now go replace all the asphalt that it tore up at Nurburgring!!!!!!! HAHAHA. Im sure the Ferrari is very nice. Ive just never had any desire to own one. Few buddies have them and I know one guy that has the 458. He loves it but he is a total Ferrari snob. Please dont turn in to one of them. Enjoy the car.

 

[Red Snake]

Congrats to the OP. I love my blown dump truck.

 

[Chelseasnake]

dump truck, i guess i will have to call my snake MACK

 

[ViperGeorge]

I've honestly always wanted a Ferrari. The 430 is a stunningly beautiful car. Not as crazy over the 458 though. Doesn't have the same level of sex appeal to me. In fact the whole reason I have a Viper is because I looked at a Ferrari originally. I could only afford a used one at the time but I could afford a new Viper though. So decision made. Plus back then the maintenance scared the heck out of me. It was crazy money for the 15,000 mile service. Hopefully that's not a problem with the 430 but I'm sure maintenance is still a lot more expensive. I've owned a 2003 Aston Martin DB7 GT. Awesome and beautiful but the price of darn near everything was crazy. Ended up selling it so I could buy a second Viper. Lost my shirt on the Aston because after 3 years of ownership it had 16,000 miles on it. Far too many for any self respecting Aston buyer. I'm sure the same thing applies to the Ferrari.

Good luck with your Ferrari but hopefully we'll see you back in a Viper sometime in the future.

 

[Nitro187]

I've always liked the look of a ferarri.... but with my buddies past experiences with them (he has owned a few cars, including the F430, BMW M6, Viper, Lamborghini Gallardo, etc) the Ferarri's always end up having catastrophic engine faliures... sometimes leading to fires. I mean, take a look online... doesn't take much for one of them to catch on fire... he's owned 3 Ferarri's, two of them went up in smoke, the other one he still owns... but it's fine. (the first 430 he had burned to the ground, the second one he's had for a while now with no problems.... yet.....)

He doesn't like pushing his cars, in fear that something bad will happen... as he prefers the looks of cars, rather than performance. He's considering selling his 430, and purchasing one of these:

http://www.supereplicas.com/ferrari_F430_replica.php

For the simple reason, he can get the same 'look' for a fraction of the price... they offer the BMW V12 engine as well... obviously not the SAME car... but again, he likes the look... and to be honest... it really does look like the original.

 

[Art 138]

I am considering a Scuderia F430 next year.....these machines have dropped about 100 thousand dollars from their orignal price and fun to drive. I often jump in my FGT and then switch to the ACR, albeit two different machines the ACR gives you a visceral driving experience that is hard to give up. For under ten grand, one can bring an ACR close to ACR-X performance. Hard to do that with the other cars. Everthing I have heard about the F458 has been very positive.

 

[Jasone]

All new Ferraris come with 7 years FREE maintenance which is transferrable with the car. I’ve never heard of “all Ferraris go up in smoke” or have terminal engine problems. I don’t think they would be selling 6-7000 $300K+ cars every year if that was the case.

There really is no comparing the two cars.. completely different experience. I didn’t mean to compare the Viper to a dump truck but the difference is that stark. Like I said, I loved my Viper and spent a lot of time on the track with it. I would still own it if I had the room.

I’ll try to post some pics but the uploader keeps telling me I’ve exceeded my quota??

 

[bmw2nv2000]

Build another garage

 

[GreenVenom]

Jasone, and anyone else that cares to respond. Any experiences with 355s or 360s? Known problems, maintenance costs etc. Any years to avoid? Thank you.
And by the way congrats on your 430.. Gorgeous cars!!!

 

[Matt162]

I've always liked the look of a ferarri.... but with my buddies past experiences with them (he has owned a few cars, including the F430, BMW M6, Viper, Lamborghini Gallardo, etc) the Ferarri's always end up having catastrophic engine faliures... sometimes leading to fires. I mean, take a look online... doesn't take much for one of them to catch on fire... he's owned 3 Ferarri's, two of them went up in smoke, the other one he still owns... but it's fine. (the first 430 he had burned to the ground, the second one he's had for a while now with no problems.... yet.....)

He doesn't like pushing his cars, in fear that something bad will happen... as he prefers the looks of cars, rather than performance. He's considering selling his 430, and purchasing one of these:

http://www.supereplicas.com/ferrari_F430_replica.php

For the simple reason, he can get the same 'look' for a fraction of the price... they offer the BMW V12 engine as well... obviously not the SAME car... but again, he likes the look... and to be honest... it really does look like the original.

Ive heard all the horror storys, because everytime there is one someone blabs on the internet about. Not every Ferrari owner is going to publicly post a year update as to there cars condition. Ferrari is a big company with a bigger name, they didnt get that way with 90% of there products catching ablaze. Tell your buddy hes an idiot if he would wast $25,000 of his money on a TOYOTA Wanna be Ferrari.

On another note!

Im very jealous of your upgrades! Good luck with the cars and hopefully someday I could ****** a Ferrari!

 

[georgethedog]

Gonna have to get a "beeper" for when I back up now...

 

[viperdrummer]

430 is a neat car but they will make a fair amount and they will lose value like 360 and others (not as bad as Vipers. Justin Verlander belongs to our golf club here and has an Italia--true beauty befitting and MVP and Cy winner.

 

[vancouver-gts]

Jasone, and anyone else that cares to respond. Any experiences with 355s or 360s? Known problems, maintenance costs etc. Any years to avoid? Thank you.
And by the way congrats on your 430.. Gorgeous cars!!!

355 is expensive to maintain when it comes to timing belt change. Engine has to come out . 360, belt can be changed without engine removal and the cheapest [ 3K by local Ferrari dealer] . My friend just paid $8K for the belt change on his 550 Maranello . I don't care much for the F430 with the paddle shifter myself , and I prefer the 360 Modena styling . The Maranello is by far the most comfortable and luxurious. Lots of nice carbon fiber pieces inside .And yes ,a few Ferraris burned to the ground including an Enzo I've met the owner a few years ago.


My son in friend's 430

You must be registered for see images

 

[Camfab]

I've always liked the look of a ferarri.... but with my buddies past experiences with them (he has owned a few cars, including the F430, BMW M6, Viper, Lamborghini Gallardo, etc) the Ferarri's always end up having catastrophic engine faliures... sometimes leading to fires. I mean, take a look online... doesn't take much for one of them to catch on fire... he's owned 3 Ferarri's, two of them went up in smoke, the other one he still owns... but it's fine. (the first 430 he had burned to the ground, the second one he's had for a while now with no problems.... yet.....)

He doesn't like pushing his cars, in fear that something bad will happen... as he prefers the looks of cars, rather than performance. He's considering selling his 430, and purchasing one of these:

http://www.supereplicas.com/ferrari_F430_replica.php

For the simple reason, he can get the same 'look' for a fraction of the price... they offer the BMW V12 engine as well... obviously not the SAME car... but again, he likes the look... and to be honest... it really does look like the original.

Really....................a replica Ferrari



Um.............wait a minute, you know I think your friends on to something. I'm tired of worrying about all the Vipers that burn down daily, you know it's all over the net. This just might be my solution......
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2007/05/vipette-dodge-viper-rt10-replica-based.html

 

[ACR_Matt]

Really....................a replica Ferrari



Um.............wait a minute, you know I think your friends on to something. I'm tired of worrying about all the Vipers that burn down daily, you know it's all over the net. This just might be my solution......
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2007/05/vipette-dodge-viper-rt10-replica-based.html

Actually this is just the standard YELLOW Viper; note the V8 and the overall awkwardness of the build.

 

[DeceptioN]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb7avwFb4NA

Dump truck definitely hauls though...

 

[Coloviper]

Cars come and cars go! Wish you the best with the F430.

Spent some time in my friends 08' Scuderia with him in the passenger seat and it was a very nice car. EXTREMELY quick and light on it's feet. Maintenance was very affordable, based by older Ferarri standards. Personally for the money though the 360 Challenge Stradale is the cats meow as it seems to have all the right stuff when looking at a future Ferrari collectable and one you can enjoy now. It is also very fast and just simple, compared to the newer Ferarris. My other friend has a yellow 360CS with red Alcantara interior and honestly, again bang for the buck here and overall enjoyment, I preferred the 360CS over the Scuderia and the Scud is clearly the performance winner in all catgories, even overall mean looks. Somthing about the right combination of mean, powerful and simple with that car.

The new 458 is a very beautiful car and pictures do not do that car justice. Again, my other friend (yes three different owners here) has a weird muted grey 458 with no metal flake in the paint at all, but I went for a ride in the passenger seat and it was a very nice car. Most refined out of the three I mentioned. When outfitted properly with the right rims and carbon fiber touches on the interior, it is stunning, but it is 300 large. Way over my price range. Yes it was fast by my passenger seat of the pants ride along.

I do have a predication though, I do think your 430 experience will be short lived as in 5 to 6 months when the new Viper GEN V comes out, you will be hankering for that. If it continues with the theme I saw on the full sized clay model in Salt Lake City at VOI11, looks alone will make the 430 look like it came from the stone age. The new GEN V mock up was just that good. Personally, I would hold out for the GEN V before making the decision to buy a 430. There are ALOT of 430s out there right now and Scud prices are continuing to fall.

That's what I would do but then again, I only have enough moola to afford what I have and be greatful for it.

 

[Jasone]

Here are some pics of the new car.

The last moment of pride I had with my Viper came at the F-dealer. My Viper was parked right outside the large glass doors of the Ferrari dealer, there was 1 of every new Ferrari sitting there and yet a small crowd of people gathered around the Viper. Put a smile on my face when I pointed to the car and told the sale guys.. "even in the middle of a bunch of Ferraris, the Viper still draws a crowd

 

[ssjcreeper]

I was at a cruise in earlier this year when one of these Vipettes showed up and parked next to me. Scary how many people actually thought it was a Gen I car. Build quality made my dumptruck look like a Ferrari next to it.

Really....................a replica Ferrari



Um.............wait a minute, you know I think your friends on to something. I'm tired of worrying about all the Vipers that burn down daily, you know it's all over the net. This just might be my solution......
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2007/05/vipette-dodge-viper-rt10-replica-based.html

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

Didn't Ferrari sue a kitcar maker a few years back for tarnishing the Ferrari name? I wish Dodge would do that with the Viper kit companies.