So long for now..

[09 Venom]

I have owned these both very recently. Have you? Got 10K miles of seat time in my Gen III. First time I drove my GenIV, I drove it over 900 miles home. I will stick with my statement of opinion, and I might even ride around on my horse some more. Maybe even ride my horse in the Matrix.

I will not buy another Gen III...ever. Great car, loved my Gen III, but the Gen IV is far and away a better vehicle. Quite simply, Dodge fixed everything that was wrong with the Gen III in the Gen IV. And the new Mopar PCM in it, fixed everything they effed up the first year out.

Maybe these cars are not totally different animals to you, but I am fairly certainly that MY sensibilities are keen enough to value the differences that even Dodge saw enough reason to give the generation a new number.

Having both a Gen III and Gen IV I have to agree with coloviper regarding the throttle response..wwaayyy better in Gen III. When you first start up the Gen IV and press the throttle . there is literallly a 2-3 second lag before she revs...HOPE they fixed the throttle response in the Gen V. And not everyone can get the MOPAR controller... The Gen IV is a much better improvement over the Gen III but not by leaps and bounds. Switch out the run flats on the Gen III, get rid of the crossover pipes, air intake and reprogram computers and your good to go.

 

[bluesrt]

 

[Twister]

I have owned these both very recently. Have you? Got 10K miles of seat time in my Gen III. First time I drove my GenIV, I drove it over 900 miles home. I will stick with my statement of opinion, and I might even ride around on my horse some more. Maybe even ride my horse in the Matrix.

I will not buy another Gen III...ever. Great car, loved my Gen III, but the Gen IV is far and away a better vehicle. Quite simply, Dodge fixed everything that was wrong with the Gen III in the Gen IV. And the new Mopar PCM in it, fixed everything they effed up the first year out.


All I really see is a gen4 8.4 with better flowing heads and cam than the 8.3 gen3. Both have amazeing brakes ect.

Gen 3 seemed to match or be a second behind the z06 on a two minute track. Non acr gen4 seemed to be a second faster than the z06 on a two minute track.

I gotta belieave that if you add 100 rwhp to the gen3 it will also be a second faster than the z06 on that same two minute track.

I love the gen4 and everyones always talking about the handling or rowing the gears. Truth is one runs 11.9 at 122 mph and the other 11.3 at 129 mph. Thats your big differance.

The 430 is one of my favorite cars. Sure a gen3 will beat it in a 60-130 mph race. But that isnt what the Ferrari is all about. You roll up to the mall to watch a movie in your viper and people think that maybe your an athlete or small buisness owner ect. You roll up to the mall to watch a movie in your f430 and people think you own the mall.

 

[swexlin]

"Switch out the run flats on the Gen III, get rid of the crossover pipes, air intake and reprogram computers and your good to go. "

These are essentially the performance mods (including plugs and wires) that my 2003 has. Having never driven a Gen IV, I can't compare, but I know my Viper is already alot to handle. I agree about the manual throttle: my 07 SRT8 Charger is drive-by-wire, and you can really tell the difference.

However, I will agree that the Gen IV I'm sure is a huge improvment, as I;m sure the Gen V will be. I love all sports cars (Corvettes included). I think what ticked some people off in the thread was the "dump truck" comment.

 

[Coloviper]

Not going to steal this thread from the F430 topic, but I will state that I never said the GEN IV was not a better car out the box, I simply stated that it is not a totally different animal. When the GEN IV first came out, I had owned my GEN III coupe for about 1.5 years. Cost difference between the two at the time when GEN IV came out was about $40K. If it was a totally different animal that extra cost would be justified. It simply was not a totally different animal. Improved? Absolutely! Totally different as in new suspension (non-ACR), new interior, new this and that? No! Improved? Again yes!

True, I do not own a full time GEN IV so my seat time has been reserved to some passenger seat time in a couple of friend's GEN IVs and a couple of short but spirited drives in those cars as well. No Track time, but honestly I never saw this totally different car aspect to the drive and some aspects I did find annoying, like the throttle delay and their concered issues they were having with limp modes and check engine lights from time to time. Tires were greatly improved from the Run Flats still on my car, but tires are a wearable item. It's not like they should even come into a comparison. Since you can easily buy them from anyone, if people start rating a car's total value on a car upon the tires they were delivered with, they have their priorities are wrong. If it was their motor's block, or forged internals, etc. that is different in the right light. Tires? No way!

You look at the cars from 10 paces and they all are exactly the same, sans hood and rim/paint options.

I guess different means different to different people. I added Full Bellanger Exhaust (no cross overs), Fidanza Lightweight Flywheel, 3.55 gears, Qauife Diff, GEN IV Hood, and a few other odds and ends and the car is definitely improved, but is it totally different in how it responds to corners, rides, fit and finish, or anything to do with looks, to be considered totally different animal like going from a Yugo to an F430, no! Not even close! Gen II to Gen III is totally different. GEN IV to GEN V will be totally different. My point was not to jump all over you, but re-reading my response, too much emotion did come out so I am sorry for the horse comment. However what I do not like is when GEN IV owners talk about GEN III cars as though there is this complete model different car and experience when in the end the number of parts they share is an extremely, extremely high percentage and there is no denying the GEN IV is improved in some areas but it is not like a VW and a Porsche on the same chassis different which in my mind means totally different animal.

 

[Viper Garage Elite]

Lets be seriously honest here, opinions aside, ferrari is a more refined machine with a much higher $$$$$ tag. Money spent well for that purpose,Viper from gen 1 to gen 4 improved also since I own gen 2 the difference to my gen 4 is nothing but amazing. The limits from just spirited street driving are easily noticed. To keep our beloved machine affordable certain things have to be excluded. With that said the car out performs much higher priced cars in what they do best, with a more, as they would put it primitive set up, excluded nannies ,paddle transmission,computerized suspention, etc .The proof is in the new nurburgring record. The majority of Viper lovers would not ever reach the limits of their cars so opinions mean nothing, results do.The gen 4 Viper has set that bar and srt has me sold completely. SRT could easily at the price of $ 300,000 or more completely destroy the competition since it already has done so at a much lower cost. Fact, the chassis, motor is certainly where the $$$$ was well spent but in order to keep the price affordable we sacrifice in other places. Do not compare ferrari to us, for just that, but I will say congrats to him for his upgrade. I for one am a car lover, great cars will always be around ,it takes us to create the demand. No need to get defensive since our beloved VIPER has a new gen 5 coming and i am sure SRT will not dissapoint. Looks like I need more garage space, as for sure to be better than gen 4 as it should be. Lets just enjoy before Obama stops everything with his green agenda but thats for another thread. Looking forward to APRIL.

 

[bluesrt]

 

[Twister]

Im with coloviper.

A gen3 to gen4 viper in time will be viewed as no differant than a 96 rt10 and a 97 rt10. Same car. Just the 97 has a differant hood and 50 more hp.


F430 and f360 are totally differant. Srt and gts are totally differant. The 08 viper is just a mid production change to the srt no differant than the 400 hp c6 getting 436 hp from the ls3 and nicer exterior curves from the z51 package.

Compare a z51 2005 c6 to a z51 2012 c6 and they are more differant than the gen3 and gen4 viper

 

[FrgMstr]

However what I do not like is when GEN IV owners talk about GEN III cars as though there is this complete model different car and experience when in the end the number of parts they share is an extremely, extremely high percentage and there is no denying the GEN IV is improved in some areas but it is not like a VW and a Porsche on the same chassis different which in my mind means totally different animal.

I apologize for offending your delicate sensibilities.

 

[slysnake]

but I will say congrats to him for his upgrade

It's a cool car, no doubt. I would love to have one myself, in addition to my Viper. But I wouldn't call it an upgrade. Just different. In some ways I'm sure it's better and in others I think the Viper is superior.

 

[bluesrt]

 

[Sonoman]

Quite simply, Dodge fixed everything that was wrong with the Gen III in the Gen IV. And the new Mopar PCM in it, fixed everything they effed up the first year out.

Maybe these cars are not totally different animals to you, but I am fairly certainly that MY sensibilities are keen enough to value the differences that even Dodge saw enough reason to give the generation a new number.

Most guys on this forum have "fixed" the shortcomings of the Gen III themselves with aftermarket mods. Things like an MGW short shifter, Motons or KWs, a crossover-less exhaust, and some engine bolt-ons, go a long way to narrow the gap between the Gen 3 & Gen 4. Who drives a stock Viper anyway? I even went the extra mile and swapped in a Gen IV rear-end (with lower gears) into my '05. Is it simpler just to buy a Gen IV to begin with-- yes. I like doing mods to cars and bikes and find that's half the fun of owning the thing. OK, maybe not quite half...

There are still a lot of things that Dodge _didn't_ fix with the Gen IV (audio system, window regulators, headroom, rear visibility, etc.). Maybe Gen V??

 

[Twister]

Sonoman im with you!

My 03 has the following

08 hood
Pearl yellow custom paint
Stock rims powder coated black
Rear lower difusser area painted black
Rollbar bolted to the frame
Kenwood touch screen with ac control relocated

Kn intake
Titanium exhaust with crossover and cat delete (minus 80 pounds!)
Findaza flywheel
Under drive pully
Arrow roller rockers
Abs wires in yellow
Competition coupe camshaft
Sct tune

495 rwhp and 540 rwt actual hp on the dyno 6 months ago plus a solid 100 plus pounds weight reduction makes a 560 hp 32xx pound srt viper

So while I agree with you that its pretty easy to get gen4 performance and nicer interior ect.....

The gen4 can just as easily be modded.



Slysnake Im one of the weird viper owners who agrees with you. About 6 months ago I went on a car cruise and we started talking cars ect. They asked what my dream car was and I said FGT. To my amazement many said theyd rather have my viper and tbat tne viper was the first real american exotic ect. And that theyd rather the viper tban a lambo ferrari ect.

Of ciurse I thought they were crazy. Ive been driving these snakes since 06 and often forget just how special these cars are. Price notwithstanding... The srt is every bit as rare, fast and special as a f430. Dumptruck or not lol.

 

[ACR_Matt]

I'm with you bud lol

 

[bluesrt]

I'm with you bud lol

heheheheheheh

 

[malcoll]

Actually the 1996 and 1997 RT/10s are a lot different... 1997 has actual roll up windows...but only 35 more horsepower......

 

[Coloviper]

FrgMaster;

No hard feelings. Not delicate, just had a moment.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

You're really ******* your post count with all your worthless replies in so many threads. Some friendly advice, your post count and rep for that matter, wont mean squat without some thought provoking or worthwhile content. If you ever do come up with something worth reading people will already be conditioned to skip it so they don't waste their time. I'm being constructive here.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Actually the 1996 and 1997 RT/10s are a lot different... 1997 has actual roll up windows...but only 35 more horsepower......

The creampuff years are a lot different from the earlier non-creampuffs too. Both are fun but the earlier Vipers have more "Viper feel." And when it comes to the ultimate Viper feel the GenI takes the cake. I've driven several stockers around Sebring and man were they a thrill even without mods.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Lets just enjoy before Obama stops everything with his green agenda but thats for another thread. Looking forward to APRIL.

True, but let's face it, Obama is only part of the problem. The rest of the problem are the public who are perfectly fine with government regulations taking freedom away from auto manufacturers and target markets. It is no secret that "The Land of the Free" is no longer even remotely true.