SRT/10 Now Allowed to Run at Viper Days!!

[CT]

SRT/10’s now legal to run at Viper Days WITHOUT a roll bar!

Our insurance company has just informed us that they will allow the SRT/10 Viper to participate in our driving school without installing a roll bar. This is a major accomplishment for us. Now you do not have to install a roll bar to go on the track!

What Dodge has offered to do is produce a computer that will limit your speed to 90mph and that along with the stock rear seat hoops you can attend our driving school and Michelin Challenge Series. We will install/plug this new computer in your Viper at the track and then remove/unplug it before you leave. It is just that simple!

If you like what you experienced then you can install a roll bar and enjoy your Viper as it was meant to be driven – Safely and at high speeds on a race track!

Please remember that safety is our most important concern!

Please call Courtney to reserve your computer. 847-574-8477

 

[1TONY1]

90mph, ouch. Better than nothing though. Also, I see that the 2004 schedule is "proposed"........any chance left for Road Atlanta ?

 

[Steve-Indy]

THANKS, CT (and Viper Days and Dodge)...this will be VERY MUCH appreciated by our SRT-10 folks !!!!

 

[V10 MOJO]

90mph; LOL

 

[ViperJoe]

Yeah go ahead and laugh, at least THEY worked with the insurance carrier and with the support of DODGE, came up with a workable solution to get many of those folks some seat time. Now many of the SRT-10 brethern can at LEAST get on the track instead of looking through the fence.
Way to go guys!

 

[SoCal Rebell]

90 mph at Willow Springs ROTFLMAO

 

[Janni]

Quityerbitchin'.

90 MPH in the twisties at most tracks is FASTER than you can go - you can still get to experience the improved ahndling of the SRT-10 and decide if you want to take the next step and add a roll bar.

This IS NOT to say that all SRTs will be speed limited FOREVER, but it does allow new owners to get a taste of the track WITHOUT spending $2K and cutting up their car some to *try* something. And they can take advantage of the best viper specific driving school out there and learn how to drive their car SAFELY. If they enjoy, then they'll add more safety equipment and run unrestricted.


Get it?

And to everyone else that's laughing - what's your proposal to allow the SRT's to run safely at a driving school? What research have you done on the rollover of the SRT's "hoops"? Will YOUR insurance cover it? How about the tracks allowing a convertible without a rollbar? Anything constructive?

 

[JoeB]

90 mph at Willow Springs ROTFLMAO

And your Nike's can go how fast at Willow Springs?

Joe ( actually has a Viper ) B

 

[SylvanSRT]

I have run my SRT at Waterford Hill racetrack on drivers ed.(track day), unrestricted. track is 1.6 miles twisty top speed is prob at most 100 mph on straight.

 

[GTS Bruce]

90?I hit 90 backing out of my garage. Bruce

 

[FrankBarba]

What type & how much insurance is the coverage? Is it for per occurance or 1 occurance only?

 

[SylvanSRT]

Don't ask don't tell. It is better to ask forgiveness than permission.

 

[NDW]

Good for Viper Days, Skip & the gang! It is definitely a good step for the SRT10 to be able to attend the Viper Days functions. It is not the critic that moves things forward, it is the people who take chances that make progress.

 

[SoCal Rebell]

Quityerbitchin'.

Get it? Anything constructive?

Awww, sorry ma

 

[JWALK35]

Janni I just picked up my rollbar from autoform today and it comes with a replacement filler panel so you can save the original without cutting it up. Jim

 

[SylvanSRT]

jwalk when you get to it where to additional holes need to go to mount r-bar, if poss. could you email instrutions so i can see them? i was thinking of ordering one but was curious about adding holes to frame and how many? and how easily repairing holes could be later? thanks mike

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Great that VD and Dodge worked on a solution but a better solution might be to switch insurance companies.

 

[Janni]

Well, it's about safety. The "roll hoops" on an SRT-10 will hold the weight of the car, but they are not ROLLOVER protection. Accidents cause forces of several times the weight of the car, and they are not able to withstand that. Other events may let you run, but it's probably because they don't know this or assume the hoops are "roll bars". Also, check out the great avatar of the silver SRT with the "fade" decal - the drivers helmet is clearly above the plane between the windshield frame and the roll bar / hoop. This doesn't pass the "broomstick test" that most tracks and SCCA uses to assess safety. This means that in the event of an accident / rollover, your head and neck compresses before the hoops/ws frame. Many tracks will kick you out just for that if the corner workers are astute.

Insurance is for Skip - not for the drivers - but most companies wouldn't even consider insuring a track event where convertibles are allowed to run, period. Again, maybe other folks are doing it, but they don't have the insight into the design of this car and are making wrong assumptions about the rollover protection.

And, it's for the school - it's for the first timer. Some folks complain her eenough about cost, what do you think they would say if they had to spend $1800 ($2K - VCA 10% discount) on a rollbar IN ADDITION to the event fee before they were even allowed to drive the car on the track AT ALL?

Having autocrossed the SRT a couple of times 90 MPH is more than sufficient to experience the improved handling of the car and whet your appetite for going faster.

 

[Gary Lashinsky]

Take it as it is, a chance to experience your SRT 10 safely on track at a reasonable speed. If you like what you feel, then equip your SRT 10 with the necessary safety equipment to go faster. Try. . .you'll like it.

 

[ViperRay]

I don't have an SRT 10 (Gen II coupe) but if I did, I'd jump all over this opportunity. You won't be the quickest in the straights but should have great fun in most corners (which is where most of the fun is). I have to say though, it seems to me that most of the rollover risk exists in the corners and not the straights and 90 mph is fast enough in some corners to have that occur. I guess the logic is that you will not be entering a corner fast enough to make this likely. In any case, I agree this is a great opportunity for an SRT 10 owner to experience more of the car's potential.

 

[GTS Bruce]

I'm not trying to be funny anymore about the 90mph top end srt-10.But one of the most dangerous situations faced by drivers on a race track is slow cars acting like a moving chicane.It will cause a major headache with Srt10s hitting their top end at 90 and a load of gen 1&2 cars pulling out to go around and get back in line to brake.Hopefuly srt10's will also be restricted to running by themselfs or required to make a hard transition to the inside upon entering a straight.That is srt10s move to the inside,Gen 1&2 cars go by,then srt 10's re-enter the racing line with great caution.Boy that still doesn't sound good.I think the best solution is to restrict them to their own session. Bruce

 

[FrankBarba]

I am sure that Skip has thought about this also. With all the SRT's comming out i am sure that they will have their own run group, to obtian the utmost in saftey precautions. Maybe the 90mph revlimiter is going to be installed since the SRT's will be runnning together. Can you see it now. All those kids with SRT-4's comming to Viper Days? Plunking down hard earned cash just to be able to tell their friends back home they were beating vipers at the track. "Hey Tommy you should have seen it....Comming out of turn 10 i was chasing down one of those new vipers and over took it down the straight." "I was beating up on them all day long, this Neon is really something"

 

[Sniper]

My question is why are RT/10's allowed even with a hardtop?
Because they might as well be a convertable, there's no rollover protection just the same as the SRT's.

 

[Janni]

The RT/10's sport bar is much more structural than the 2 roll "hoops" behind the seats in the SRT-10. Roadster =! Convertible. Viper Days did it's research to keep you safe. If the RT/10 wasn't safe to run, it wouldn't be run.

 

[kverges]

Watch Your Oil Pressure

Those who track their SRT-10s, look out for a possible issue. I have tracked mine a few times at MotorSport Ranch but quit when I noticed a significant drop in oil pressure when in left hand sweepers and pulling significant G's. I know this was an issue with the Comp Coupe and that a "swing arm" oil pickup (and perhaps matching pan) are available and I believe required to race the CC. I have also heard that CC engines were lost at the debut of that car due to low oil pressure, but have not seen any data first hand. The existence of the oil pan mod pan makes me confident that oil pressure is an issue in at least the CC, and I am not aware of any bottom-end architecture differences between the CC and SRT-10 that would make the SRT-10 less vulnerable than the CC, except for the reduced vigor with which the SRT-10 is likely to be driven in most circumstances.

I first noticed this potential problem in April, after my SRT-10 was broken in and ready for the track. I also drove a friend's SRT-10 for 2 laps at 8/10s and same thing happened, so I believe it is a design issue. Dodge has suggested that it is not a significant problem and I offered to host Dodge personnel to come to MSR and put another oil pressure gauge or other instrumentation on the car to see how significant the problem might be, to no avail.

The most Dodge offered was to sell me the swing-arm modification at $1500 plus installation.

Having had 4 previous Vipers that did not demonstrate this problem (not to mention showroom stock-engined race cars)and being obstinate, I insisted that the car should be "track ready" out of the box and that I could understand the expense of different brake pads, wheels & tires and that sort of thing, but $1500+ in mods just did not make sense in a car touted as a stellar performer, on road & track.


My course has unfortunately led me to litigation with Dodge. While this oiling issue is unlikely to ever present an issue on the street, I urge all persons seriously tracking SRT-10s to monitor oil pressure carefully and deal with any problems as they see fit. I kept silent about this in the hopes that Dodge would do what I consider the "right" thing, but my current plan is to get rid of my SRT-10 and move on to something else (maybe a 911 GT-3 or TT, as Porsche uses a dry sump).

Many folks may think that oil system mods are just the price of admission to track the car, and Dodge seems to share that view. I felt strongly enough about this issue to let the courts decide. It breaks my heart, as I have had at least one Viper since January 1994 and I've tracked every one without any engine issues at all. With the fantastic brakes on the new SRT-10, I was really looking forward to showing the Porsches how I can now outhandle, out-accelerate and out-brake them, but that is not in the cards.

I hope folks take this as balanced as I have tried to present it.

 

[Janni]

Re: Watch Your Oil Pressure

Thank you, Keith for the informative post.

 

[Sniper]

Re: Watch Your Oil Pressure

So, you're telling me that if an RT/10 rolled that the sports bar is going to hold up so the person don't get smashed?

 

[Janni]

Re: Watch Your Oil Pressure

I am not going to get into an argument here. The structure of the RT/10's roll hoop is much more integral to the car and therefore stronger, than the SRTs hoops. I have one, and I would not track it without a rollbar - period. In fact, even if the car justs gets street driven, mine will soon have a rollbar.

No one can predict how violent a rollover or crash might be and with complete certainty how the occupants would fare. However, your chances are better in an RT.

Skip does not create his rules in a vacuum - he gets input from a lot of folks, racers, DC engineers, race car builders, people who have put GTS/RT/SRTs back together after a hit, etc.

 

[Sniper]

Re: Watch Your Oil Pressure

No arguing here, just stating that I would not want to roll my RT/10 or an SRT as neither looks as if you would talk about it when you were through.

 

[pdmracing]

Re: Watch Your Oil Pressure

So, you're telling me that if an RT/10 rolled that the sports bar is going to hold up so the person don't get smashed?

It is the same hoop as a GTS, so draw your own conclusions.