SRT and bad roads??

[NOMERCY]

My Viper is beginning to really bother me. The roads here in Denver are not terrible but in places where there is construction or heavy grooves this thing becomes fairly unstable. It is dancing all over the road ...

I have owned several cars and none have ever been this sqirrely.

Will better tires ie not runflat and a set of Motons resolve this or must I resign myself to the fact that this thing is just not very stable on less than perfect roads?

 

[Kai SRT10]

I have noticed the same thing. Part of it is due to the super wide tires, however, I think that some suspension changes would have to make it better.

I'm putting in Motons in January. I will let you know if it helps.

Kai

 

[NOMERCY]

I had the same size tires on my Z06 and the car was fine. Kai, I notice it is especially bad on I-25 between C470 and Hampton, this car literally jerks left and right at highway speeds. On a smooth surface this thing is great, but when you add a groove or a bump it becomes a chore just to keep it straight.

 

[PMB NY]

Very bad here also. Maybe if you change the tire pressure?

 

[Phil]

I have the same problem with my SRT. Also, my last two GTS had the same problem as well..

 

[jwwiii]

NOMERCY;

I can tell you for a fact that the "rut hunting" will really go away considerably with more miles on the tires!

I have 11,000 miles on my SRT now, and I am having new tires installed this week. If memory serves me, after 3,000 miles or so I rarely experience it except hot days make the rubber (and the road) get stickier.

My suggestion: keep a loose grip on the steering wheel. Using the "Death Grip" (I have been guilty of the DG) only made me nervous and I tried to over correct until I relaxed. You can also try hugging the inside or the outside of the lane you are in to mostly avoid the ruts that the trucks cause (more so because they are much heavier).

Don't forget it's getting cold around the U.S.A. now, and our sticky tires will get hard and spin VERY easily.

Thanks,

Jim W.

 

[Viperfreak2]

Cold tires are much worse than when they get warm. Road temp is also critical. On cold mornings I fear getting pulled over for being drunk! I bought some non-run flats and I think they will help greatly.

 

[GTS Dean]

Rutted pavements are not a friendly environment for any car with tires as wide as ours. What you're experiencing is called camber thrust. The more negative camber you run, the worse it is. Wherever possible, I drive to the high sides of the ruts - ESPECIALLY IN WET WEATHER.

 

[ViperJoe]

Mercy, you in line for a Triple 6?

 

[NOMERCY]

Thanks guys!! I just wanted to make sure it was not just my car. As I stated before, my Z06 had the same size tires and it was nowhere near as bad. But they were Pilot Sports. I think these runflats make the problem worse.

ViperJoe, what is a "Triple 6"

 

[GR8_ASP]

You had 345 tires on your Z06?

 

[Kai SRT10]

Rutted pavements are not a friendly environment for any car with tires as wide as ours. What you're experiencing is called camber thrust. The more negative camber you run, the worse it is. Wherever possible, I drive to the high sides of the ruts - ESPECIALLY IN WET WEATHER.

To be honest, I don't even notice it too much any more in daily driving. I've kind of become used to the car darting around, and can just correct for it without really even thinking. Sometimes, driving on narrow roads, when passing a guy on a bicycle I will go way wide, just in case I hit a rut and my car decides to take out the bicyclist, but by and large it doesn't bother me too much.

However, I've become addicted to open road racing (the legal kind) and I find the skittishness on rough roads to be just a little bit too exciting when going 140. That's why I'm spending the $$ on the Motons. Hopefully they will help.

 

[NOMERCY]

Viper SRT, Yes. I had the car minitubbed to fit the 345s. My Z06 was more of a beast than this Viper is. Best time was a 9.95 @ 143.

Kai, I plan to send mine to Heffner soon for the Twin Turbo conversion. Motons will be part of my plan as well.

 

[SnakeBitten]

The Hen ness ey TT SRT10 that won the C&D Shootout was equipped with Motons and Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires and the testers raved about the ride comfort and lack of tramlining on rutted and groved roads...It was also tops on the roadcourse so you can have your cake and eat it too with the Motons and maybe a tire change....

 

[ViperJoe]

ViperJoe, what is a "Triple 6"

06 C6 Z06

666 sign of the devil LOL!!

 

[Kai SRT10]

The Hen ness ey TT SRT10 that won the C&D Shootout was equipped with Motons and Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires and the testers raved about the ride comfort and lack of tramlining on rutted and groved roads...It was also tops on the roadcourse so you can have your cake and eat it too with the Motons and maybe a tire change....

Yes, I saw that too. I spoke with Hen ness ey about it, and I'm tempted to take a drive down to his shop and have him do the install and suspension tuning. His prices for the parts and tuning were competitive, and I'd like to have someone do it who has done it successfully before. Problem is, it's pretty far away (like 2 days' drive from me.) I'd like to get it done closer to home, but if I can't find anyone locally that I trust to do the work (3R racing looks like my best bet for a local shop), I might take a trip down to Houston and have Hen ness ey do the work. I'd rather go the extra miles and find someone who can do a top-flight job, rather than just get somebody without any experience to bolt on the parts.

Kai

 

[Frank 03SRT]

My suggestion: keep a loose grip on the steering wheel.

Be careful of the loose grip. I was cruising down the highway in a construction area with New Jersey barriers on either side, and with a one hand hold on the wheel. On a curve I hit a big bump in the road and the car nearly dove into the barrier. It did it on its own and scared the crap out of me. It could have been the combination of the one hand hold, loose grip, and the fact that any bump in the road translates directly into your BODY, and arm.

What have I learned? In the future, I will have a two handed embrace on the wheel, especially on curves with narrow lanes.

 

[NOMERCY]

ViperJoe, what is a "Triple 6"

06 C6 Z06

666 sign of the devil LOL!!

 

[gtsviper]

I have the same issue with the SRT. I think that the bump steer issue can be minimized by wheel alignment. I'm going to ask Erik Messley at EMI Racing to make the adjustments. I'll post the results.

 

[fred]

I really disliked the way my SRT-10 hunted around on various roads. It was much worse than my 01 GTS. For that and other reasons I traded my SRT in on a MB SL600. I will wait for the SRT Coupe and see what that is all about. And I am keeping my beautiful Red GTS with all of 3000 miles on it.

 

[ViperInBlack]

NOMERCY:

You must decide whether a Viper is:
a. A raceable streetster
b. A streetable racer

Your Porsche is certainly a raceable and comfortable street car. It can be race prepped but it comes equipped for comfort, reliability and certainly status.

Your Viper is more at home on the track. It contains decidedly few creature comforts. Yet, out of the box, it is an extremely fast car.

Alice

 

[Skip White]

You can eliminate most all of the rut following, and annoying road walking, with a better alignment. My car steers as if on a rail track, with my custom alignment. This alignment took them several hours to get right, as the castor setting was very difficult to get right. One more thing I've done was change out the front tires to a Goodyear Eagle F-1 That is 10mm wider. This may be part of the solution. As many of you know, I'm running a Nitto drag radial, and the mismatch front, is to be expected.

Eric Messely is very sharp on these issues. He is the one that helped me with alignment settings several years ago.

Skip White

 

[NOMERCY]

Thanks for all the good replies everyone.

Alice, The Viper is a raw beast. I like that. What I don't like is the unpredictable nature on rough or uneven surfaces. I have owned several sports cars and one that made my Viper seem very tame, (9 sec Z06), I have never had anything that is so squirrely ... on the race track or on the street a predictable suspension is vital.

 

[ViperInBlack]

NOMERCY:

We are saying the same thing. I was noting that the Z06 was a street car with racing potential which you fully utilized.

The Viper is a race car with compromised street potential which you are experiencing.

It takes equipment tweaking and changes to make the Z06 a racer; it takes changes to make a Viper streetable and not rut-follow. My first experience in the SRT-10 was "whoa, this thing tracks even minor street imperfections."

Alice

 

[quick2tr]

Even though the Viper SRT does pull a bit in the ruts, I have never felt such a wonderful connection with the road. IMO, I would rather feel the ruts and be aware of the poor surface condition than to "soften" it. It really does remind me to respect the road surface as being inappropriate for anything other than conservative driving.

I did read that little red Viper SRT-10 history book and remember that DC spent significant efforts with handling and special factory alignment. Suspect a compromise was made in favor of tight tracking/handling at the expense of "streetability". But one thing I have noticed about Vipers owners is how quick they will change what they don't like. Hopefully a conservative change to alignment and/or tires will improve the behavior that is frustrating you. Good luck!

 

[NOMERCY]

I'll get this thing the way I like it one way or another ....