Y2K5SRT
Enthusiast
Forget the rags, give up on the grandma drivers, skip the weather conditions and barometric pressures: A stock Corvette C6 Z06 will beat a stock Viper SRT-10 - convertible or Coupe - period. Oh it won't be by much, and different drivers will yield a few different outcomes in real life (great Viper driver will beat good Vette driver). But stock for stock, the Corvette Z06 will win the 0-60, 0-100, and quarter mile with equal drivers. For sure. The Viper will out-brake it, but those are bragging rights few of us carry around with us. And the Corvette is a performance bargain, with probably the least expensive "cost per tenth of a second" in the quarter mile of any car on the road. My sincerest congratulations to Dave Hill, the Corvette development team, and the entire GM Performance Division.
My fellow Viper brethren, it's time to begrudgingly give a polite round of applause for the Chevy. No matter whether it took fourteen years or fourteen months, they have finally bested the mighty Dodge. Let's show a little dignity and quit using all the excuses that we laughed at when we were on top: "More exclusive" (Ferrari), "more exotic looking" (Lamborghini), "it's only a Chevy/Dodge" (all of Europe), "with just a few mods mine can smoke it" (Mustang, Supra, etc.) - all are things at which we rolled our eyes when we were the Kings of Speed. Now we are using many of those same lines and more than a few folks are rolling their eyes at us, including some Viper owners (vipah, Warfang, safireviper, YouWish, Hirohawa, etc.) and wannabe owners (Mopar426, agentf1, etc.). AUTOMOBILE has always given the Viper a lot of positive press, and they did indeed test the Viper directly against the Z06 - and the Viper lost. So skip the excuses, give a polite tip of the hat to the Chevy, and don't give up just yet.
Oh yes, I am keeping my Viper. Hell, I may even add another one to the fleet if the right opportunity should knock. A slower, cartoonish car with day-before-yesterday's technology. You see, like the Corvette offers a unique ownership experience, so too does the Viper. Perhaps even more so. People will continue to flock to the Viper no matter what the magazines say. And most will still think it is King of the Hill despite the fact that the Ford GT actually took the title a while back. Nope, the Corvette can't take anything away from the Viper, except the dignity of a few owners that will argue against the facts.
And prepare yourself, as those facts will change. No winking, no nudging, no inside knowledge here. I am as much in the dark as anybody on the planet. However I do read the trade rags, I do read VIPER magazine, and I read the Wall Street Journal if I get really bored. And every one of them tells me that my Viper won't stay down for the count. Indeed, that count may barely get past "two". The latest VIPER magazine was so full of real promises from DC that you had to be blind to miss them (and many were). More importantly, the "C" side of "DC" is the most profitable "American" car company out there (quotation marks for our German father and American mother). And routinely turns out more radical cars in quicker fashion than any car company on the planet. GM and Ford don't need a halo car right now, they need a Chrysler 300.
Crossfires, PT Cruisers, Prowlers, the 300, the Magnum, Dodge full-size trucks, Pacifica, the (gulp) Charger. Oh yeah, and the Viper. All are a little off the beaten path and yet the company is the most healthy of any in the US. GM unleashes the GTO. Ford comes up with the 500. Neither the Z06 or GT can save them, nor slow down their parent's slide. Just look at the concept cars and you can see that DC is actually picking up the pace. Anybody want to take bets on when the first Firepower goes down the assembly line? (and at CAAP too, since it shares the Viper chassis) Just because you haven't seen or heard of a new Viper concept doesn't mean it isn't already in the works. Oh no, far, far from it. And it ain't the Firepower.
You see, the SRT division of Dodge is about winning in its class. Fastest in every segment: Sedan, compact, trucks, station wagons, SUV, etc. The GM Performance division has done an incredible job and finally caught up with the car that rightfully should have never have let that throne get away. While we can diss it all we want (and we seem to want to more often than not), our brothers across the pond already build some of the most powerful vehicles on the planet- can anyone say "AMG"? Mercedes technology has made its way into the US builds, witness the 300C. AMG builds some absolutely incredible cars. But they are not a halo vehicle for Dodge, for Chrysler, or certainly for the American side of the company. Nope, that title has long belonged to the Viper and the Viper alone. And that hasn't changed even a little bit with the introduction of the new Z06. The Viper remains THE personification of the SRT performance division, Dodge, and the entire US side of the company in general.
I have absolutely zero doubt that more than a few SRT execs are biting their tongues right now to the point of bleeding to death. When the SRT-10 came out it was pretty much a surprise to everyone. The Coupe, not so much (Viper owners saw that one even before the press got a gander). DC is surprisingly quick at moving a car from concept to production. The first Viper did it in an almost unheard of three years. And SRT/DC has known about most of the new Z06 specs for over a year. I don't need any winks or nudges to see the continued excitement and enthusiasm these SRT folks have for the Viper. Something is up, I just don't know what it is.
So to Dave Hill, GM, Chevrolet, and Corvette owners everywhere: I congratulate you on your well-earned reclaiming of the throne. Enjoy it while you can.
My fellow Viper brethren, it's time to begrudgingly give a polite round of applause for the Chevy. No matter whether it took fourteen years or fourteen months, they have finally bested the mighty Dodge. Let's show a little dignity and quit using all the excuses that we laughed at when we were on top: "More exclusive" (Ferrari), "more exotic looking" (Lamborghini), "it's only a Chevy/Dodge" (all of Europe), "with just a few mods mine can smoke it" (Mustang, Supra, etc.) - all are things at which we rolled our eyes when we were the Kings of Speed. Now we are using many of those same lines and more than a few folks are rolling their eyes at us, including some Viper owners (vipah, Warfang, safireviper, YouWish, Hirohawa, etc.) and wannabe owners (Mopar426, agentf1, etc.). AUTOMOBILE has always given the Viper a lot of positive press, and they did indeed test the Viper directly against the Z06 - and the Viper lost. So skip the excuses, give a polite tip of the hat to the Chevy, and don't give up just yet.
Oh yes, I am keeping my Viper. Hell, I may even add another one to the fleet if the right opportunity should knock. A slower, cartoonish car with day-before-yesterday's technology. You see, like the Corvette offers a unique ownership experience, so too does the Viper. Perhaps even more so. People will continue to flock to the Viper no matter what the magazines say. And most will still think it is King of the Hill despite the fact that the Ford GT actually took the title a while back. Nope, the Corvette can't take anything away from the Viper, except the dignity of a few owners that will argue against the facts.
And prepare yourself, as those facts will change. No winking, no nudging, no inside knowledge here. I am as much in the dark as anybody on the planet. However I do read the trade rags, I do read VIPER magazine, and I read the Wall Street Journal if I get really bored. And every one of them tells me that my Viper won't stay down for the count. Indeed, that count may barely get past "two". The latest VIPER magazine was so full of real promises from DC that you had to be blind to miss them (and many were). More importantly, the "C" side of "DC" is the most profitable "American" car company out there (quotation marks for our German father and American mother). And routinely turns out more radical cars in quicker fashion than any car company on the planet. GM and Ford don't need a halo car right now, they need a Chrysler 300.
Crossfires, PT Cruisers, Prowlers, the 300, the Magnum, Dodge full-size trucks, Pacifica, the (gulp) Charger. Oh yeah, and the Viper. All are a little off the beaten path and yet the company is the most healthy of any in the US. GM unleashes the GTO. Ford comes up with the 500. Neither the Z06 or GT can save them, nor slow down their parent's slide. Just look at the concept cars and you can see that DC is actually picking up the pace. Anybody want to take bets on when the first Firepower goes down the assembly line? (and at CAAP too, since it shares the Viper chassis) Just because you haven't seen or heard of a new Viper concept doesn't mean it isn't already in the works. Oh no, far, far from it. And it ain't the Firepower.
You see, the SRT division of Dodge is about winning in its class. Fastest in every segment: Sedan, compact, trucks, station wagons, SUV, etc. The GM Performance division has done an incredible job and finally caught up with the car that rightfully should have never have let that throne get away. While we can diss it all we want (and we seem to want to more often than not), our brothers across the pond already build some of the most powerful vehicles on the planet- can anyone say "AMG"? Mercedes technology has made its way into the US builds, witness the 300C. AMG builds some absolutely incredible cars. But they are not a halo vehicle for Dodge, for Chrysler, or certainly for the American side of the company. Nope, that title has long belonged to the Viper and the Viper alone. And that hasn't changed even a little bit with the introduction of the new Z06. The Viper remains THE personification of the SRT performance division, Dodge, and the entire US side of the company in general.
I have absolutely zero doubt that more than a few SRT execs are biting their tongues right now to the point of bleeding to death. When the SRT-10 came out it was pretty much a surprise to everyone. The Coupe, not so much (Viper owners saw that one even before the press got a gander). DC is surprisingly quick at moving a car from concept to production. The first Viper did it in an almost unheard of three years. And SRT/DC has known about most of the new Z06 specs for over a year. I don't need any winks or nudges to see the continued excitement and enthusiasm these SRT folks have for the Viper. Something is up, I just don't know what it is.
So to Dave Hill, GM, Chevrolet, and Corvette owners everywhere: I congratulate you on your well-earned reclaiming of the throne. Enjoy it while you can.
