Track testing for Motor Trend again. Kinda secret. All the new Vipers. Rock on.

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Randy Pobst FB post... yesterday.

 

[ACRucrazy]

In on page one.

 

[01sapphirebob]

 

[ViperSmith]

oh lord, please let them be off the production line and not tired old mules

 

[BlackSnake99]

oh lord, please let them be ringers and not tired old mules

Fixed it.....

 

[ViperSmith]

Fixed it.....

I was going to say it

With what we saw from the ZR1 Dyno, hopefully Ralph knows (finally) Chevy is playing by its own set of rules.

 

[SnakeBitten]

Great!!!!!! Can't wait for the ZR1 beating results from the ringer.

 

[VENOM V]

I had also heard that Vipers were recently track testing a giant stack of new tires. Hopefully some prototypes from Pirelli, perhaps variants of Trofeo R's or something that can compete with MPSC's.

For those of you that haven't seen the Michelin Pilot Sport Cups first-hand, they really are racing slicks with a few very shallow rain grooves. They are a totally different animal than the Pirelli Corsas, which sacrifice dry track performance for wet performance and safety. I wouldn't be surprised if SRT chose the Corsas over something more aggressive, to limit the risk of a bunch of Track Pack Vipers crashing in the rain. I think that they now realize that they need to level the playing field- they need kick-ass tires to serve up a good ass-whooping on the competition.

 

[Kratos]

Definitely keeping my open on this one....

 

[v10enomous]

subscribed to thread

 

[ROCKET62]

So for us bookface illiterate people it says ........

 

[rw99]

Very difficult not to come down with a sudden multi-day illness yesterday after I saw Pobst's FB post. But I know SRT doesn't want a bunch of gawkers down there at the track, so I held off and decided instead to just wish Randy good luck... along with better tires and fresh brakes.

I just hope they take the time to systematically run through a variety of setups driven at 10/10ths on the track, and bundle it all up in a data-heavy report.

Hey, a guy can hope, right?


Rich

 

[ACRucrazy]

I am still trying to figure out why the Corvette folk and MT are making such a big deal about the tires that the Viper ran 5 years ago..

 

[Viper Grenade]

The Viper has always had its way with the vette in the past, if the Gen 5 doesn't do the same the C6 ZR1; SRT might as well pack up their stuff and move to Thailand.

I am pessimisticly, optimistic.

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

The tires are not the same as they were 5 years ago. The Pilot Sport Cups had a change in compounding last year ( around mid year if I remember correctly), and like any DOT competition tire, if you stay static you get left behind. There have been some changes since 2008, and the end result is the tires are quicker than in the years before.

Pirelli did not, in my opinion, put their tire on the Viper that is the equivalent to the PS cup , as they wanted a tire that was more road worthy for weather conditions ( hence a much better response to rain ) . Michelin notes that the PSC should not be driven in the rain, much like a R6 Hoosier or 710 Kumho.

Frankly , for the majority of folks the choice of tire makes alot more sense, but it will be interesting to see what the outcome is on a set of Trofeos ( which may be what they are running ).

 

[Coloviper]

Not a Pirelli fan but maybe these new tires should be renamed "Trophys" if they pull the GEN V through.

 

[troublemaker]

Pirelli did not, in my opinion, put their tire on the Viper that is the equivalent to the PS cup , as they wanted a tire that was more road worthy for weather conditions ( hence a much better response to rain ) . Michelin notes that the PSC should not be driven in the rain, much like a R6 Hoosier or 710 Kumho

Why wouldn't they spec their equivalent to the PS cup on at least the track pack?

 

[I Bin Therbefor]

Why wouldn't they spec their equivalent to the PS cup on at least the track pack?

Good question. "At least with the track pack."

 

[SnakeBitten]

I remember reading somewhere that the Trofeos were not ready at the time of launch or something to that degree. So if that is true then SRT had no choice but to use what Perelli had available and I guess the best available was the Corsa's?

 

[mnc2886]

Not a Pirelli fan but maybe these new tires should be renamed "Trophys" if they pull the GEN V through.

You do know trofeo means trophy in italian right?

You must be registered for see images

 

[Viper Grenade]

Assuming that is true, the smart thing would have been to NOT launch with a track pack option using sub standard tires.

 

[Makara]

You do know trofeo means trophy in italian right?

I often feel as though most of the community here would be surprised that there is land outside of the US.

 

[Coloviper]

No, I knew that. What I meant to say is we should just be calling them trophys here rather than by the Italian pronunciation. And to say, most people here don't realize there is life outside of the US is a little smug. Then again the comment comes from Hollywood which is it's own world anyway.

 

[madninjaskillz]

I often feel as though most of the community here would be surprised that there is land outside of the US.

I lol'd. I am crossing my fingers on this one that they get it right. BTW, hello from A$$crakistan.

 

[troublemaker]

I often feel as though most of the community here would be surprised that there is land outside of the US.

Deleted, deleted.

 

[Policy Limits]

i've always run P-zero Rosso's on the lambo. only rated for 5500 miles and the rears wore faster than the fronts prolly bcuz the engine. etc was back there. Very good performance tire for the street. I've also always run pirelli on the Bentley and I just replaced all 4 for $2,000.00...ouch. Tires are critically important for performance even on the street. I'm not a track guy so uncertain if cups etc are the way to go in that regard but it seems very odd to offer a "track pack" that contains tires not ideally suited for that purpose, no?

 

[BlknBlu]

Any updates?

Bruce

 

[Boxer12]

I would prefer Pirelli to Michelin and always run them on my Porsches and Ferrari which I have no reluctance to run at triple digits in the light rain. In not recommending that to anyone btw, but they are great tires and as the current F1 supplier they can make a tire to do what Ralph wants performance wise. I never trust Michelins after the Schumacher crash.

 

[bluestreak]

The tires are not the same as they were 5 years ago. The Pilot Sport Cups had a change in compounding last year ( around mid year if I remember correctly), and like any DOT competition tire, if you stay static you get left behind. There have been some changes since 2008, and the end result is the tires are quicker than in the years before.

Pirelli did not, in my opinion, put their tire on the Viper that is the equivalent to the PS cup , as they wanted a tire that was more road worthy for weather conditions ( hence a much better response to rain ) . Michelin notes that the PSC should not be driven in the rain, much like a R6 Hoosier or 710 Kumho.

Frankly , for the majority of folks the choice of tire makes alot more sense, but it will be interesting to see what the outcome is on a set of Trofeos ( which may be what they are running ).

Do you have any data that shows this? Tire changes don't always mean quicker, especially when it's already the fastest. MPSC have always been super fast. Early 2000's they were raced shaved and weren't too far off an R6. The only thing arguably close was the old shaved RA1, which has actually gotten slower according to some reports recently. I believe the NT-01 shares compound with the RA1 but different sidewall stiffness, and it's a good bit slower than MPSC. The Trofeo was not a real challenger to the MPSC because of it's unreliability. It's only now that the MPSC has a true competitor with regards to a real streetable R-comp with the Trofeo R.

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

Bluestreak,

No tire stays the same so this is not even a surprise to anyone. The PSC was a sticky tire when it is super warm out, but it is skittish when it is cool. A Hoosier is great when cool ,yet on a really hot day they go away and get greasy. This is no big surprise , but just go ask anyone who has driven both tires over the years. Sorry, not the fastest as back to back virtually everyone I know runs quicker on a Hoosier. Now, with the new PSC that is likely no longer true. Frankly there were other tires quicker on many cars for track use ( Kumho 710 for instance ), but the PSC lasted longer ,so was a choice for many.

Been racing for 31 years and tire compounding changes all the time, it is a reflection of competition. How did I know that the Michelin changed compounding , simple I found out from a gentleman I know at Michelin. Not even a big surprise, and the tire is faster now than in the past. Just like cars, tire manufacturers on in a constant state of flux , changing , upgrading ,etc. We have sold a ton of Michelins over the years at the Dealership, so one tends to stay in contact.