Well.......... I can tell all of you firsthand that the Viper GTS did beat down the Daytona coupe, in fact it was a total blowout. I know because I was there and the Viper is mine.
I was asked by our SoCal Viper Club Pres if I would like to take my car out for this. Of course ! It was a full day out at Willow Springs Raceway. I got to meet and talk with the owner of the Daytona Coupe. It was pretty cool to see the cars side by side and compare all the different angles. They are very similar. On Paper, he had me beat. But when it came time for performance, it was a BLOWOUT.
They ran each car on the track 3 sessions and took the fastest lap time from the 3 sessions. My Viper turned in the fastest lap time in the first session. The next 2 sessions, Sam was playing around drifting through the corners to get "film footage".
The Daytona Coupe used all 3 sessions to try and better the time and couldn't. I talked with Sam during the break and he told me how much better the Viper handled and that the Daytona was very unpredictable. The Daytona actually spun out in the 3rd session.
The 1/4 mile was pretty much the same thing. 3 passes for the best time. My Viper set the fastest time on the first pass and beat the Daytona by at least 2 car lengths.
The 2nd pass was again all Viper. On the final pass Sam let off a bit so that the "film footage" would look as if were a close race.
Bottom line at the end of the day... Viper kicked butt !!!!
While I'm not happy knowing that they gave the win to the Daytona, I know better. I had a great time meeting everyone and made some good friends.
Shortly after the Head 2 Head was released I got an email from the Daytona owner. Here is a direct quote from his email:
"I assume by now you've seen the episode - what a rip-off! I was embarrassed to be declared the "winner." I still can't figure out the drag race. It looked like my car just quit on the last 200 yards."
Rest assured that the Viper did well and truly is the best !!
Pictures from that day are on my website New Page 1
Lance