Good discussion and suggestions otherwise. I'd like to hear more from people who have the means to comfortably purchase a $100K Gen V, but give us the reasons why they haven't done so. Some have already responded, but lets use this opportunity to hear more feedback from that target demographic that didn't pull the trigger.
Great suggestion!
Okay... the upgrading of the Gen 5 put it on my radar, members here helped me narrow it down to an SRT with Track Pack for my needs, and I could afford it. I listed for sale my newest track/pleasure car (510hp XKR vert), I already had a buyer for my modified Supra TT track/pleasure car, with both going to make garage space available and to please the wife. I have done lapping days for over 10 years, up to 20 days per year, driving up to 17 hours to experience historic tracks like Road Atlanta, Road America, Virginia Int'l, Watkin's Glen, Le Circuit Mont Tremblant, mostly hauling track wheels in the Supra. I've diced it up with Vipers and have always respected them.
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Road manners, and the pleasure side of street driving has always been important, and driving to distant tracks has provided that opportunity to drive when life got in the way of being able to do so regularly otherwise. Tired of hauling and swapping track wheels I bought the Jaguar XKR 2 years ago, and had it on track 24 hours later.
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. I just came back with it from a 3 day trip to Circuit Mont Tremblant where I shared the track with 26 Porsche 911 GT3/GT3 RS, a modified GT-R, and 2 other cars. An SRT Viper would have been almost the least expensive car there, and by half in a number of cases. A Viper wouldn't have been the quickest there, my XKR would never be at any event, but nobody had more fun than I did, and the car got a lot of attention and thumbs up. I took the owner of the fastest car there for a 25 minute session and he couldn't believe how well balanced the XKR was driven on the limits of grip (on street tires!), and that's how I set-up the Supra as well.
Point being, for me it has to be fast, handle well for an advanced skill level driver, but doesn't have to beat this or that in the rags, doesn't need a certain amount of horsepower, the last thing I would do is modify the engine for fear of screwing with reliability on the track, and it absolutely needs to have great long distance road manners, exclusivity and and provide pride of ownership.
As more has become known about the Gen V I have a number of concerns, some of which others have mentioned above, and I hope they get addressed. Most can over-look this or that for a car they otherwise love, but taken together it became too much.
-The dealer experience was a disappointment, and I should feel good when I hand over well over a hundred grand. There was no effort made to get me back into the showroom when they got one, or behind the wheel despite knowing I was seriously interested, the car would target my needs, and I could afford one.
-SRT completely flubbed the launch, and not getting the car's handling sorted before allowing testing was huge. Then they continued to embarrass the entire community with a rubbish tester for MT. If I told my track buddies I bought a Viper now they'd think I lost it...seriously. You only get one chance to make a good first impression, and a failed subsequent failure to make a better one was just unforgivable.
-I already know I can't handle a droning exhaust, nor should I have to with an OEM, and I have a 3rd track car that I only drive at my local home track (Mosport) because of it. I've swapped exhausts when I added a lot of power, but not so I can handle driving a bone stock car at highway speeds in top gear.
-They don't offer the Track Pack anymore, and I can't order those brakes that I specifically wanted separately either.
-I've loved the 6 speed stick in the Supra, but boy does it feel like an antique on track compared to the excellent 6 speed auto ZF in the XKR with paddles. Tired of hearing SRT didn't have the budget. That's what I'd order without a second's hesitation, as would be the convertible...both will hopefully be available in the not too distant future.
I don't know if the windshield header visibility, seat padding, pedal placement or room would be an issue, and I suspect if you like the car you'd easily get used to those, but the other points have killed my interest for now. Some feel Ralph is a hero, but for someone new to the Viper scene he just seems to be the one at the wheel of a wreck. SRT problems seem so broad and deep that I would have thought a change at the top would be step 1 to resolving the issues. I genuinely hope they can do it, and since nothing else interests me enough I'll patiently, respectfully and quietly sit on the sidelines waiting for improvement.
Bruce
I would love to know the story behind the story with that rag.
