Viper $ SLR exhaust

[viperz]

Can anyone explain to me why the Viper's have a hard time with the exhaust heat? Since the SLR has the exhaust exit just behind the front wheels close to the edge of the front door. You'd think it would melt everything in sight.

Why doesn't Mercedes have a problem with interior heat and the Viper does? I assume each engine should put out about the same ammount of heat.

After all DC should or could put some of the SLR tech to the Viper and it could save weight as well.

Any input?

 

[kverges]

Gee, I did not know anyone had driven a SLR with an eye toward exhaust heat (if at all). Was there a report that the production SLR had no exhaust heat from side exhaust? Also the SLR exhaust seems to exit before the front door, so that would be an issue. Oh, and the SLR costs a bit more

 

[Phoenix SRT]

Keith, what is your point? The cockpit heat in the SRT is terrible with the top down and DC should have handled the problem long before production models hit the street. BTW, the heat swirls in from not only the exhaust, but from the hood vents, the side vents, underneath the car and from Hell, itself, it seems.

And yes, the SLR costs more. So what. Even if the SRT was some cheap economy car, let alone an $80k+ car, you shouldn't be able to cook a turkey on center console.

I love the car, but such a big problem should never have made it to production.

 

[Larry Macedo]

I haven't had much experience with the SRT yet, but it would be interesting to know if the full length belly pan is holding in quite a bit of heat. If I had one here in the shop it would be interesting to test one by removing the under tray to see if that aids in releasing the heat. Any thoughts? I'm not an engineer so go easy on me if this makes no sense.

 

[viperz]

The point was that I'm sure an SLR owner wont's stand for being even a "little" hot.
I just wonder how they manage the heat while keeping the exhaust cats and sound down with out much of an exhaust.

 

[Dawg2Snake]

The heat is compounded by several things - the 2nd set of cats is right at the driver's footwell. The mufflers retain heat as well and are in the side sills. The crossover pipes are underneath the passenger seating. Plus, all the pipes are stainless steel, which holds more heat.

Maybe the SLR has the cats located elsewhere or they don't have the crossover, etc.

My solution? Belanger's high flow cat with headers relocates a single cat (rather than 2) further forward - away from the footwell, and the exhaust is aluminized steel which retains less heat to transmit to the cockpit, and eliminates the crossover.

It's being installed today.

 

[Daniel Cragin/DC Performance Inc]

We are just finishing our ATP cool kit for the new SRT 10's.
The initial results have been dramatic. The heat in these new cars
is just as bad as the old models and with the cats right under your feet it can be uncomfortable. I will keep you posted on the results.

 

[KenH]

It looks like they have very large exhaust stacks of some type which probably provide some cooling. Also, by exiting in front of the passenger compartment, you avoid the hot exhaust going along the door sill. My boss has had one on order for years. If they ever ship, I'll give you a first hand report.

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--- Ken

 

[Phoenix SRT]

Jim and Dan -

Yes, keep us posted. If there are things to be done about the heat that swirls into the cockpit, I'm interested.

Oh, yeah. I had a Gen 1 before my SRT and I find that the SRT's cockpit is hotter. With the Gen 1, only the footwell got really warm. With the SRT, the heat is quite evenly distributed throughout the entire cockpit. At least I cook evenly now.

 

[Dawg2Snake]

A brief update thus far:
I did Belanger headers with a pair of high flow cats, straight side pipes and single mufflers. The heat is 75% improved! Much more livable cabin! Right now that car has resonance at 3000 rpm, which is too loud for me. They can add a second baffled chamber muffler to reduce this, and I will have that done next month. Although loud, the sound is awesome compared to stock. i will also dyno again next month to see what kind of power increase I got.

 

[kverges]

I guess I am tolerant, but the heat is the least of the problems with the car IMO.