Wanting to buy a Twin Turbo (or similar) Viper. Questions..

[Darth Menace]

hey guys, as the topic says, I am looking to buy a twin turbo viper. It will likely be a GTS as that is where my price range falls (RT10 would be cool too, but i'd have to find a snappy looking soiler). I was just wondering about the TT vipers (or N/A & Supercharged of equivelant power). Is this an okay idea, or are these cars so high power that they are ticking time bombs for breakdown. Are there some trouble years/models that seem to have consistant problems. This will be a daily driver, but I also want it amazingly fast to kick ass when I bring it to the track.

I have been watching the market for a while, and asking prices seem to have jumped during the summer months which makes sense, but I am thinking of buying more into the offseason.

Any advice would be great.

 

[forexx4]

TT GTS as a daily? Not a very good idea if you ask me considering fuel consumption, wear and tear, *ss#073 drivers, etc.

 

[Darth Menace]

I understand gas is bad, but I guess that's part of buying a viper. But you talk about wear and tear...are TT's problem-prone?

thanks,

 

[Kala]

DM.. What kind of cars have you had?

 

[vpower01]

I drive mine daily no problems at all. I just check oil level and clean filters often...mine are under the car.
I have a lift so its no big deal.

 

[Darth Menace]

Now, I've been reading about oiled turbo's and oil-less. is that what you're talking about checking oil and clean filters? or do you mean the turbos dirty the motor oil faster?

 

[eucharistos]

...., *ss#073 drivers, etc.

nice

 

[99 R/T 10]

If you are open to a RT TT, I know where you can get one for $45K

 

[Moundir]

If you are open to a RT TT, I know where you can get one for $45K

Is this your car you're selling?

 

[SlayerLS1]

If I were you, I would buy a viper without twin turbos. It sounds like you have no idea what you're getting into. Read and research while you enjoy your car, and if you still think it's a good idea, go with the TT down the road.

There's also the issue of daily driving a viper, but that's something else altogether.

 

[99 R/T 10]

Is this your car you're selling?

No, Chad from Ohio. It is a beautiful black RT/10 with over 1000 at the wheels.


http://www.viperalley.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=6930&sort=2&cat=2&page=1

 

[Darth Menace]

If you are open to a RT TT, I know where you can get one for $45K

Ya, i'm shooting for a hardtop, but it looks like a RT might make more sense financially. I'd need to do some studying up on them and see what spoilers go good with rt10 as it looks naked not having the **** rear end like a gts

 

[Darth Menace]

If I were you, I would buy a viper without twin turbos. It sounds like you have no idea what you're getting into. Read and research while you enjoy your car, and if you still think it's a good idea, go with the TT down the road.

There's also the issue of daily driving a viper, but that's something else altogether.

I agree and disagree. I know that sometimes people step into things, but honestly buying it already done and ready to rock makes more sense in my books. Instead of buying/selling, or paying to get the TT's done afterwards.

What are the issues of daily driving a viper? mechanical, or the loose nut behind the wheel? Being daily driver would mean about 5000km/year max.

 

[Darth Menace]

ultimately I don't care if it's TT, but I want it to run 9 second 1/4 with an average driver (me)

 

[plumcrazy]

the car will be capable of 9's but not likely the driver in that car. (i can say this as it applies to me). if you have an AEM or motec, you can turn the boost down to a safer level and that will make it more reliable in the long run. boost = less life in the long run. how much, who knows. lost of high mile boosted cars out there.

buying a done boosted car makes all the sense in the world if its RIGHT.

right price
right tuner
right engine build
right fuel system
right compression test
right leak down test
etc.......

 

[SlayerLS1]

I agree and disagree. I know that sometimes people step into things, but honestly buying it already done and ready to rock makes more sense in my books. Instead of buying/selling, or paying to get the TT's done afterwards.

What are the issues of daily driving a viper? mechanical, or the loose nut behind the wheel? Being daily driver would mean about 5000km/year max.

It really depends. It depends on where you live and what you can put up with. If you have snow, the car will be fairly useless. Do you have a second car? You CAN drive it in the rain, but I wouldn't want to on a regular basis. You don't sound like the type that will be bothered by the constant attention, so no worries there.

As for the twin turbo, it seems like it makes financial sense to buy a modded car, but I wouldn't do it unless I knew the owner and the work was done at a shop with a good reputation. You may think you are getting a trouble-free bargain, but a car with an unknown history can be more of a headache than it's worth. I've had a couple friends who are definitely not car-stupid who bought cars that were supposedly trouble free and turned out not to be.

One friend bought a N/A car with forged internals. The previous owner said that he planned to add boost, but decided not to...provided a receipt from a shop about work done, etc. So my friend put a turbo on this car, and sold it a couple months later since he gets sick of cars pretty quickly. Two weeks later, the next owner blew the motor. Upon inspection during the engine teardown, it turned out the engine internals were stock. The receipt was bogus.

A second friend of mine bought a SN95 Cobra with a large blower on it from a guy across the country. The car made some good power, but it became headache after headache for him. Lots of reliability issues...he finally decided that it was broken more than it was working, and sold it.

Now I understand that every motor is different, and some take boost better than others. But keep this in mind. The heavier the mods, the more reliability issues you will encounter. Personally, I would mitigate that risk by knowing exactly what mods are going into the car and personally doing the work or using a shop with a very good reputation.


Also, I don't know about your previous experience with fast cars, but if you are used to normal vehicles, going directly to a TT viper sounds like a recipe for a wreck to me.

 

[Vital Velocity]

What are you currently driving? How much are you looking to spend on a modded viper?

 

[forexx4]

Have you made your last will & testament?

 

[Darth Menace]

Hey, it looks like I will reply to each post seperately as they all bring up valid points. I have seen that most HH Twin turbo set-ups have the boost gauge to turn it down. Most of the Twin turbo setups I have seen for sale are HH turbos. An unknown garage job twin turbo setup is something I would avoid though.

the car will be capable of 9's but not likely the driver in that car. (i can say this as it applies to me). if you have an AEM or motec, you can turn the boost down to a safer level and that will make it more reliable in the long run. boost = less life in the long run. how much, who knows. lost of high mile boosted cars out there.

buying a done boosted car makes all the sense in the world if its RIGHT.

right price
right tuner
right engine build
right fuel system
right compression test
right leak down test
etc.......

 

[Darth Menace]

Ya, here is a quick synopsis of what's going on. I live in Canada, and sold my sports cars (nothing too spectacular) when I moved to a rural area...I mean why beat up a sports car on these **** ass roads.

If/when I buy a Viper, I know that I will only be able to drive it 5-6 months of the year, but this is something that Canadian sports car owners have realized.

No, I have no previous experience with Vipers. I have owned two Mustangs in the past, and have used them to cruise around during the summer (putting very little KM on them), going to car shows, going to the 1/4 mile track now and then. I am moving to civilization again, and am making good money (no I am not a crazy millionaire like some of you guys must be with your 15 vipers). I am a Mustang guy as I have owned them in the past, but only because they are the poor man's sports car (mustang owners need not take this personally, but they are obviously on the cheaper end of things) I know when I owned my mustang I wanted faster, faster, more mods...so I figure why not buy a car i'd be happy with the speed right out of the box? I am a sports car guy, but I hate the ********** that motorcycles have on the cars for a mere fraction of the price, so a TT Viper will solve that problem (sure there is always a faster vehicle, but you get what i'm saying)

It really depends. It depends on where you live and what you can put up with. If you have snow, the car will be fairly useless. Do you have a second car? You CAN drive it in the rain, but I wouldn't want to on a regular basis. You don't sound like the type that will be bothered by the constant attention, so no worries there.

As for the twin turbo, it seems like it makes financial sense to buy a modded car, but I wouldn't do it unless I knew the owner and the work was done at a shop with a good reputation. You may think you are getting a trouble-free bargain, but a car with an unknown history can be more of a headache than it's worth. I've had a couple friends who are definitely not car-stupid who bought cars that were supposedly trouble free and turned out not to be.

One friend bought a N/A car with forged internals. The previous owner said that he planned to add boost, but decided not to...provided a receipt from a shop about work done, etc. So my friend put a turbo on this car, and sold it a couple months later since he gets sick of cars pretty quickly. Two weeks later, the next owner blew the motor. Upon inspection during the engine teardown, it turned out the engine internals were stock. The receipt was bogus.

A second friend of mine bought a SN95 Cobra with a large blower on it from a guy across the country. The car made some good power, but it became headache after headache for him. Lots of reliability issues...he finally decided that it was broken more than it was working, and sold it.

Now I understand that every motor is different, and some take boost better than others. But keep this in mind. The heavier the mods, the more reliability issues you will encounter. Personally, I would mitigate that risk by knowing exactly what mods are going into the car and personally doing the work or using a shop with a very good reputation.


Also, I don't know about your previous experience with fast cars, but if you are used to normal vehicles, going directly to a TT viper sounds like a recipe for a wreck to me.

 

[Darth Menace]

What are you currently driving? How much are you looking to spend on a modded viper?

I am currently just driving my 6 cyl grocery getter family car Charger. Sexiest family car I could find, nothing more. I've owned Stangs in the past, but have sold them with plans to move onto bigger and better things one day

I've been looking at Viper prices since last fall, and what appears to be in my budget is a GTS or RT10. I was not prepared to buy at the time, but I saw a blue & white GTS TT sell for $45000. I am not sure if it was at this site or the "alley" but I cannot find the ad anymore. Now that it's summer time, the prices seem to be through the roof for GTS TT cars. So long story short $45000-$50000 (I have seen a number of the HH Twin turbo GTS cars sell for $50000 since I started watching). Needless to say that B&W twin turbo that sold for $45000 will forever haunt me. Long story short, $50,000 or less is how much I am looking to spend on a modded viper.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've been reading on what kind of numbers are required to run 9's in the 1/4 (the driver's capability is another thing). following the chart, for the weight of a Viper+driver, it will take 750rwhp. If I could find a supercharged or N/A Viper that makes those numbers, I'm game. I don't wanna spend more if I don't have to

 

[Darth Menace]

Have you made your last will & testament?

Not everyone who drives/owns a TT Viper dies. Or do they?

 

[V10lover]

Who is gonna do the maintenence on this TT daily driver viper in Canada?

I think that is the question to ask yourself and the problem that I felt into it after buying my 10 ACR last year. I cannot thrust anyone to touch my car here since the bad experiences that I had in the past with a previous sports car. Guess what? I am crossing the border to do the bolt ons on my ACR and other things that I want to. I am even considering shipping the car to Florida or California if I feel too paranoid of things going wrong in other states.

IMO, If you get this TT viper, get ready to take it to a reputable shop in the States everytime something goes wrong. By that I mean, replacing a clutch, tunning issues, turbo issues, Leaking headers, exhaust or whatever else that does not involve oil change, air filter change or balancing wheel/tires for that matter.

Thrust me, there is a minimal line for error in a 1000 TT daily car when it comes to maintenence and solving issues before things go KABOOM.

I ve been there before with a different car, considered much easier and common to work on than a viper and because of a simple methanol injection issue that I had with the motor, I let them attempt to fix it in Canada instead of driving 3hrs to Michigan to those that originally built the whole car. Guess what happened?
I blew up a 30K Livernois Motorsports motor becuase of my lazyness of driving the car 3hrs to Livonia and their lack of experience on projects of that kind... Never again!

Dont let these butchers touch your car in Canada!

Pay the extra dollars to have it shipped or drive the car to the for the piece of mind.

Look for guys like,

Tator,
Roe RAcing,
DC,
UGR and

many others that Know what they are actually doing to those cars.

Have a great day!

 

[Darth Menace]

Are Vipers in general pains in the ass to work on, or just TT ones? Would it be better to get a N/A with some headwork, etc? Or supercharger

 

[fqberful]

A Viper in stock condition is a pretty simple car and pretty easy to work on. Add a pile of complexity in external systems and you make it harder to access some bits.

--FQB

 

[Cobraken]

Just spend the money on getting a bigger penis. It's probably safer and cheaper. You don't need all that trouble bringing H.P. You'll have more fun with a stock Viper. Remember: There's always somebody with a bigger one!

 

[Darth Menace]

what about a N/A vehicle with heads/cam work? Not the pain in the ass of the big toys, but added power. is that a happy medium. are superchargers pain in the ass too?

 

[GTLaser]

Do you live with your parents????...... ..... Sorry this was long over due....

 

[Darth Menace]

No I dont live with my parents. i do not understand where that came from either. Help me out on that one

 

[Kala]

Are Vipers in general pains in the ass to work on, or just TT ones? Would it be better to get a N/A with some headwork, etc? Or supercharger

Coming from a 6 cyl stang, yes, a N/A Viper will be plenty of car for you.