What is it with people who think the Viper doesn't handle and is only a 1/4

[Saleen-Explorer]

What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=202877#post202877

I'm "Saleen" on there and posted on the 2nd page but you can read the 1st and see the comments on Vipers, I'm just getting sick and tired of people saying seriously idiotic things such as the Viper being a 1/4 mile car only.

They wonder why imports recieve such low respect from most people. Every import forum I've been on has said the same thing, "Vipers are straight line cars only, they **** for handling" etc. Or I've seen people say something as dumb as "yeh, he might take you in a 1/4, but wait untill you get in some turns".....well, your definitley going to wait scince you'll be too busy trying to figure out how far ahead that Viper just pulled away from you in the turn

What also irks me are the poeple who say their unreliable etc, when rarely people have problems with the car, and look at how many people track their Vipers with high miles with no problems.

I think I'm going to start a thread over there on what they think about Vipers regarding handling etc. Just to get an idea of what the NSX owners think of it scince my main problem with the above link was that Integra guy (gotta be a correlation somehow between mentallity levels and owning a 4 ******)

Yeh ---> "Viper ***** for road courses"

 

[genXgts]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

Vipers **** at 1/4 mile actually, launching one is an exercise in futility at all but best hitting tracks.

Useless drivel for the most part, I wouldn't hold much stock in it. Those narrow 335 (345 SRT) rear tires have a hard time holding the road in corners I know. hahaha, widest tire ever put on a car, period.

 

[Fast Freddy]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

the reason the viper gets this 1/4 mile only bad rap is because all the wannabe racers buy a viper, stick a supercharger on it and use it on the drag strip only because it is a easy way to go fast in the quarter mile. but real racers like myself know better. real drag racers choose automatic transmission and solid rear ends for drag racing. that is what i bought my camaro and my lightning for. because they are built with drag racing in mind not road racing.

i bought my viper to go road racing with because that is what it is designed to do (manual tranny, independent suspension, etc.). i will be modding my viper engine for more power via a normally aspirated build up. just like a lemans viper does. real road race cars use normally aspirated power or turbos. real road race cars never use superchargers. name one road race track in the world where a viper or any other car for that matter holds the track record that is using a supercharger. for that matter name one professional road racing organization that has ever allowed or used superchargers in there racing. superchargers are for drag racing and automatic transmissions only in my opinion and the opinion of most real professional motorsport racing orginizations. mixing a roots type blower with a manual tranny is ignorant in my opinion.

all these viper tuner shops that are making supercharger kits and putting them on vipers are doing a great disservice to the viper in my opinion. i think these so called tuners need to wake up and smell the coffee. just like all these rice buners trying to drag race with a front wheel drive car need to take that crap back to japan and leave it there. real tuners and real racers that are truly dedicated to motorsport; design and race with intelligence, not ego.

 

[Saleen-Explorer]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

Vipers **** at 1/4 mile actually, launching one is an exercise in futility at all but best hitting tracks.

Thats what I think is so funny b/c we all on here know the Viper setup ***** for 1/4 mile use (not to say it can't be made to run awsome times as many have proved), and excells on road courses which is the total opposite of what they say, just typical ricer intelligence.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

Good reply Saleen. You hit on all ten cylinders. Are you a member of SAFE Motorsports? If so, I'll see you at Sebring in December.

 

[Nexus-6]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

What is it with people who think the Viper doesn't handle and is only a 1/4

'cause everyone else has wee lil' *** pees.

You really know the answer to this already...that thread is on an NSX page. It's just how it goes.

Example -

Some guy who parks in the parking lot at my office owns a bright red Avalanche...with bright yellow DECAL flames and yellow flags. And red Chevy emblems. And Yellow lettering. No pooh. I just threw up on my keyboard recalling the details.

Anyhow, he parks it across 4 slots in the corner as if it's a Bentley. And to him, it is.

Poor idiot. I thought the Avalanche couldn't actually GET any uglier. I was sooooooooooooo wrong.

I'll take pics tomorrow. It'll be fun. Where was this going........? Ah yes - to him, that truck is the PINACLE of automotive perfection. He of course has no clue, but you can take this fella and replace him with pretty much any other single marquee worshiping nut and the story is the same.

Last year, when I took delivery of my Viper, I was naturally excited and spread the good word on some of the other boards I frequent (where there are some objective folks still - although they are few and far between these days).

One of the morons on the roadfly (BMW) boards actually said the following :

"I don't like Vipers. They're too American."

I punched him in the face.

('course it was more of a "I'm going to punch you right in the face!" response but, yeah...)

People are stupid. All of them. Ignore all of them enjoy your stuff.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

I really don't care what anyone says about my Viper. I didn't buy it for them and didn't ask for advice or anyone's opinion when I bought it. Just today as I pulled up to a restaurant that serves large breasts some guy said "nice go-cart," I just smiled and said "It's just a Dodge." He was just kidding but even if he were serious my reply would have been the same.

 

[Nexus-6]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

I really don't care what anyone says about my Viper. I didn't buy it for them and didn't ask for advice or anyone's opinion when I bought it. Just today as I pulled up to a restaurant that serves large breasts some guy said "nice go-cart," I just smiled and said "It's just a Dodge." He was just kidding but even if he were serious my reply would have been the same.

Shoulda punched him in the face!

JK....I know how it goes. The other day I had the Viper at the gas station and while pumpin' away some fella in a REALLY fast looking newer Monte Carlo came over and said really loudly : "I betcha I git butter mahles to da galeen than dat der thing!"

I gave him a big thumbs up, followed by the circle/thumb perfection "OTAY!" and he laughed like Boss Hogg.

 

[Fast Freddy]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

kick his ***, seabass!!!

 

[Nexus-6]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

lmao...

 

[Saleen-Explorer]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

Good reply Saleen. You hit on all ten cylinders. Are you a member of SAFE Motorsports? If so, I'll see you at Sebring in December.

No, not yet at least , when we get the Viper I'll most likely join, and I'm really looking foward to having some free time to be able to track it. A friend of my mom's has an early 80's 911 S/C prepped for track use and he's the one who got me into that (still love drag racing). I've done events with him when they allowed and also where I was able to freely track the car with him in it, they can be strict sometimes about who's allowed to go blah blah and I wasn't part of a club or anything. I still have a long ways to go though to learn. Really looking foward to pushing my limits with the Viper, kinda scary saying that isn't it lol .

I look foward to one day running out there with you, you'll be my mentor for tracking the Viper, heh.

 

[Snakester]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

Almost everyone that I've read complain about a Viper's handling has never driven one. The rest of the complaints come from people expecting the Viper to be a luxury car, economy car, or SUV.

I like NSXs quite a bit, but the new ones cost more than a Viper and simply cannot offer near the overall performance because they lack power, and especially torque. But they are very good handling cars, and require less effort and skill to drive around a corner than a Viper does.
So for newbie/unskilled drivers, unfamiliar with dealing with the kind of power that a Viper has (like some auto journalists), it's logical that they would prefer the NSX despite it's power shortcomings.

The Viper is known around the world as a high performance standard by which most fast cars are judged, and many people choose to ignore it's balanced performance, and concentrate on biased stories that they have heard/read about it being a crude muscle car, drag racer, having poor HP/L, horrible gas mileage, and dangerous handling.

Mostly it comes down to either jealousy or simply that they prefer another kind of car, slower, but with more luxury, technology, or prestige. Or a cheap used car that they can mod into a "giant killer" pseudo-racecar.

Vipers are not simple to drive really quickly around corners, but they can handle extremely well in the right hands.

-Dean.

 

[Venom 1000TT]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

I think my car proves them totally wrong. Not only is it fast in the 1/4 mile but it handles like it's on rails on the road course. I put Penske's on all four corners & WOW did it do wonders. Nobody gets around me in the infield yet alone on the straights. And what's nice with the power is I practically drive it like an automatic & stay in 4th gear most of the time because it has so much power, i just romp on it when I need it & it's there!.

 

[slaughterj]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

Nexus, you been listening to Pantera lately (referring to your sig)?

 

[ChrisGTS]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

Actually, I think Corvette owners are some of the worst offenders in the "Vipers don't handle" category. When I had a Z06, that was what I heard all the time, but again, those are people who have never driven one. The first time I put my Viper on an autocross course, that myth was gone forever. My track experience has taught me the same thing.
Actually, I think the genesis of it is magazine reviews. I have seen lots of commentary in the auto mags about how difficult-to-handle the Viper is on a road course. I have no idea where this comment comes from, unless it is just a situation where the reviewers get over-eager with the throttle and don't have traction control to correct their error.
I try to do my part to dispel this myth by doing regular autocross events with the Z06 crowd, and I think they are beginning to learn.

 

[SapphireGTS]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

Anyone that has driven a open wheel real race car on a track will know that the cars that have the potential to handle the best are easiest to spin out if you dont know what you are doing. The first time I was in an open wheeled car at Mid-Ohio I spent a day just spinning out all over the place. To much gas in the corner=spin out, not enough gas=spin out, any braking=spin out..

Of course the C5 is easy to make handle well. It thinks for you.

 

[Nexus-6]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

Nexus, you been listening to Pantera lately (referring to your sig)?

I was wondering if anyone here knew that line...

 

[SapphireGTS]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

Come one Nex, give us a harder one next time.

 

[Nexus-6]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

heh...

 

[slaughterj]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

Viper-owning metal listeners unite!

 

[LETHAL GTS]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a

Punch them in the face LOL LOL LOL!
I think that's the answer!
The thing people don't understand about cars is some have goobs of torque and most don't. Goobs of power will make you spin in the corners if you don't know how to feed the throttle right! You take a NSX as an example, it's like going to the local amusement park and driving the Go-karts. The way you drive them is go pedal to the floor and leave it there. They don't have enough torque to spin.
We have a local road coarse and there are a couple guys with NSX's that come to play often. NO CONTEST!! Same with alot of the European cars. I drove my dad's SLK32 AMG at our local track and it was fun, but very little skill needed to drive it. Ex. gas to the floor in the straights and coming from the apex, brakes to the floor going into the turn.
You have to know how to handle the power of a Viper, because if you don't you will be spinning out in every corner. That's what I think gives the average person the impression they don't handle. It doesn't mean it doesn't handle, it just means it's not idiot proof is all!!!

 

[SNKEBIT]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a

What Tracy said!!!!!!!!

 

[Nexus-6]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a

...goobs of torque and most don't. Goobs of power will make you spin in the corners...

Mmmmmmmmmmm.....goobs........

 

[Nexus-6]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a

That's what I think gives the average person the impression they don't handle. It doesn't mean it doesn't handle, it just means it's not idiot proof is all!!!

Exactamundo!

A buddy of mine, who shall remain nameless and unfortunately hasn't seen the light at the end of the American Muscle tunnel, offered up similar words when I took delivery of the Viper last year.

"Oooooh....yeah....you're gonna have to like, be careful on the track cause those things are tricky at the limits. Yeaaaah....."

Tricky at the limits = room for the driver to grow. The car owns YOU. She's in charge. Treat her right and she'll dance but ya can't go slapping her around all silly right off the bat!

Translation of that advice is really quite simple : "Man, I personally wouldn't even want to push in that thing."

Respect the torque. Squeeze the trigger gently. Enjoy clean air.

 

[Nexus-6]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

Viper-owning metal listeners unite!

You must be registered for see images

 

[Nexus-6]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

As promised.

Vomit inducing evidence of "GUY 1" - his vanity plate.

And I pretty much dig ALL cars. This guy managed to introduce me to something I don't dig so much. As in, I shield my eyes whenver I'm in the parking lot lest I fall dead from eyerot.

I apologize in advance for any ruined keyboards.

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images

Man I took this one WAAAAY the F off topic.

 

[Torquemonster]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

I think my car proves them totally wrong. Not only is it fast in the 1/4 mile but it handles like it's on rails on the road course. I put Penske's on all four corners & WOW did it do wonders. Nobody gets around me in the infield yet alone on the straights. And what's nice with the power is I practically drive it like an automatic & stay in 4th gear most of the time because it has so much power, i just romp on it when I need it & it's there!.

wow! best of both worlds! You and Paolo should run each other - both cars are well set up.

 

[Joel]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

Vipers came first, third and fourth in the RWD handling course at the UK TOTB. And the best of the 4wd cars, some of which had approaching 900bhp were only about 1.5 second faster over a 40 second course

 

[ChoiceViper]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

I always thought those Avalanches needed a little more plastic on them though.

 

[onerareviper]

Re: What is it with people who think the Viper doesn\'t handle and is only a 1/4

Just point them to the 'One Lap of America' competition, where high performance street cars compete at many tracks (usually all road courses, except 1 drag 1 oval) across the country (once a year). The Viper holds the record for winning 3 years in a row, if memory serves. I believe it has the most wins of any car since it's production date. It just comes down to jealousy, to be honest.

It's good to be the king....