Why no roll protection for the 2008?

[Kai SRT10]

The 2008 addressed most every shortcoming of the Gen III except for one glaring omission: Roll over protection.

Why do you suppose that on a self described track car, there is no roll-over protection?

A beefed up roll bar would add both safety and torsional rigidity. Seems like a no brainer to put it in (no pun intended.)

I was meaning to ask this question during the SRT Engineer live chat, but forgot.

Anyone have any insight as to why the Viper goes without any roll-over protection?

 

[ledfoot]

you will have to buy a coupe.......dodge does'nt want the liability on roll bars.

 

[The Great One]

you will have to buy a coupe.......dodge does'nt want the liability on roll bars.

The coupe doesn't really add that much protection either.

Regarding the liability on roll bars; the Gen 1/2's had built in protection that was not considered a "roll bar" but they were very strong. Why not do the same sort of thing for the SRT's? The SRT verts are a perfect canvas for a roll bar. Look at the Autoform bar. It looks like it came on the car stock. DC should have put some sort of rollover protection in these cars.

 

[Snakester]

I think that DC was very careful to not admit that the rollbar on the RT/10 was actually a roll bar, for legal reasons. But now so many cars in this price range have pop-up roll bars, and other rollover protection. The key here is that they do have the fake roll bars as a styling element, so it wouldn't take that much to simply make them real, and solid, and just keep the news under their hat.
Maybe they are worried about the added weight? Or to have the car's image appear to be condoning street racing or something silly like that.

My hope is that Dodge will be coming out with a new ACR Viper early next year, with 700HP, CF panels and 150lbs less weight, 6-point belts and a built-in roll cage, as there already is in the Porsche 997 GT3 RS.

It would make for an outstanding one-two knockout punch following the impressive '08 Viper.

It would squarely compete against the upcoming Ferrari F430 CS, Porsche GT2, Corvette SS, Gallardo SL, and threaten top supercars like the Zonda F, Koenigsegg CCX, Saleen S7 TT.

 

[Canyon707]

I put a rollbar in my 04 srt10. I think with the door posts not having any steel in them I think you would still be dead in a roll over. Its pretty much a no brainer.... The Viper is not a car that does well upside down. Imagine sliding down the highway upside down. seeing the door/window posts deslove before your eyes.... ouch.

 

[repiv]

I put a rollbar in my 04 srt10. I think with the door posts not having any steel in them I think you would still be dead in a roll over. Its pretty much a no brainer.... The Viper is not a car that does well upside down. Imagine sliding down the highway upside down. seeing the door/window posts deslove before your eyes.... ouch.

been there done that, car rolled 3x, in my opinion the autoform bar was one of the reasons we survived, having the 6 points on was the other

 

[SoCal Rebell]

I'm going to put a 4 point roll bar in, my buddy is putting in a full cage, we do a lot of road racing.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

The Viper meets or exceeds government safety requirements. With all the whining about 08 weight how much more weight do you think a roll bar exceeding government standards would be?

Really guys, the Viper is a very durable and very safe and very proven street legal track car. If you want a full out track car Dodge builds one of those too.

 

[Kai SRT10]

The Viper meets or exceeds government safety requirements. With all the whining about 08 weight how much more weight do you think a roll bar exceeding government standards would be?

Really guys, the Viper is a very durable and very safe and very proven street legal track car. If you want a full out track car Dodge builds one of those too.

I guess my thought is that you should be able to take Dodge's "race ready street car" to an open track day without getting an aftermarket roll bar.

My car has an autoform roll bar, and a full 10 pound fire supression system, 5 pound extinguisher, and weighs 3360 with a full tank of gas, so the addition of some roll protection doesn't necessarily mean the car has to be heavy.

 

[Viper X]

This is a good question Kai. I still can't figure out why Dodge didn't include some enhanced roll protection with the new coupe. Maybe they did and just don't talk about it.

Has anyone taken the head liner out of a new coupe to get a good look at the structure?

Dan

 

[The Great One]

Has anyone taken the head liner out of a new coupe to get a good look at the structure?

Dan

Here is the "roll protection" in the SRT coupes. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2006...ryZ33725QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[SoCal Rebell]

Of the scores if not 100s of track days I've been to I've never seen a Viper roll, crash yes, roll no. If you are going for a casual open track day chances are you are not going to go fast enough to roll the Viper. When running on the edge at 10/10ths a little protection is nice, then something "freak" can happen.

 

[Kai SRT10]

Of the scores if not 100s of track days I've been to I've never seen a Viper roll, crash yes, roll no. If you are going for a casual open track day chances are you are not going to go fast enough to roll the Viper. When running on the edge at 10/10ths a little protection is nice, then something "freak" can happen.

My last "casual" track day, I was redlined in 4th gear on the front straight which leads into a corner taken at about 95mph. I was glad for my (aftermarket) roll bar.

If I'm not mistaken, the folks at Viper Days won't let a Gen III vert run without aftermarket add-ons. That just seems wrong to me.

 

[Janni]

Tell this guy about how hard it is to get a Viper to rollover....

 

[SylvanSRT]

I did have this explained to me by someone in the know and close to these cars. Even if the Viper did have "Real Rollbar" the bigger issue(downfall) comes more from the gov. mandated seatbelts. Federal gov retractable/reeling belts these take a certian amount of time(fractions of a second) to reel/lock when the inertial mechanism senses the momentum. This fraction of a second is enough time that your body/head will end up sliding upward towards the roof structure and over the height of the rollbars. Thus making them completly ineffective in stopping head and or neck trauma. This picture looks compelety different when wearing a 5 or 6 pt harness that "locks" you into the seat in the event of a rollover, but these restraints are not legal as a primary belt in a street driven car, i dont know it they are allowed to be worn in conjunction with the gov mandated inertial locking belts? This should explain at least for the most part why. For those of us that do track days/HPDE's a solid structural unit would make us feel A LOT better!

 

[SoCal Rebell]

Tell this guy about how hard it is to get a Viper to rollover....

That's on the street Janni, lots more variables then on a track, including alcohol!!!

At least he only had minor injuries.

 

[Frank Parise]

My $.02 worth....

Dodge was smart enough to address the issue of race safety by producing the Competition Coupe.... fuel cell, fire suppression system, ignition cut-off, safety harnesses, safety-designed race seat, full roll cage with side bars, window net, right restraint net, etc., and about 400 pounds lighter than a street car.

I was running a hot practice lap during a private test session in my fully race-prepared 96 GTS at VIR. I was the only car on the track. Lost control of the back end in a fast right-hander, helicoptered through the wet grass, hit the guard rail broadside on the driver's door at something approaching triple digits. What saved my life was the Nascar-style side-bar at the driver's door and the window net which kept my head inside the car. Knocked every body panel off the front, rear, and left side of the car. No rollover. Fortunately no fire and only a minor concussion along with a totaled race car. Purchased my Competition Coupe later that year and realized what an outstanding improvement this car was in terms of safety.

My teammate was racing his fully race-prepared 96 GTS Viper at Road America. Going about 120 MPH into the Kink, his PS line failed causing a fire in the engine compartment and filling the cockpit with smoke. He immediately hit the fire suppression system button and got a face full of fire retardant. Do you realize how hard it is to stop a car from that speed when you're totally blinded, can't breathe, and thinking about how quick you can get out of the car without burning to death? Rollover protection wasn't a factor, but fire suppression and advanced race driving skills were.

I can go on and on about race incidents, but here's the quick point.....The roll protection you are talking about may or may not protect you from the many different freak incidents that can occur on a race track. Don't get a false sense of security because you have a rollover bar.

If you want to race and feel as safe as possible. buy a racecar. A fast and good-handling sportscar is not the same as a racecar.

 

[Viper X]

I saw a race prepped GTS roll at Spring Mountain a coupe of years a go. The roll bar saved the driver and the instructor.

It does look like the new coupe has at least some roll protection.

Dan

 

[repiv]

I saw a race prepped GTS roll at Spring Mountain a coupe of years a go. The roll bar saved the driver and the instructor.

It does look like the new coupe has at least some roll protection.

Dan

saw that same accident, the instructor was my instructor the following day, he wasn't as nervous as I thought he would be

 

[The Great One]

Even if the Viper did have "Real Rollbar" the bigger issue(downfall) comes more from the gov. mandated seatbelts. Federal gov retractable/reeling belts these take a certian amount of time(fractions of a second) to reel/lock when the inertial mechanism senses the momentum. This fraction of a second is enough time that your body/head will end up sliding upward towards the roof structure and over the height of the rollbars. Thus making them completly ineffective in stopping head and or neck trauma.

In the Gen II, the lap portion of the belt keeps you in the seat pretty tightly, even when the belt isn't locked. I have never been in a Gen III so I have no idea if it is the same or not.

Seeing the amount of people that have walked away from rollovers in the Gen I/II cars, I wouldn't imagine why DC didn't put some sort of rollover protection for the Gen III cars. Even if there is a chance that the bar wouldn't be effective, that still means that there is a chance that it would be.

 

[The Great One]

Speaking of roll protection, this recent accident is a perfect reason why there should be roll protection in the Vipers. I still don't understand why DC put it in the Gen I/II's, but not the newer cars. The driver walked away without major injuries.

http://forums.viperclub.org/showthread.php?t=603614