First, I must say, I rarely post on the VCA forums, I guess I don’t have much to say. However, I’m an avid Viper owner. I’m not one of those that polish my car and put maybe 1000 miles a year on it. I race mine. I have about 35K miles on my 2006 Coupe right now and almost all of those miles are track miles or miles getting to the track.
That said, I’ve been tossing around the idea of getting an ACR but just couldn’t justify it in my head because of all the money I’ve spent on my ’06 Coupe and comparing that to the track advantages I already have vs. the advantages of the ACR. I put it all on a spreadsheet a couple of months ago and came up with these reasons for keeping my 06 Coupe:
1. My coupe’s suspension is better than the ACR because I have Moton’s with Eibach springs. Right now, I have 900 lb. front springs and 1100 rear.
2. My coupe’s differential is better than the ACR because I have a Quaife.
3. I have Ballenger headers and cats and put about 470 HP to the rear wheels which is about 50 HP less than a new, stock ACR. 50 HP on a road course isn’t very significant although more HP is always better.
4. All I was really missing was a splitter and wing to be competitive with an ACR.
Enter Woodhouse Performance. I talked to Bob Woodhouse a number of times to work out what I wanted. At first, I thought I wanted the ACR wing and splitter. However, these were not available at the time. I hear that they are now but the price is around $14K and that’s not installed or painted to match the car. If I’m wrong about that price, please let me know since I’ve not really investigated it.
So, Bob and I talked a lot and worked out a solution. The solution was to put on a Comp Coupe wing (the newer model) and a Comp Coupe splitter. Both are carbon fiber and lightweight and the price installed and painted to match was going to be around $9K. Sounds like a deal, right?
I needed to get my car to Blair, Nebraska so I bought air travel from Omaha to Frisco with a return flight back to Omaha. I drove my car up to Blair to drop it off and Bob was kind enough to take me to the airport and we talked a lot along the way. They had my car about a week and when ready I took my return flight back to Omaha and Bob was there to pick me up. Bob is a great guy.
Well, the car looked fantastic. He and Rick Maxwell set it up like the do their comp coupes with the same wing angles and rake and I got a track alignment as well. I had a track alignment before but they made their adjustments based on their track expertise. I drove the car home that day and immediately noticed the downforce. It felt like a large hand was pushing down on the car once I got over 70 MPH or so. Weight without mass is a wonderful thing.
I’ve now been to the track 2 times since I picked it up from Woodhouse Performance on Sept 18th. My home track is Motorsport Ranch in Cresson, TX. I ran only 3 sessions that day because I was tuning the suspension. After my 3 sessions, I not only broke my all-time best time, I was consistently doing so and doing so easily. My best time before the wing/splitter was 1:22.9 and that was a one time thing where I was using all my abilities. My normal average out there was mid 1:23s and low 1:24s. After the wing/splitter, 70% of my times were in the 1:21s with my best time of a 1:21.2. Also, I wasn’t aggressively driving 100% because I was still getting used to the added downforce. I believe that I can consistently get times in the low 1:20s and possibly high 1:19s on the 1.7 track and that’s on old scrub tires. If I went to new tires, I’m sure I can get into the 1:18s. Needless to say, I was shocked and how much better my lap times were. I’m getting close to the times that purpose-built race cars like the Porsche GT-3 Cups and Comp Coupes routinely get out there and yet my car is street legal and I drove it to the track.
Downforce is subtle. You don't necessarily feel like your driving around turns much faster but the clock will prove it. It should be that way. I shouldn't have to feel like I'm driving it harder to get a better time. The car simply handles better and as a result turns in better lap times.
One other thing… I’ve compared my wing/splitter to the ACR wing/splitter. My wing is about 4”-5” wider on either side than on the ACR giving my wing about 8”-10” more width. That has to give me a little better downforce than the ACR wing, I would assume. Also, the front splitter is wider and sticks out about 2”-3” farther than the ACR which also increases downforce.
All-in-all, I couldn’t be more pleased with my car, my lap times, and Bob and Rick’s work. So, if you are contemplating the ACR but have a 2006 or 2008 Coupe, I suggest you check out Woodhouse and see if they can get you there a tad cheaper than dumping what you have for the new ACR. Nothing against the ACR. If I didn’t already have the ’06 Coupe and all the work I’ve done to it, I would have bought the ACR. But, I effectively have that now and I’m very happy.
I've included some links to pictures below:
Pics: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
That said, I’ve been tossing around the idea of getting an ACR but just couldn’t justify it in my head because of all the money I’ve spent on my ’06 Coupe and comparing that to the track advantages I already have vs. the advantages of the ACR. I put it all on a spreadsheet a couple of months ago and came up with these reasons for keeping my 06 Coupe:
1. My coupe’s suspension is better than the ACR because I have Moton’s with Eibach springs. Right now, I have 900 lb. front springs and 1100 rear.
2. My coupe’s differential is better than the ACR because I have a Quaife.
3. I have Ballenger headers and cats and put about 470 HP to the rear wheels which is about 50 HP less than a new, stock ACR. 50 HP on a road course isn’t very significant although more HP is always better.
4. All I was really missing was a splitter and wing to be competitive with an ACR.
Enter Woodhouse Performance. I talked to Bob Woodhouse a number of times to work out what I wanted. At first, I thought I wanted the ACR wing and splitter. However, these were not available at the time. I hear that they are now but the price is around $14K and that’s not installed or painted to match the car. If I’m wrong about that price, please let me know since I’ve not really investigated it.
So, Bob and I talked a lot and worked out a solution. The solution was to put on a Comp Coupe wing (the newer model) and a Comp Coupe splitter. Both are carbon fiber and lightweight and the price installed and painted to match was going to be around $9K. Sounds like a deal, right?
I needed to get my car to Blair, Nebraska so I bought air travel from Omaha to Frisco with a return flight back to Omaha. I drove my car up to Blair to drop it off and Bob was kind enough to take me to the airport and we talked a lot along the way. They had my car about a week and when ready I took my return flight back to Omaha and Bob was there to pick me up. Bob is a great guy.
Well, the car looked fantastic. He and Rick Maxwell set it up like the do their comp coupes with the same wing angles and rake and I got a track alignment as well. I had a track alignment before but they made their adjustments based on their track expertise. I drove the car home that day and immediately noticed the downforce. It felt like a large hand was pushing down on the car once I got over 70 MPH or so. Weight without mass is a wonderful thing.
I’ve now been to the track 2 times since I picked it up from Woodhouse Performance on Sept 18th. My home track is Motorsport Ranch in Cresson, TX. I ran only 3 sessions that day because I was tuning the suspension. After my 3 sessions, I not only broke my all-time best time, I was consistently doing so and doing so easily. My best time before the wing/splitter was 1:22.9 and that was a one time thing where I was using all my abilities. My normal average out there was mid 1:23s and low 1:24s. After the wing/splitter, 70% of my times were in the 1:21s with my best time of a 1:21.2. Also, I wasn’t aggressively driving 100% because I was still getting used to the added downforce. I believe that I can consistently get times in the low 1:20s and possibly high 1:19s on the 1.7 track and that’s on old scrub tires. If I went to new tires, I’m sure I can get into the 1:18s. Needless to say, I was shocked and how much better my lap times were. I’m getting close to the times that purpose-built race cars like the Porsche GT-3 Cups and Comp Coupes routinely get out there and yet my car is street legal and I drove it to the track.
Downforce is subtle. You don't necessarily feel like your driving around turns much faster but the clock will prove it. It should be that way. I shouldn't have to feel like I'm driving it harder to get a better time. The car simply handles better and as a result turns in better lap times.
One other thing… I’ve compared my wing/splitter to the ACR wing/splitter. My wing is about 4”-5” wider on either side than on the ACR giving my wing about 8”-10” more width. That has to give me a little better downforce than the ACR wing, I would assume. Also, the front splitter is wider and sticks out about 2”-3” farther than the ACR which also increases downforce.
All-in-all, I couldn’t be more pleased with my car, my lap times, and Bob and Rick’s work. So, if you are contemplating the ACR but have a 2006 or 2008 Coupe, I suggest you check out Woodhouse and see if they can get you there a tad cheaper than dumping what you have for the new ACR. Nothing against the ACR. If I didn’t already have the ’06 Coupe and all the work I’ve done to it, I would have bought the ACR. But, I effectively have that now and I’m very happy.
I've included some links to pictures below:
Pics: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
It's not wider than the car even though the picture taken from the back makes it look like it is. It is exactly as wide as the car at the car's widest point which is the rear fender width. When I first saw a picture of it and before I saw the car in person, I was nervous that the wing was too wide. It's not. It's perfect. One of the other pictures shows a picture from above showing from the front of the car to the back and you can easily see it's not too wide. If you want to take it off, there's only 4 screws, I think and then it comes right off.
