Maybe tune in Friday night and let us know what you think afterwards!

Bruce

"Viper Sole Survivor Premieres on SPEED March 15

 

I have seen the new viper in person. Looks like they have addressed a lot of shortcomings of the previous interior. However, the exterior looks very similar to last generation (not a bad thing). This car would only appeal to the most hard core performance minded jag owners (Xkr and Xkr-s) who are looking for more fun factor and better lap times. I don't think the viper would be a great daily driver.
Their racing program in alms struggled last year (not unusual for 1st year) and they are a little off pace at Sebring in practice now. Hopefully they will improve for Le Mans

 

Just watched the show with my wife. She thinks it looks great and picked the red colour like the one they showed auctioned at Barrett. She's grounded until further notice!

Bruce

 

Not to me personally!

American car companies care too much about 1/4 mile times and nothing else.

 

Except for ring times! The viper acr has the fastest ring time of any truely production car. The vette zr1 is also in the top 5. Corvette also won alms gt championship last year. The new mustangs (302 and gt500) and camaro zl1 are very fast on a road coarse.

 

It's been all about iconic race track lap times with Viper and Corvette. Acceleration, braking, handling, durability. They've been competing with the best from around the world for years, and winning. Their redesigned models for 2013 with vastly upgraded interiors will now also be competing for the high-end sports/GT/exotic car buyer as well.

Btw, the "Stryker Red" colour my wife liked on the show is a $20,000 option!!! Fortunately she also really, really likes our silver XKR

Bruce

 

Viper and Jaguar buyers are too different breeds. If a buyer is not a "die hard" Jaguar fan, then who knows what sways them from one car to the next. If you are looking at Jag's and Vipers; the list must be longer than just those two cars.

To me, the Viper is a car for someone who is compensating for something; that something is something I'll leave to your imagination... Just like the guy who needs the biggest dog, the loudest Harley, the most tonnage pickup truck.

 

It certainly looks good. Even the inside looks good from what I've seen.

Maybe they've finally caught on. I've just never understood American car makers - They put in all this effort in making a car that will look good from the outside, go really fast in the 1/4 mile, and looks like a 1980's Ford Escort inside.

 

I believe the Viper GTS-R is still currently in 1st place at the 12 hours of Sebring. Not bad for being in the 1st year of this new race car although I heard the C6R has tranny issues. Good to see SRT back in the Le Mans series.

 

That would be generally true. But I think buyers of 510-550 hp XKR and XKR-S models are drawn to a very high level of performance, fit and finish, features, and exclusivity, and the new upgraded Viper scores well in all those areas by all accounts. As performance car styling has generally become more and more aggressive with multiple intakes, scoops, louvers, vents, spoilers, rear diffusers, and wings (even on some Jags) it seems the Viper's look isn't as radical as it once was...and there's a few guys here that will take a look.

Bruce

 

For what it's worth, my experience in driving a Viper is that it's most definitely a beast. It is very exciting and great fun, but not very "friendly" - hot, rough idle, extremely responsive (touchy?), and that's the way I understand that Viper owners want it to be. And it is a cop-magnet - I soon had a local tail that I tried to shake by getting on the Interstate, only to have one come up on me almost immediately. I was told by my dealer friend that 3 of the 7 salesmen that drove it got tickets.

r

 

Funny how SRT came out with a new version of the Viper already due to MT's test of the ZR1 vs Viper in which the ZR1 won. The boss of SRT was P*ssed and so created a TA version due to MT's test. Kudos to SRT to come out with a more track capable Viper in such a short time.

BTW...I am considering the Viper to replace my Jag. Already looking for my next car and Viper is one of them. Just waiting to see what the 997 Tri-Turbo, new Audi R8 and C7 Z06/ZR1 will be offering once revealed in the next year or two. Want more of a sports car next instead of a GT.

 

It's great to see America putting out some amazing track capable cars and they keep raising the bar. Ghost rider- how about the 991 gt3 - this car looks amazing and would probably be more fun for a weekend car than the upcoming 991 TT

 

Got my 9s mixed up....lol. My friend has a 997TT and what I meant was looking forward to see the 991 Tri-Turbo in which we will probably have to wait another Geneva autoshow for it to be revealed. The 991 GT3 looks awesome. I do admit I'm not a track guy as some of you are here as I've only been on a drag strip than an actual road course so I think the 991TTT will probably appeal to me more. Friends do say I've got to try the track as once you try you'll be hooked. Much more fun and challenging then 1/4 mile times.

 

If the Viper is available with three pedals, it already has a significant advantage over the XKR in the eyes of many.

 

Edit...wrong post

 

The '10 XKR is going to be a hard act to top for me. Most of the cars that some might say are better, or more exciting, just don't appeal to me. I respect the GT-R, Lambos, P-cars, etc but they don't do anything for me. But this Gen 5 pushes all the right buttons now that they've improved the interior, added DSC, and improved over-all handling. Showed it to my wife and she thinks it's absolutely stunning also. She's never been interested in my car research before but she's following the new Viper reviews and videos, and even watched the Vipers racing at Sebring! Never watched a car race in her life before. Showed her the new Stingray and she asked why I would want a Corvette, knowing how popular they are (she knows I generally prefer something more rare).

My problem is likely going to be giving up the back seat and overall comfort, which is so nice for weekends away and road trips. I'd like to drive to some distant race tracks that are up to 17 hours away for Road Atlanta, been to Virginia Int'l a few times at 9 hrs, and a bunch of others that are 5-9 hrs. Most involve 1-5 nights away and obviously clothes and gear for that, and if you go with someone else you've got more stuff and no front seat to stow it. That's going to be really tough in the F-Type and Viper. The new XK will be larger and less appealing to me.

I really couldn't ask for a more enjoyable car than the XKR for the road, and it's an absolute blast on the track. Great balance, power and braking, and its manages its considerable weight very well, particularly on higher speed tracks where it's really in its element. Love the convertible, and its factory roll-over bars allow it on track where the Stingray and Viper verts would not be allowed due to lack of roll-over protection. I just planned to replace it before the factory warranty was up. Didn't count on having a problem finding its replacement!

Bruce

 

Viper is a good hard core track car. Try to spend more than an hour in one on the street. Uncomfortable, Hot, sounds like an old washing machine. Not fun. Also still dangerous in the hands of an unskilled driver. For 100K there are a lot of well made , fast , comfortable cars that sound great. I am including those a couple of years old. Porsches, Jags, etc. The new one I drove is an improvement however.

 

I have a 2011 XKR 175 and I would never consider owning a viper or a corvette stingray ZR1. Why? They have no class and are basically low quality American made hot rods which raddle and shank after 12 months. The Jaguar XKR has nothing to prove and just speaks for it self while the viper is screaming for attention like the loudest kid on the block. If I were to desire a more performance oriented GT I would look at the Nissan GT-R.

 

Apparently only about 20% of Vipers are tracked at all. Most are only street driven as weekend toys, and I have rarely seen them at track days and HPDE events, and they're usually the same ones I see. They are supremely trackable though, and there's naturally an inverse relationship between that and ride quality, as with all other sports cars at that level of performance.

Only the early generations were hot due to the location of the catalytic converters and minimal insulation, but that was resolved a long time ago. Many do long drives in their Vipers doing club outings and going to distant regional and national meets. They claim that at least the last generation was comfortable for long drives and they love them as much as we love our Jags.

The greatly refined 2013 now competes with cars selling for much more. I heard about a comparison between it and the Mercedes SLS AMG, where the Viper was preferred. I didn't see the article myself, but if anyone saw it please share the details.

Bruce