nunemaker7

EuG, that is one nasty convertible :thumbs:

EuG

Thanks :D

Dean McManis

EuG,

I've always liked your C5 convertible as well. :cheers: :cool:

I would actually have bought a C5 convertible, and modded it, rather than getting a Z06 myself. The Z06 is lighter and factory "modded", but I'm just a sucker for topless performance cars. :D

-Dean.

EuG

Thanks Dean. :cheers:

99MdGts

mqqn
A little more perspective from a Viper view. I also drive every day I can, and Maryland winters are generally mild. Last winter, almost every day.
Average mpg is around 15, unless the foot gets playful, then maybe 11.
Freeway puts it up around 20 or better. I find the 99 GTS quite comfortable, and many others I know also. Have driven for hours with comfort, good A/C, etc. even handles well in moderate, even heavy rain. 18"x13.5" Pilot Sports give great traction, just have to watch conditions like ANY car. ( visit http://www.viperclub.org for other owner's experiences, many are former or current vette owners)
As to reliability, with 15000 miles, no problems, change my own oil, filters etc. with ease, as was changing brake pads ( still had about half life left, wanted less brake dust)

EuG
very nice, stunning even. ;)

Drive 'em. Enjoy 'em.

ZO6Les

Well, I get 29.5 MPG on the highway running 80 MPH and 18+ around town and drive medium - spirited, so I can believe people saying they get 30 MPG on their Vette's quite easily!

Personally I wouldn't buy or not buy a Viper for the MPG, but the Z06 mileage is IMO extraordinary given the performance!

Les (And yes that is WITH mods below) :cheers:

Z06 Quin

Both are awesome cars, and yes, the Viper is quicker from the factory no doubt.....

I have a friend who owns one, a 2000 GTS, and the only thing he wishes it had was the amenities of the vette.......like.....cruise control......traction control, active handling......some others he mentioned....don't get me wrong, he loves his Viper, he just wishes it came with those things that make everyday driving a bit nicer.....BTW....He gets 18 MPG on the highway..... :cheers:

kwillmorth

Vipers are certainly faster by some margin, that's fine with me. I also think the V10 is nice sounding, and the 500hp number cool for dinner table talk. However, the style of the new car is so close to the Honda S2000 as to be laughable and unfortunate. I also still don't get the $80k price tag for a car that is essentially the same basic premise and format as the ZO6, with some extra whirly bits tossed in for marketing hype. For $30k less, the ZO6 is by far a better purchase choice in value, all emotion aside. For my own $80k I'll be visitng a Porsche dealership, not a Dodge dealer. If the Viper were $55k and had a roof on it, I might consider a serious second look. It's not, so I won't. I'll just suffer along with my Z, the best vette ever made (rah rah!) :)

Dean McManis

I hear many people say that the C5 looks just like the RX7, and I can see the similarity from the front, but I think that the cars are fundamentally different, just as the S2000 is from the SRT-10 Viper.

I hate to break it to you, but the Viper was not designed to compete with the Corvette.
It was designed to compete with European supercars. And it does a great job of it, having roughly the same performance as the Lamborghini Murcielago and Porsche GT2, and being faster than the Ferrari 360 Spyder.
All cars many times more expensive than the Viper.

For your $80K you would get a Porsche that performs maybe as well as a regular C5, and around here Porsches are not uncommon at all.

I'd take my $80K and get a Z06 (hardtop and all), and mod it out, long before I'd spend that kind of money on a Porsche or Mercedes. They are well built and well designed cars, but in my mind they are overpriced, as are new NSXs, for the performance given.

-Dean.

MelloYellow

I like the Gen2 GTS styles and also like the new Gen3.
I did get a chance to sit in a Gen2 GTS a couple months back.

Everything was feeling cool and comfy sitting in the driver seat UNTIL I shut the driver door. EEEK. Kinda tight on the elbow/shoulder there. I have a friend that owns a RT10(?) up north. He used to have a C5 and says it's not near as comfortable on long drives.

Haven't been in a Gen3 yet. Are they out on the street now? I haven't seen one on the road and we get all kinds of exotics around here. I see a 360 every other day.


[Modified by MelloYellow, 11:39 PM 11/28/2002]

Dean McManis

The interior of the Viper is very different than the C4 and C5.
The Corvette has a snug but open feel to it, with the windshield being huge and steeply raked back.

The Viper on the other hand has both the dashboard and windshield closer in towards the driver. Coming from owning a Corvette, at first it feels too close, but with a little time it feels much like an airplane cockpit. You start feeling snug and secure inside, wrapped in this cocoon. You sit low and the hood rises up and obscures part of the view of the road more than the Corvette does. And you rely more on your mirrors as well because rearward visibility is a bit less than the Vette. But it's still much better than exotics like the Lamborghini or Lotus Esprit.

The comfort for long trips is not quite the same as with a stock Corvette, but is about the same as a lowered C4/C5. It's not unpleasant, but you can feel the road more. I lowered my Viper 5/8" less than stock, and it's even a bit tauter but I still find it quite reasonable, and I like the way it looks and feels overall more now. Nobody would confuse the ride with a plush Mercedes, but I didn't want a luxury car.

The Gen III (SRT-10) Vipers are due on the streets sometime in January/February next year. They have more power, better handling, are more comfortable and have better brakes than the current Vipers, and they are a full convertible now.

But I do prefer the style of the Gen I/Gen II Vipers more than the SRT-10. The lines are more flowing and more stylish because the original Viper was designed more for provoking passion than for total practicality. :cool: :cheers:

kwillmorth

The Corvette, from the time of Duntov in the 1950's and later McMillen, to Hill today, is and has been focused on going after the Ferrari's and Porsches for 45+ years. The Corvette has been in that game well before the Viper's design team was in diapers. Many Corvettes, in the hands of privateers, have taken down factory Euro teams in history. Today, the ZO6 also gets very close to the 360, and the Porsche Turbo Carrera (neither come near the GT2), for $30,000 less than the Viper. Meanwhile the lowly ZO6 produces arguably better open road manners, comfort and economy to the Viper. Meanwhile, the Viper fit, finish and overall quality feel is generally just equal to the ZO6... so again, what's with that extra $30k price tag? I'm not bashing the Viper, just trying to figure out why they get such a big price, when the value they bring doesn't appear to be that much greater. A few thousandths of second here or there, and a little exclusivity, doesn't seem to add up... Race car level prepared toys aside... A race prepped Viper, ZO6, Porsche Club Car, or 360 Club Sport are all going to set one back a solid $260k+, with all street comfort/convenience items gone, so the comparisons at that point are totally moot. What wins on Sunday, is generally nothing more than a distant second cousin to what you buy on Monday in todays racing environment.

For the numbers game, a 250cc endurance go-kart will outrun all of the cars in this comparison on virtually any track in the country, and will cost 1/4 what the ZO6 does! These little rockets are very near F1 performance levels (ask Micheal S. who still runs both.) Even a 125cc kart can stomp a Viper and ZO6 in most venues, for less than 1/5 the cost of the ZO6, or 1/8 the cost of a Viper! Now THAT"s bargain shopping! :cheers:

needhlp

Can we ride karts on the street :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Dean McManis

You know that the Mustang guys are saying that the new SVT Cobra has nearly the same performance as the Z06 as well. It's only a a couple fractions of a second slower, and can be modded cheaply to be faster than either the Z06 or the Viper.

Is it true. Yes, from just the perspective of the car's price.
But you and I know that the Z06 is a different caliber car. And so is the Viper.

It's true that the Z06 has it's sights set on the same European supercars as the Viper, and does a great job in all respects.
And it is the mighty resources of GM, and years of product evolution, on top of efficient volume production that allow the Z06 to be built and sold for around $50K.

The Viper is still a very limited production car, and if you look at the cars that cost $80K+, most are slower, especially other convertibles. 360 Spyder, BMW Z8, Maserati, Panoz, NSX, SL55, Lotus V8TT, 911 Cabrio... :bb

The good news is that the Z06 is also faster than many of them (or comparable) for only $50K.

I do believe that when the production SRT-10s come out next year and they test them against the GT2, the Murcielago, and 360, that many people will be surprised how well the new Viper does. :smash:

Personally as an American, I'm proud of the SVT Cobra, and the Z06, and the Viper, because they truly hold their own against some of the world's best high performance cars.
:cool: :cheers:

SubieWRX02

I've owned a '99 C5 MN6 Coupe *and* a '97 Viper GTS (along with a bunch of other fast and interesting cars). The Z06 and FRC has grown on me since I owned my C5. In comparison, the Z06 will be more comfortable to drive everyday and I don't think I'll be as nearly nervous driving it as I was the GTS. Vipers and Vettes really aren't in the same class really, in my opinion. Vipers are a lot more exclusive (you won't see one everyday). I see Z06s everyday.... The C5 is much more comfortable and livable as a daily IMHO. I remember on hot days I'd climb into the Viper and if I closed my eyes, I'd think I was climbing into a new boat (it had that new "boat" smell...hehehe). As far as "bling-bling", the Viper gets more attention than I could have ever wanted. People do the dumbest things when it comes to these cars. Kids in the street will literally bow down as you drive by, people will have you roll your window down and take your picture when driving on the highway, nearly swerving into you in the process. Two hours of driving that car was exhausting. Knowing that just the hood alone costs over $10,000 just to replace if you have a fender bender.... The Viper was a fun car, and fast too... pulled as hard in 4th gear at 160 mph as my C5 felt in 2nd. You can easily get the tires to break loose on every upshift except maybe going into 6th. All things you won't do in a stock or lightly modded Z06.

When I picked up my Viper it had 1900 miles on it. Over the course of 8 months, I drove the GTS for 22,000 miles, with not a single problem (except the 1st week I had it, but that was covered under a recall at the dealershipie:intake manifold gasket). Most of the Vipers I have seen are "garage" cars, with less than 3-4K miles. I know mine really loosened up after 10-12K miles. The only modifications I had were smooth tubes, K&Ns and larger rear airbox outlets, otherwise completely stock. In December '99 I took my GTS up to FastTek in Garland, Tx and had it dynoed. it dynoed 448hp and 498pft (actual) and 437hp & 484pft (SAE corrected). My best 1/4 mile time was 11.78@123 mph on OEM rubber. Most stock Vipers or ones with mild mods such as mine can run 11.30 or better at 122-124 mph on drag radials or slicks. However, this necessitates upgrading halfshafts, otherwise they are the weak link and break easily with any kind of traction. I am lined up to purchase an '03 Z06 this next summer, so don't think I'm bashing or waging war here. Just telling my experience....

how do you upload pictures?

[IMG][/IMG]

needhlp

Ill host them for you.......mike48like@aol.com

Lastc4

No matter how bad azz you are or your ride is there is someone that will slap you down and spank ya! (unless it has a blue oval on it) :thumbs:

maticam

I have a 01 ZO6 stock except for the vararam air intake and X pipe i was dyno at 355 RWHP and 354 RWTQ.

NastyC5

My Viper doesn't get anywhere near as good as gas milage as my Corvette did. I new that before I purchased it. I drive my Viper everyday, yes even in the rain :p: I lowered both seats 2", this made driving the car much more comfortable and makes the interior feel larger. A few days ago I lowered the car with Eibach springs. The car handles better and looks very cool. I still like Corvettes, but I'm enjoying the Viper a lot :cheers:

C4ForGeeGee

Nasty C5, Your Corvette is really nice looking :yesnod: