Lavender

The outgoing ZR1 already did that. Too bad it didn't leave anything for the new Z06...

jimmyb

Ralph really needs to shut up. This guy is the king of pointing out other folks issues when he needs to invest in a mirror.

1. When the ZR1 beat the new Viper, Ralph said that Randy (Pobst, Motor Trend's pro driver) was scared of the Viper. And then less than 2 months later Ralph roles out the "T/A" which then beats the ZR1 by 1/10ths of a second. Lost in this was there was NO Viper "T/A" available for a almost a year, a major shame on you for Ralph AND Motor Trend (why would MT allow a test of a car that was essentially a prototype).

2. The new gen Viper has been a total flop, sales wise. Ralph said that it was the dealer's fault because they (the dealers) ordered the cars with the wrong equipment and colors.

3. SRT sends a new gen Viper to Motor Trend's best drivers car where it promptly finished.....last. The car was literally falling apart along with mis-matched worn out tires. I guess Randy Pobst was wise to be "scared" of the original Viper he tested against the ZR1. That's inexcusable.

If Ralph wants to run SRT, then he should start running SRT and stop blogging, etc.

Jimmy

Paulchristian

Really? 3x better? I am a corvette guy first, but I can honestly say the viper is every bit as good looking as the ZO6...if not better looking. The corvettes advantage is its performance/mechanical engineering...SHOULD be a better performing car (base vs base)

...and corvette will also suffer poor sales figures if they do not price the car right...they better not go overboard. Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results...I hope GM has been paying attention to Viper sales and price the ZO6 accordingly.

Mecholova

Before I put money down on the C7, I went to check out every other car in its class. Before seeing it, the Viper was one of the 2 I was most excited to see (The Jag F Type being the other). I knew it would be at least as fast as the vette and I read all the promotional stuff about hand crafting and 6 days to paint, etc..
I looked it over expecting something special but a lot of things put me off. The pattern of the exposed carbon fiber in the rear hatch was wavey for example.
The poor car still had the dust pattern on it from where they placed a bow on the hood for a Christmas promotion 8 months ago. It had a sticker price of 137k but the salesperson said he would knock 20k off without me even asking. He also mentioned their only change to next years model is Stryker Green as an option for another 10k plus.
I love that there are a lot of choices out there to keep the competition going but they really need to rethink their target crowd. Its nice to say "we have an exotic track ready car" but I think most people wouldnt go for a car at that price they cannot drive comfortably for more than 2 hours at a time on normal roads.

When the C& Z06 hits the market, I would put money on them outselling the Viper by at least 33%

Torchsport

That guy 1st annoyed me back in '08 when the new Challenger came out. He's pretty impressed with himself.

Waytofastvette2006

It's just more round buldgy dodgeness. I like the edgy futuristic look of the c7 it looks like progress not the same old re hash of the last car.

I'm not suprised they are having trouble selling them. 120k buys you a very nice gallardo.

LIStingray

I agree, the Fiat 500 isn't bad for a small car.
I have a Mazda 2 rental this week, and you wanted to talk about CHEAP. They couldn't even spent the money for a door lock control on each door panel (or a key lock on each door), it is a single switch on the center console - talk about a pita! And, no it doesn't come with key fob control either!

jvp

He is. He's very disrespectful behind the safety of his keyboard, but when he's called out in public, he completely changes his tune. One wonders how much time he's spent on Internet forums...

I'm sticking with my prediction made sometime last year: The Viper's days are numbered. I expect that within a MY or two, FIAT pulls the plug on it, and then shoots it dead. Whether the entirety of SRT follows suit or not isn't something I'll speculate on.

darkmercury

Don't you ever compare the Corvette to a mediocre car like the Viper again!!!

Keep 'Em Flying

Maybe if Chrysler Corp. didn't consistently rank dead last in J.D. Power ratings I might actually take him seriously

Steve Garrett

Well, Ralph knows that any publicity is good for him....whether that publicity is positive or negative.

It's a shame he has to throw mud. He's just jealous his product is not as popular as the C7.

astrotx

As someone always told me--jealousy is an UGLY emotion!

Viper--ha...love to see year/year numbers.

jimmyb

Indeed he is. I certainly appreciate Tadge and crew for their availability and transparency (on most things). Ralph could take a lesson from them.

Jimmy

jimmyb

I agree. I also think the Viper's day are numbered. The car sits in a "no man's land" as far as pricing and positioning. It's not a Corvette competitor (too expensive), and, although it's priced like a 911, it's not GOOD enough to be there either. Folks that pop $100K+ for a sports car don't want to deal with the Viper's idiosyncrasies (burning legs, etc).

Jimmy

forensicsteve

I am a viper guy having just bought my 3rd viper, an ever so slightly used 2013 SRT. I am also an admirer of corvettes and owned 3.

I am not your typical viper person (or am I?). I don't care which car goes the fastest around Laguna or is 3/10s faster in the 1/4. I don't street race and I don't care being passed up a vette, 911, mustang or truck.

I also don't know much about this Ralph person and certainly don't follow what he has to say. The fact that SRT is not selling was a plus to me, since it helped me get an SRT way way less than sticker. I would not be upset if it went out of production like it did for 2007, 2011, and 2012. The value of the Ford GT has done quite well since production end in 2005.

As far as the C7.....cannot deny it's a handsome vehicle and the performance numbers impressive. The z06 flavor should be ferocious, but a 640hp naturally aspirated SRT is plenty for my driving style. The only thing a faster car means to me is probably a longer walk out of the woods.

ATC399

Does it really matter what Ralph said...its yap yap....Tadge called the C6 obsolete is it...oops..more yap yap from salesman trying to sale cars

onthebottom

That last line is funny!

themonk

sales numbers mean absolutely nothing when comparing cars. How many Carrera GT's did Porsche sell, not a lot, does that make it worse than the Corvette. Some of you people need to take the blinders off, put down the Corvette Kool Aid and take a deep breath of reality. The Viper is an awesome car period, I'd take one over a Stingray any day of the week and so would a lot of people but that doesn't make the Stingray a bad car just a less expensive, slower car.

ersin

Well, I certainly hope so. At the rate those Vipers crash on the track, one would think that they are disposable.


Cheers.

jackhall99

Well, it's OK that you love the Viper more than a C7, but if you would take one over the C7 any day of the week, where is your Viper? And if a lot of people agree with you, why are Vipers not selling?

By the way, I like the Viper. I would not enjoy it as a DD the way I do a Corvette.