The Supercar Registry

[ QUOTE ]
Steve really brings up a good point that is worth elaborating on in regard to the early days of the Viper. Today in 2006 it is almost becoming routine for manufacturers to develop these high HP supercars. It's almost like the flavor of the week nowadays.

But back in 1989 when the Viper was on the drawing board the last performance car to come out of Detroit was the 87 Buick GNX which many called the last of the muscle cars after the 73 Super Duty TAs were the last of the muscle cars.

The fact that Dodge built this car at all back in 91/92 was and is amazing. Dodge at the time was floundering and had no performance cars in their lineup at all. To build this car in 92 Dodge had to satisfy a million and one government regulations and cars like the Viper were not popular nor were they politically correct.

So Dodge decides with the help of a guy named Shelby to stuff a 488 cubic inch V10 motor into a car with no door handles or even windows let alone airbags. Having no idea if the car would even sell? Today it is easy to build a Ford GT and project that it will sell. But back in those days it was a terrific gamble by Dodge IMHO.

But not only did they build it. They built it by hand and still build it by hand all these years later. It still is America's only handbuilt muscle car that I am aware of? And lets not pretend it was anything but a muscle car when it was built. It had a 488 cubic inch big block connected to a 6 speed trans with no reverse lockout. It had rear brakes that were smaller than the ones on my shifter Kart up until 2002. Dodge openly admits when their customers started racing Vipers on road tracks as opposed to the drag strip they were flabergasted. They just didn't design it for road racing back in 92.

Lets also give credit to Dodge for sticking with the handbuilt Viper all these years and not making it a two year wonder like the Ford GT. Lets also acknowledge that Dodge created a dealer network of Viper dealers and required them to have a highly trained Viper tech on staff at all times and no other tech is supposed to work on Vipers other than the dealers Viper tech.

Ford has not followed through like that with the GT there is no Ford GT tech and in fact little or no tech training for the Ford GT. I watched in amazement as my friend in town who is the service manager at a Frod dealership tried to sort through the various recalls on the Ford GT. Ford sent no factory rep, sent no Ford GT tech, provided no tech manual and required the dealers to look online for instructions. Fortunatley the serice manager is a former Nascar racer so he could align the car and set the camber castor and toe as well as the bump steer in a proper manner. But other GT customers have not been so lucky and have complained that after the control arms were replaced the cars never handled the same again.

Dodge also over the years has encouraged it's Viper owners to track their cars and covered the problems under warranty.

Steve is an old Viper racer so he was there when Dodge listened to their customers at the Dodge Viper owner invitationals which by the way Dodge pays for every year or two and puts on a huge world class factory backed event for Viper owners and built a competiton coupe especially for the Viper racers to race in the Viper racing league.

This Comp coupe is a street Viper with the interior removed and a roll cage installed built and designed for Skip Thomas's Viper racing league. As a result Viper owners are justifiably some of the most loyal and passionate customers in the car world.

I simply get tired of reading about uninformed media types who bash and dismiss the Viper as a crudely built inferior car. The fact of the matter is the people who hand build Vipers are very proud of their cars and proud to be part of the Viper program.

When you consider that the Viper is the only handbuilt big block American high performance car manufactured today and that the factory shows it's appreciation for it's Viper customers by building a Comp Coupe and throwing a huge party every couple of years at the factory expense for it's Viper owners I think that Dodge and the car deserve more respect and should not be dismissed so easily when a two year wonder comes along like the Ford GT every few years. Really IMHO the Vipers only true American rival is the Z06 Vette.

My two cents.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is YenkoYS100's wife here (Gloria).

First off, are you that jealous of the Ford GT that you have to spew lie after lie about the cars??? (or maybe you are joking???)

Are you banking on the fact that very few here actually have one of the cars, so they don't really know the truth???

Basically, are you trying to pull the wool over all of our eyes???

I have followed the car from conception to production. This is my dream car. If you want to actually talk, from experience, about the car, maybe you should spend a little time on some of the forums of actual owners. None of this............ my buddies friend, on his brothers side, twice removed........... BS.

If you want to see the truth, from a bunch of Ford GT owners, go to fordgtforums.com. These are all actual Ford GT owners. These people drive their cars, race their cars, and love their cars. They are Ferrari owners, Viper owners, and owners of about every car known to man.

There has been ONE.......... read it........... ONE recall on the Ford GT. This recall came about with NOT ONE failure. It was a JUST IN CASE recall. The crack on the control arm was discovered on a high mileage mule........ on a routine inspection. The vendor who made these arms, used a new process for the casting of the arms. Unfortunately, due to a build-up of casting lube, in a thin portion of the arms.......... you had a chance of a crack. There was not one instance of this happening on a customers car. Ford had enclosed carriers pick up the cars from the owners homes, and transport them to the Rousch assembly facility, or an authorized facility, to have all the arms replaced with billet control arms. Ford went to extreme expense, to make sure that the finish on the billet arms matched that of the other cast parts.

You only wish that Dodge cared that much about Viper problems. Ferrari owners certainly wish that Ferrari cared that much about their owners.

There have been a few TSB's (technical service bulletins, for those not in the know) for a few other issues that only included isolated cars. Remember that the Ford GT is a completely hand assembled car, using aluminum processes that Ford now owns many patents on............ on a platform that is completely unique to this car. It is a grounds up car.

This is something that the majority of Ferrari owners can't even say........... with the exception of the Enzo.

BTW, there are certified GT techs in every service area. This isn't rocket science here. There are no electronic nannies, or other BS on the car. Thus, any competant Ford tech can work on the car.......... including most at-home mechanics.

The Viper, the Z06, the Ferrari F430, and the Ford GT are all 12 second cars, in the hands of the average driver. However, as a mid engine car, with massive torque, the owner of the Ford GT doesn't need to be a race car driver to drive one decently. However, to drive one extremely well, they will definitally have to know what they are doing. There is just way too much torque, right off idle, to make an easy launch. The cars that were tested early, were production spec cars. You want proof of the power, look at ACTUAL dyno's of the cars. These cars easily produce 600hp, stock. You do understand that the higher the horsepower, the harder it is to drive well. In other words, most owners of exotic cars are not nearly as capable as their cars are. If you think otherwise, you are only trying to make yourself feel better about your choice of car.

If you have never owned a S/C 5.4L vehicle.......... you just do not understand.

Finally, spend some time on fordgtforums.com. Learn something about the cars. You will find that they are no more, and in most cases, are much less finicky than most exotics. They are easy to work on. They have massive upgrade potential (the limiting factor being the Recardo transmission, which is only rated for 750hp), at very low dollars. Finally, they are a very unique car that will never be seen again.

I would sell a kidney for one. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/laugh.gif

BTW, I am not a supercar snob. I'm just someone who loves, and appreciates great automobiles......... this includes everything that was built well from the factory, and everything that someone builds themselves....... well. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ins/3gears.gif