Dodge SRT10 Viper vs. Ford GT

[Demon_Mustang]

Well, if only the Viper Coupe was made available to the public to be driven on the road...

Not to mention it's not identical except for the hardtop, there are many other differences too to my knowledge, and those differences would probably make it more expensive than the current viper. Making the price advantage much less noticable.

Either way, we are comparing road cars. At the current forms, the GT pwns the Viper in the comparison in my opinion, unless you're a die-hard Viper fan, or really love front engine cars for some reason, or really wants a convertible, etc. etc.

Performance-wise, I believe the GT has the upper hand, try as you might to find excuses as to why this is not true, but anything you can say to make the Viper sound better, can probably be applied to the GT as well.

[syr74]

I agree that we haven't seen a proper head to head comparo of the production GT versus...well anything. As a matter of fact only one "head to head" result has been printed regarding any Ford GT and it was pre-production. And, this was against the Modena Stradale and 911 GT3 which were horribly out-powered by the Ford. Hopefully, more representative comparos with the production GT wait in the future. And, we all know that they do.

However, IMHO none of this is really good news for the other supercars on the market as the GT will almost certainly go faster, not slower, than preliminary reports indicated with pre-production testing. Ford upped the hp rating for the production car, which was under-rated to begin with, and some say Ford literally upped the hp too.

Taking an under-rated 500hp car and turning it into a still under-rated 550hp car is only bad news for DCX or anyone else. And, Ford said they were still tweaking the suspension as well so handling should be a bit better as well. Considering that handling and acceleration were already phenomenal this is good news for Ford fans and bad news for anyone else.

The Ford GT seems to polarize people. You either love it, or you hate it. Not surprisingly, DCX fans and Ferrari afficianados generally hate it. And, I really don't care as the rivalry this car creates is a good thing, just as it was with the original.

For the first time since the J cars of the mid to late 60's Ford has decided to show the world they can compete with anyone, on any level, with a car they designed and do it for less. It is only fitting that they used that car, and earlier GT40's, as inspiration in my opinion.

Since we haven't seen a real Viper versus GT comparo yet we can only make best guesstimate predictions from what we have seen so far. Mine.....look for the GT to be about half a second quicker through the 1/4 mile than the Dodge, slip through the cones a couple mph faster, with roughly similar skidpad grip and braking giving the Ford a bit more on the pad and the Viper a bit more in braking. From about 100mph on I think the acceleration story will be very bad for the big Dodge. A Dodge Viper coupe will help minimize the disparity, but it wont overcome it.

The only car I expect to outrun the GT on a road course are the Enzo and a few of the other mega exotics. Taking the GT's price-tag into consideration it is the supercar bargain of all time IMO.

All we can really do is wait and see how the numbers actually hash out, and where our predictions end up. I am pretty confident the GT will live up to mine, and likely exceed them.

[Demon_Mustang]

I've also always thought the GT was a bargain when compared to the other cars that can actually keep up with it. In fact, both the Enzo and the Saleen S7 have similar performance specs, and both of them are either only matching or BARELY exceed the Ford GT, yet, they cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more.

Yet, people here seem to think it's a rip-off, that's strange...

My main beef with cars like the Ferrari Enzo and the Mosler MT900 is that their design is almost purely for mazimum aerodynamics, they don't really have any personality. I find both those cars to be visually grotesque, just like the Mercedes SLR McLaren, it's so gawdy, I think the Mercedes SL500 is a work of art though, if only they kept to that design for the SLR. At least the Viper's design has some sort of personality unlike the other cars mentioned here so far.

[syr74]

Don't get too worked up over it. The GT ruffles their feathers because it does what Ford wants it to do. And, that is a good thing.

[freakonaleash1187]

the enzo doesn't have any attitude?!?! so you are telling me that f1 cars don't have any attitude? the enzo is a striking design that says it just wants to go. everything flows so smoothly. but hey, you like american cars, so i can see why you (demon mustang) don't get the elegance of the enzo.

[Demon_Mustang]

Um, actually, F1 cars are not designed like that for style or attitude, it's all practicality. While I appreciate function over form, I think a car also needs personality. If every manufacturer designed their cars with only aerodynamics in mind, they will probably all look like the Enzo. Perhaps the Enzo will become a cult classic or something in time, but for right now, it's just a car that's superbly aerodynamic and was built with nothing but speed in mind. The GT has a history and a personality, which is why I prefer it's looks over the Enzo's, the Enzo is just a bit too extreme looking.

Same deal with cars like the MB SLR McLaren and Mosler MT900. Don't get me wrong, I love Mercedes Benz, and usually like all of their designs, I think the CLK series coupe is just gorgeous, and the SL500 is a beautiful work of art, but when they make these extreme designs like the SLR, it really doesn't work for me.

[moslerporschefreak]

Actually to be clear, the GT was modeled after the GT40 right? The GT40 was a race car right? Wouldn't that also suggest that the GT40 and therefore the GT were designed very much with aerodynamics in mind? My point is not that the GT is an ugly car, quite to the contrary it is rather striking. My point is that aero and asthtics are not mutually exclusive. Another example (in my mind, clearly not in everybody's) is the Enzo. I don't care what you say, the enzo has a lot of character, it's just different fromt he character of the GT.

Anyways, back on the topic of the GT v Viper, I think we have kind of alluded to the answer but never explicitly stated it. The general sentiment is that the GT is a very fast, supreme handling car that can give cars like the C-GT, enzo and S7 a run for their money (but not quite beat mind you). Correct me if I'm wrong but if you open up a thread on this forum comparing the Viper to the enzo or C-GT, you'll be laughed off the web. Doesn't this kind of point to the fact that the GT indeed blows away the viper? Lets face it, the viper is an evolved modern muscle car. The GT is a true american supercar ready to take on Europe.

[Demon_Mustang]

Well, the original GT40 wasn't very aerodynamic though. The original design, I think that was the original that Lola contributed to, was producing 300 pounds of LIFT at the nose, which is very, very, bad. The final design that eventually won in 1966 and 3 more times after that, was much better and they put technologies into it that produced downward lift, which is good.

Anyway, the new GT is also quite different, I guess to the untrained eye, they look the same, that's because it's supposed to take after the GT40, but for someone like me, or any car enthusiast who have followed the old GT40 and Ford's attempts at modernize it, would know that it's very different, and very much modernized without killing the spirit with technology.

The thing I like about the design is that it looks fast, yet elegant. The Enzo is very extreme, it looks fast, and that's it. It looks like a car that's ONLY for the die-hard Ferrari F1 fan, which isn't bad at all for those who are interested in that, but just not me. I'm very much aware that the Europeans have walked all over us in the high-end sports cars, so I'm really proud when an American car can take on the likes of Porsche and Ferrari like Ford did in the 60's. Being American, the Ford GT is really glorious because you can put it side-by-side with some exotic European sports car and you can be confident that you can blow their doors off while being cheaper than almost all of them.

But the topic is with the Viper, not the Enzo or MT900, and the main reason is like I said originally, While searching on the internet for Ford GT videos, I accidentally dug up an old thread called SVT vs SRT which compared, among other cars, the Ford GT and the SRT10 Viper. And I found that interesting enough to reply to. Upon being notified that it was too old, I started a new thread to hear what people had to say about the two cars.

I would start a thread comparing the Enzo and the Ford GT, but I think they are quite too different for each other. Even though I know the GT has specs that closely match cars like the Carrera GT, Saleen S7, and Ferrari Enzo, people might not even associate them closely enough to think it's worth comparing. But then again, someone compared a Corvette with a McLaren F1...

[GTStang]

Originally Posted by moslerporschefreak

Anyways, back on the topic of the GT v Viper, I think we have kind of alluded to the answer but never explicitly stated it. The general sentiment is that the GT is a very fast, supreme handling car that can give cars like the C-GT, enzo and S7 a run for their money (but not quite beat mind you). Correct me if I'm wrong but if you open up a thread on this forum comparing the Viper to the enzo or C-GT, you'll be laughed off the web. Doesn't this kind of point to the fact that the GT indeed blows away the viper? Lets face it, the viper is an evolved modern muscle car. The GT is a true american supercar ready to take on Europe.

This might be one of the truest and most observant post I have ever seen on AF.

[MR2Driver]

Watch this video

All I have to say, its an MR, and it outclasses the Viper in every way (including price )

Its one of my favorite supercars because it still has all the comforts and luxuries of a daily driver. The steering shifting and clutch are all smooth and soft. And the car isnt about bringing back an old car. Its about reminding people that we can kick those Yuppie Ferrari asses again.

[Neutrino]

Originally Posted by Lachean

All I have to say, its an MR, and it outclasses the Viper in every way (including price )

The GT outclasses the viper in price....mmmmm....i though 80K was less than 150K. Unless you think a bigger price is better.

Originally Posted by Lachean

Its about reminding people that we can kick those Yuppie Ferrari asses again.

Really because I could swear Ferrari is murdering ford in Formula 1. Maybe the TV channel wel all watch is edited on the fly by Ferrari

[youngvr4]

c'mon neutrino, you knew he was talking about the fordgt beating up on the ferrari's(you know what he meant) the ford gt beats up on the modena and lots of other ferrari's just like back when when the fordgt40 beat the ferrari

[Demon_Mustang]

I think neutrino would conveniently forget the humiliation dealt to Ferrari by Ford in the mid 60's in Le Mans.

Anyway, despite this, that is not what we're talking about. We're talking about the Ford GT. And even the fastest and most expensive Ferrari now, the Ferrari Enzo, it BARELY goes faster, if any, than the Ford GT. Last I heard the Enzo was to do 0-60 in 3.3 seconds also and the performance was very similar. I don't really believe this, I believe the Enzo could do better with a better driver, but still, even being better than the Ford GT, just how much more does it cost than the Ford GT? The difference is almost unnoticable, but you'll definitely notice the difference in your pocket book...

[freakonaleash1187]

lets see here, i will give you a set of keys. one has the prancing horse on it and the other has the blue oval on it. which one are you going to pick? the gt doesn't have near the technology of the enzo. what 1/4 mile time did c/d post for the gt? i don't really care about 0-60.

[Demon_Mustang]

Hm, well, I DID post them already, but I'll be nice and look back to find them again for you... Yep, page 2, 11.6 @ 128mph.

And from what I know the Ferrari Enzo does it in 11.2 at 136mph. Hm, let's see, pay $500,000 for .4 seconds faster in 1/4 mile... don't pay $500,000 for .4 seconds on the 1/4 mile... I don't know, this is a hard one...

Not to mention the Enzo is this super aerodynamic machine with a 650hp V12 while the Ford GT is a retro style car with a 550hp V8, considering that, the "prancing horse" kind of leaves you begging for more eh?

And BTW, your little keys with the Ferrari or Ford logo thing isn't really impressive, basically you're promoting simple brand recognition instead of actual recognition of an automobile's achievements.

Kind of like hiring people for a company based on race instead of merit eh?