Can a lazy, non-car-enthusiast buy a Viper?

[CivicRacerX]

Thanks for responding, and my apologies for getting a little bent out of shape about what was said. If I had waited an hour to reply...
Sometimes I'm quick to respond if I feel like somebody is doing the "Anyone who drives an import must be a riceboy" opinion, and I know that wasn't actually the case at all. Anyway, glad we can all be friendly here.

Getting back to the topic, what cars do you think compare to the Viper? Are there any? If someone was thinking of getting one down the road, is there something they could "learn" on?

[Polygon]

Nothing that realy compares to the brutish style of driving the Viper gives you, maybe a Shelby Cobra, or an older Mopar muscle car with a big block.

[Viper 10]

Racer:

I would say that Polygon's assessment about cubic inches is pretty accurate in the area of raw torque. In thte case of torque the only production cars that approach the Vipers are the Porsche TT, the Ferrari 550, the Aston Martin Vantage, the Diablo's. keep in mind that all of these cars have to spool up to about 4,500 rpm to hit the begining of their torque curve. The Corvette Z06 is a nice stepping stone to Vipers. I believe that all of the cars that I have mentioned will achieve similar performance numbers of a Viper in a different manner.

From an affordability viewpoint, it is hard to beat the price performance of the Corvettes. The S2000's and the NSX's are very nice handling cars. You can also get used high mileage Vipers for in the $30k range, or used 993 Porsche Carrera's and C5's for comparable prices.

By the way, I don't like using the word ricer to describe anyone. Just because someone drives and Asian import, doesn't mean they are a ricer. In my book, ricers are a minority of Asian import owners who spend a majority of their time street racing and illegal drag racing. Very few of them have any respect for the safety of others on the street, or have ever committed to developing real driving skills on a road racing track. They give everyone that owns a comparable import models a bad taste in their mouths.

I personally am a big fan of all high performance vehicles and of drivers who can appreciate them and know how to drive them. I truly detest bigoted car owners who rant on BB's about who's is bigger than someone else's, and have absolutely no respect for others. When I was young, I started racing Datsun 510's and 240Z's. I then evolved into Audi's and Quattros. After my exposure to Audi on the track, I migrated into the BMW world with a 323 Turbo Alpina. Following this, I really got hooked on American cars with loads of torque and HP like the C4 Corvettes and Vipers. Where do I see myself going next? Probably into something like the Ferrari 550 or aston Martin Vantage. This doesn't mean that I won't have room in my garage for a Gen 3 Viper GTS or a C6 Corvette too. As you can see from my personal evolution, I have tried many flavors of cars from all of the continents.

We all have to develop our skills, so that we can jump to the next levels or performance. This is always limited to our pocket books. I have not seen very many people go from one level of performance and skip two or three levels successfully (i.e. going from an Integra R or i300 to a Viper or Porsche TT). There is a significant learning curve that needs to occur before making this kind of jump successfully. There is more to appreciating cars than reading magazines and street racing eachother.

I love passionate debate, as long as we can all respect eachother's views. There is no right or wrong answer to this age old debate, just different perspectives and viewpoints based on an individuals personal experiences.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone.

Brad

[fearless_simian]

you people amaze me. in a good way. i have no idea how you ever would finance all of your car habbits. (which i would love to develope.) juts wondering what do you people do for livings? do actually have that much money to throw around or are you true blue car loving people? just wondering.

[Polygon]

Well I don't make a lot of money anymore since I moved, but I just have never sold any of my cars I just keep them. Although I did sell one recently. But I love all different kinds of cars. Motoring has always been a great pass time.

[bugfighter]

Software development & programming business for me. I really had a great run with the Internet.

[Viper 10]

21 years at selling software...

I am working on starting an exotic tuning business based in Southern California. Getting something like this started on your own money presents a different set of challenges.

Happy New Years everyone!

Brad

[bugfighter]

Interesting, Brad...

What cars will you tune? Vipers, for sure, but what else?

[fearless_simian]

well all i can say then is that i hope the biotech sector really takes off once i get in solidly

happy new years

[Viper 10]

Originally posted by bugfighter
Interesting, Brad...

What cars will you tune? Vipers, for sure, but what else?

Bug:

We'll be concentrating on Ferrari 360's and 550's, Aston Martin's and Lamborghini's (and of course Vipers). Our specialties will be concentrating on things like chassis and suspension, carbon fiber body panels and traction control systems/safety devices. The engine modifications will be done in conjunction with all of these areas.

Our goal is to develop all of the attributes of the car (not just engine performance). I have seen too many instances where tuners poured all of their development into the engine's performance, and resulted in exceeding the suspension/chassis's specifications and the driver's abilities to keep the car on the road safely. The results were a very powerful and unsafe vehicles that injured or killed their owners.

Our cars will be made to drive and will not be relegated to dyno and 1/4 mile queens.

The other facette that we think is unique is total accounability to our customers in performing the work that we state. Too many tuners are taking advantage of their customers (which is quickly catching up to many of them). You will know what I am talking about if you have been monitoring the Corvette Forum or Viper Club BB's.

Have a great new years and be safe.

Brad