Again Viper 10...

[DeViL]

I was surprised to know that the SRT-10 is around 3300 lbs after reading the specs on the "Cobra vs Viper" voting thing. Now from I what I've seen on the specs of the GTS, isn't the SRT-10 lighter then the hard top GTS? I'm surprised if thats true considering convertibles are generally 100-200 pounds heavier then a hard top version.

In short, if they make a hard top SRT-10, like the Competition Coupe for example, can we expect this car to be in the Corvette weight range which is 3200 lbs? How are they making this Convertible lighter anyways? Fiberglass?

[v10_viper]

Well the new Viper doesn't have the clam shell hood like the old one did, and all together that saved about 40 pounds. The inner supports of the new fenders ar made of carbon fiber and form the sides of the engine compartment and these along with the hood, decklid and doors are made from sheet molding composite (SMC). It has also lost it's sports bar. They have used plenty of lightweight material underneath the newly restyled interior panels. Also almost 4 pounds was taken out of the valve train. The old frames also had a steel dash support bulk head supplied by Fabco that was built up from more than 30 seperate stampings, which has now been replaced by the largest magnesium casting in the auto industry and saves about 30 lbs and simplifies assembly. The new wheels with five pairs of slender spokes that mount to Michelin Pilot Sport ZP tires save about 22 pounds even though the run flats are about 10 % heavier but they no longer need a spare tire and jack to be carried along.

Weight is only down about 100 lbs to 3380. It's only 262 lbs heavier than the Z06 and it is 435 lbs lighter than the worlds only other front engined 500 hp sports car the 575M Maranello.

[DeViL]

Well to ask another question. Is the Viper body completely fiberglass like the Corvette?

[v10_viper]

The VGX, or Viper Generation X, is made of quite a bit of that SMC. SMC is made by compressing molding process in which SMC is placed in the parts' tooling like cookie dough and sprayed with either chopped carbon or glass fibers. Some is made of carbon fiber. The rest is probably made of fiberglass.

[Viper 10]

The weight of a fully loaded GTS Coupe is 3,440 pounds. The difference is 60 pounds. Another weight saver is the run flat tires. Even though they are heavier overall, it eliminated the need for a spare tire. I bet you that they had to also figure out which spare to put in the car, since they have two different diameters (18"in front and 19" in the rears).

The frames are essentially the same (except that they streteched the wheel base 2 inches). Though the process may have seen some refinement, it is almost identical. The hood swap was the biggest reason for the weight savings. I prefer the clam shell design on my GTS Coupe, but the switch also cut down the replacement costs (for insurance). Essentiall the SRT and the previous Vipers are all made of a composite fiberglass.

I hope that this helps answer your questions.

[DeViL]

I always wondered if it was fiberglass or not.