Instead of the GT-R

[Tere]

After 8.5 months of the Nissan North America run around on my GT-R order, I finally pulled the plug on the deal in November.

 

Here's what I picked up to join the three Z cars in the go-fast stable. This one is 1 of only 6 made in this color and configuration. The V-10 (8.3L) is outrageously huge -- 420 ft/lbs of torque at 1,800 rpm -- 474 ft/lbs of torque at 4,100 rpm; all at the wheels! What a torque monster!

[GIXXERUK]

thats a monster

[MITZ@CougarStore]

Nice choice...

[Trev-the-Rev]

Nice one Tere More torque than Nixy

[Maccaman]

Thats one powerful motor. Whats been the problem with the GTR order?

[Tere]

Thats one powerful motor. Whats been the problem with the GTR order?

Oh yeah, the whp is 435 at 5,400 rpm and above 400 from 4,500 rpm to redline. These are the bone stock numbers. I just took off 30-40 pounds of exhaust pipe; replaced with a 5' straight out cat-back on each side.

 

The GT-R order started to get way too iffy for an '09 model even though I placed my order on 3/3/08. Plus Nissan wanted to up the dealer invoice price even though my order was placed before the 9/5/08 original MSRP deadline. The whole affair was turning into a huge headache and a big bucket of worms. All that plus the warranty/tranny issues were a big negative on the deal too.

 

Do ya think the Viper's new cat-back is a little more efficient?

[Trev-the-Rev]

Lets have a sound clip then Tere

[S1 HNK]

would much prefer a GTR, i cant imagine these are much of a focussed drivers car but i'm sure when you hit the loud pedal it puts a smile on your face!!!

[nurrish]

I do like vipers but i can imagine that being only good for straight line driving.....but i suppose the roads over there are pretty much straight anyway

 

Saw a srt-10 in florida when i was last there it had a lovely sound to it. Its just the interior of american cars are pretty much meh

[Tere]

would much prefer a GTR, i cant imagine these are much of a focussed drivers car but i'm sure when you hit the loud pedal it puts a smile on your face!!!

LOL... The Viper is very much a driver's car. It's just you and the beast -- no fancy "fly by wire" electronics to get in your way. It runs the twisties pretty good -- even better when I get her all set up for taking corners fast (make that faster).

 

LOL.. the Viper ACR ran The Ring in 7:22 in August of this year -- not too shabby for a big hunk of old school American muscle. The thing was routinely pulling over 1.8 lateral Gs on the Ring run.

 

You don't strap into a Viper, you strap it on -- you don't sit in it, you wear it.

 

To compare it to the 350Z (VDC/TCS off) driving experience...

 

The Z is a surgeon's scalpel -- fine and precise.

 

The Viper is a "Rambo" knife -- brutal and formidable

[Maccaman]

Hey Tere, any plans to run the Viper round the Texas Sppedway?

[xStric9x]

Very nice Tere

The petrol station will be your best friend

What is the fuel consumption like?

[Tere]

Hey Tere, any plans to run the Viper round the Texas Sppedway?

Most likely once I get the suspension to my liking, put in some StopTech AeroRotors, and drop in a set of Hawk DTC pads. A Quaife LSD might also help keep the backend at the backend. On the Viper, all that torque makes precise throttle control pretty essential. The Viper is not an easy car for a novice to drive -- it can get away from you in a heartbeat. I only had to wiggle it's tush a few times to figure it out. I was pretty happy with the way she took corners on a fast run through the Texas hill country twisties -- extreme curves and elevation changes on a very narrow two-lane road with no run-off space (road shoulders).

 

My '03 350Z has more whp but less torque than the Viper. All that torque gives awesome acceleration coming out of a tight corner to a steep uphill grade -- you know you're accelerating, but you don't realize how fast until to take a quick peek at the speedo.

 

There's an old saying, "Horsepower is for sales folks; whereas, torque is for drivers."

[Tere]

Very nice Tere

The petrol station will be your best friend

What is the fuel consumption like?

It gets about the same as my '03 350Z when I'm putting the pedal to the metal.

 

Freeway cruising is interesting -- in 6th gear at 70 mph it's practically at idle rpm. At 100 mph in 6th, she's only turning 1,800 rpm. So, sedate highway cruising isn't too bad in the fuel department. The Viper only has an 18 gallon tank, which you can suck dry pretty quickly with the pedal to the floor.

[tmJak]

That's a ridiculous car and I want it!!!

 

Seen a couple in the flesh in a Manchester showroom and they do look awesome

[Tere]

That's a ridiculous car and I want it!!!

 

Seen a couple in the flesh in a Manchester showroom and they do look awesome

Yep, it is a ridiculously crazy car. Now is the time to pick one up here in the States. No serious, halfway decent offer is refused. This one was barely broken in. They didn't make '07 model year Vipers, but ran the '06 model production for two years -- this one was made at the end of the '06 production run in '07, just before the '08 production started up. So, I got a practically new Viper for $38,000 under its original sticker. A steal deal, particularly since it's a rare 1 of only 6 made. The paint is interesting since it goes from black to dark blue-gray, to midnight blue, to silver-blue in different lighting. The pearl has three different colors in it.

[steve_b]

Car looks great. Saw a real race Viper going round Abbeville and he could not get it out of 2nd.

Can see it being as much a drivers car as the GTR. Viper has all the power/torque and less tricky so requires the most from the driver. The GTR has less power but far more trickery and a lesser driver could get much out of it.

 

If your main objective is to have fun then Viper is right “thereâ€

[S1 HNK]

what Caterham have you got mate? My dad has a 1.6k supersport (140bhp) and its such a fun car to drive, we went down to south of spain in it last year!!

[Tere]

Lets have a sound clip then Tere

Ask and ye shall receive...

 

The exhaust popping on decel is kind of the Viper exhaust "signature" -- all Vipers do it.

 

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Vipe ... 207879.htm

[Tere]

Car looks great. Saw a real race Viper going round Abbeville and he could not get it out of 2nd.

Can see it being as much a drivers car as the GTR. Viper has all the power/torque and less tricky so requires the most from the driver. The GTR has less power but far more trickery and a lesser driver could get much out of it.

 

If your main objective is to have fun then Viper is right “thereâ€

[Tere]

Here's the view most folks get to see -- my asp...

 

Check out the 345/30R19 rubber -- the back end is all freaking wall to wall tire. And the rear aero set-up -- diffuser and four aero strakes. The bottom is all aero panels.

 

I love the center brake light!

[Tere]

Thats one powerful motor. Whats been the problem with the GTR order?

Here's the V-10 -- it doesn't look as big as it really is in this photo. The intake "plumbing" is all of 8" long. The hood scoop is functional and gives a ram air effect at high speed (free boost!).

[Tere]

And in case you missed the Viper ACR doing 7:22 on the Ring last August, here it is. Notice how driver centric the car is -- it's about 3" from the steering wheel to the shifter (a very tight shift pattern too). You can buy the ACR for around $111K -- but be warned, you're buying a barely street legal race car.

 

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Dodg ... 181435.htm

[Tere]

And for you speed junkies, here's a clip of an R8, GT3, and SRT-10 (vert) fooling around on the Autobahn...

 

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/GT3R ... 207577.htm

[Maccaman]

Hey Tere I get the impression you are very excited about your new aquisition & obviously want to share it with all of us.