Thoughts Of 2001 Viper GTS

Gents, My brother and I are going in on a Pre-owned VIPER 01 GTS Coupe. Before I proceed I wanted to check with you guys to see if any of you have experience with this Beast. I simply have a few Questions: 1 - Any Major Defects ? 2 - Reliability 3 - Bad Weather Handling, Meaning Rain - Can it handle relatively well ?

From what I have read the engine and drivetrain are very reliable. As far as driveability that is a personal preference. The car is raw. If you plan on tracking it I would be VERY VERY careful. Vipers get in the most trouble at VIR just ask a track worker. So much torque you need to be very gentle on throttle application. Otherwise they are mean looking and sounding cars. Very obvious though.

I know a guy who has been using his '95-ish Viper as a daily driver for the last ten years. It's a little raw, but he seems perfectly happy with it.

Stock it wont handle like your Porsche....and the huge amounts of torque can make the back end come around if you are not careful....but they are MEAN looking...I like the coupes ALOT myself...good choice.

I like the car alot for what it can do and how agressive it looks but the interior is what kept me from looking at one

Amazing car, but going "IN" on? Sounds like a mistake to me. If you can't afford it on your own, don't buy it.

It would be a hell of a lot of fun to own/drive a Viper. I look at them the same way I look at old muscle cars - you don't buy them for handling, just for accelerating and running thru the gears and feeling that torque band. I would be extremely careful in the rain- 1/2 throttle would probably whip the back around on you if you aren't careful.

when i bough my 500sl the dealer had a viper. the salesman told us about the bad quality on the vipers.

No!!!!!! Even in the dry they handle very poorly, the suspension isn't up to the task of managing all that torque

Viper is a beast. huge torque makes it nothing like 996.

My experience with the Viper is basd on an '02 Viper owned by a neighbor. 1 - Any Major Defects ? Not to my knowledge, unless you consider the placement of the exhaust pipe a defect. I've burnt my calf twice on the side exhaust pipe. 2 - Reliability No major problems. 3 - Bad Weather Handling, Meaning Rain - Can it handle relatively well ? Terrible. It handles about as well as a Vette in the wet.

The front end starts to lift at 150 and gets real nervous. So, stay under 150.

I've owned one but had to sell during my last international move. Regarding your questions : 1 : headgasket in the Gen1 series (93-96). Nothing serious with the Gen2 (which is what you are looking at) 2 : simple technology => very reliable. Just change your oil every 5,000 miles. Even Jiffy Lube can take care of that. The employees will thank you on their bare knees for letting them work on your beast. Maintenance is cheap. Just don't ruin the hood, this will set you back >20K$. 3 : scary, scary, scary...you're on 345's without any heat in them and masses of torque to propel them. Conclusion : this is one of the funnest cars I've ever owned. Here are some pics : first one in Oregon, second one on the Grossglockner, the highest mountain in Austria. Same car, same wife, different continent

It may be just me but the wife seems a lot happier in Austria I wanted a Viper badly until I read a R&T article on long term ownership. I don't remember the specifics anymore but some minor items were way over the top.

garbage...dont do it...no dead pedal to rest your foot between shifts so you have to put it under the clutch or hover it in the air, especially when on track. steering sucks, bodywork flaps around all loose,seats suck,brakes and handling are brutal. engine is awesome but gearbox is garbage. I swapped with a guy at the track who has three vipers and had never driven a porsche. he drove my 997S until it was out of gas and his first comment when he got out of the car was " i have to get a porsche" my comment after driving the viper," how the *** do you drive that piece of ****" and im not a euro car snob as i love the ford gt and hope to get one soon, but the ford is done right. the viper isnt

Nah - there's so many wrecked cars out there that spare parts are cheap. Just don't buy them at the dealership Trust me, these cars are cheap in comparison to Porsche.

RJ... Your only main issue will be with the weather as echoed on this board however the smile on your face is priceless. The biggest issue you will probably have is with your brother...sharing it. I say get it, it compliments the 996 nicely or go with the new Z06 route.

Have you seen his list of cars? I certainly think he can afford one, sounds like it will just be a bonding item with him and the brother. Where do you keep all those things anyway?

A number of things on the Viper (yes that is where the Viper Bob came from). Starting with the '01 gives you the deeper oil sump and a little better fan setup. Other items that I found VERY helpful. 1) Porsche Big Red brakes. If you like front calipers equivalent to a 964, and a rear single piston caliper then you are fine. BRAKES are one of the sore spots in the car. There are conversion kits to mount the Big Reds off a 993TT. WAY better. You can just see them in my pic. 2) HEAT.... The cars are very hot. the catalytic convertor runs through the VERY wide sill. So it is always hot inside. Also, you will burn yourself in the summer getting in and out in shorts. You become good at jumping over the sill 3) More HEAT. The radiator is inadequate. I went to a LARGE aluminum setup. Also need some purge capability up high as the radiator is below the engine. 4) Suspension. The shocks are garbage, and it need to be lower. I went with a Koni 2812 setup. 5) Knee pad. With the gas pedal under the steering wheel, you are cocked sideways in the cabin. On the track, your knee is always against the door panel. I went to wearing a knee pad as I was always rubbing the side of my knee raw. 6) Gearing. The standard gears SUCK. I went with some 3.73s so that I could use 6th under 100 MPH. Many people just upgrade to 3.55, but I liked the 3.73s. 7) Air pressure. The car builds up a high pressure area in front of the radiator at speed. There are some kits to fix this. Other wise, even with a larger radiator you will not get any airflow driving fast on the track. Also some dive planes on the side in the front help. Other things that help the car. Headers and a good exhaust. New Rocker arms (1.7s replacing the 1.6s) and valve springs, throttle bodies, airbox, oil pan baffling. This will give you a good start. Also, be CAREFUL with the vendors in this market. I have never seen more complete CROOKS than dealing with Vipers. I literally had a guy that was revalving my shocks (waste of time) get arrested and sent to jail while he had my stuff in his possession. I finally had to get his girfriend to send them back to me. Some of the BIG names in the industry if you look closely are criminals (literally).

You're not talking about Hennesey, are ya ?

All you need to do is check some of the Viper Forums and you will find a lot of interesting info

Yet for some reason Car and Driver continues to giver that guy second and third chances.

Were any of these things fixed with the newest generation?

Amigo's Thank you for your comments, The reason for the sharing of the Viper between brothers is not money but simply sharing of another Toys between best friends, not to mention he has a five car garage :-) We have narrow it down to a 05 RT10 Black on Black - The car will simply be for sunday drives and fair weather days commuting to client sites. Thank again, I will be sure to take some pictures once it arrives.

That was funny. I instructed a student in a Viper once at VIR. I swore I'd never get back in one of those things. Great amount of torque, but everything else just screams Dodge cheap. Gawd. Just about ruptured myself getting in and out of it too. But hey, if it's just a toy, and it's what you want, who cares if everyone that sees you in it will think you have a microscopic *****? Michael

In all honesty man, I'd take my Viper if the objective would be to get around a track as fast as possible. Agree that the Porsche handles better, but at the end of the day there's no replacement for displacement.