Hey OP, join Viper Club of America forum. Great guys in there and plenty of info. I would ask ?'s in there if you are truly serious. When I was about to buy a GTS, I went in there and found a guy in my area and was able to get a ride in his before I made a decision.

I would trade for a viper...

Just test drove the car today. For anyone that has a Z and never have actually driven the Viper, its not as easy as you would think to trade the 370z for. Of course, the Viper is ridiculously fast and looks great on the outside. The interior of the car sucks compared to the 370z and they have way less interior room. The plastic American cheap parts that make up the door panels and dash have an outdated feel to it. The manual gear shifter is so big and long (pause) that you feel like u are driving an 18 wheeler. Since the exhaust is on the side, you smell the gas fumes every time you get into the car. The road noise is horrendous and the stock exhaust is extremely loud and backfires a lot. I knew the Viper was rugged, but I do not know if I could trade in my 370z for it. If I needed to win a drag race, i would in a heartbeat. If I want the overall better car as far as comfort, looks (inside & outside), driveabilty, just in my opinion, the 370z is a better choice. Even with all that, I am still considering it BC of the 505hp V10 and it would be only a $20 more a month car payment. Still undecided at this point.

If after that and your undecided... Stick with the Z

Sounds like you need more refinement, imo. Stick with the Z.

I think the new Viper will be much more refined and per your liking of course it will have the new car price tag. I have never driven a Viper but have experienced a few rides. It is not an everyday car. It is not comfortable, feels way to wide and frankly if I was driving not a car I would be happy hooning in on a daily basis. On paper the #'s are fabulous but in the real world, I don't think I'd be happy with it. BTW OP I think you comments about the gearbox and its long throws are because the 04 Viper transmissions are actually truck transmissions, it was the only transmission Dodge had capable of handling all the torque the Viper puts out.

yuck!


'09 F.I. CBE/HFC-Stillen Gen3,Setrab +ModBod

If you want something different, I would just get a new base model corvette , you can get them for around $45k right now, its almost as fast as the viper and a lot more dependable and better made.

I used to be a big dodge fan in the 60's and 70's , but overall current product dodges have real reliabilty issue's, buying a used Viper might be a real money pit, and you have to wonder why the previous owner sold it.

If you decide to get it, at least get the vin # and have a dodge dealer run it through their dealer system to see if it has had any real issues with it or repairs etc.

Huh?? Truck transmission??? The Viper uses the Tremec T-56 tranny, same tranny used in-
* Chevrolet Corvette, 1997–2007
* Chevrolet Camaro, 1993-2002
* Ford Mustang Cobra, 2003–2004
* Ford Mustang Cobra R, 2000
* Ford Falcon XR6, XR6T, XR8
* FPV F6 Tornado/Typhoon, GT/GT-P 2004–2008
* General Motors GM F platform V8 cars, 1993–2002
* Holden Commodore 1998–2008
* Holden Monaro, 2001-2006
You are probably thinking of the engine. The only V-10 engine Chrysler had for the first design of the Viper was a truck engine... but it weighed upwards of 800 pounds. So it was redesigned with the help Lamborghini and was able to get it down to around 500lbs.

505hp V-10 would be fun but not enough for me to ever pull the trigger. The lack of value/quality would have me second guessing myself everyday after I bought and wishing I would have kept the Z. I think I'd be happier with an older used NSX. Just my $0.02

After initial depreciation, vipers hold value pretty well.

does gas consumption matter? i would think gas mileage for the viper has to be very low.

Not sure where it came from but the SRT-10 Ram RC uses the T-56. The QC uses the 48RE. So the question is, did the Ram come out with the tranny first, or did the Viper come with it first.

Borg and Warner came out with it first. It was specifically designed for.the Viper.

Not sure if your a modder but some of those refinement can be added...