Re: Vipers and Vettes

convertible

competency.

where's my money, bitch?

They must see a brain dead hick coming from a mile away. Anybody that thinks a Porsche oil change costs anywhere near $200.00 is a perfect candidate to drive a Vette.

< what recall?>

Well, besides your error code problem, and please fill us in more on this, I have read about them, but never experienced one. There is a recall on all

1997 and up Corvettes for some type of steering column failure. Sooner or later you will learn why "bang for the buck" nets you exactly what you pay for.

Chevy quality....LOL!

complaining

I've owned three Porsches, a 99 Chevrolet Corvette C5 convertible, and now a

96 Viper, in the sportscar genre.

I loved my Porsches, but they were far from inexpensive to maintain. Maybe you're too young to remember the airboxes blowing up before they put the flapper valves into them on the 911s. Or how about the overheating problems caused by the heat exchangers on my 77 911s, or the overheating in the engine before they changed the fan from 5 blades to 11 (11?).

How about the nice dents we got in the front hood if we put in anything hard that was over 4 inches tall and tried to close the hood?

Or what about the inherent instability of the earlier 911s on emergency braking through turns? Or the leaks through the removable targa tops in the rain?

How about the missed shifts prior to the G50 transmission, and the occaisons where the car would drop out of second gear into neutral?

The C5 has its share of problems as do all of the exotics, but no more than their share. They are built extremely well, and could hardly be more fun.

Porsches, in my opinion have shown consistently high quality, but still had problems. A 911 engine will go 250,000 miles, but that doesn't mean you don't have plenty of things to fix along the way. It's the price of driving a high performance vehicle with a very stiff chassis. Things break. And sometimes the designs need updating.

I'll bet that if you ever drove a C5 Vette, you would immediately change your opinion. They, like your Porsche, are world class cars, and deserve to be accepted as such.

Now the Viper..... only extreme nutcases would ever buy one of those.....

Larry

96 Dodge Viper

I have driven a C-5 and it is nothing special. The interior is no better than an Impala or Cavalier. It had the worst lines of sight than in any other vehicle I have driven. Not to mention, it's a butt ugly copy of the Acura NSX!

I wouldn't go as far as to call it an exotic. Yes, they got smart and copied the 928 driveline, but, the ill fitting panels, questionable interior and albatross called "G.M." make it just another mass produced car with a huge motor that brags about speed instead of all of the intangibles that make a true sportscar a true sports car.

This is not to say G.M. does not recognize the shortcomings, they just do not want to have to raise the price to address these issues.

Agreed. All this "bang for the buck" talk never addresses the true issue...just where do they shave to save money? If they brought the Corvette up to true world class standards, it would cost every bit as much as a 911 or lower end Ferrari, and then, like it or not, the target audience for a Vette couldn't afford one. Chevy dealers are offering all types of incentives and rebates to move them now, how would they possibly move a more expensive one? To compound the problem even further, given the choice between an equally priced 911 or Vette, reputation sells the 911 everytime.

As for GM "quality". You can look as far as what they have done to their previously very successful Saturn line to see why GM is rated 11 spots behind #1 Porsche in the JD Power long term reliability and quality survey.

Sorry, no sale here.

You're the one who talks about a 1967 Corvette split-window coupe. All C5s have been recalled for a steering column lock problem (something minor like the column can lock while you're driving the car).

There's no defending a 96 Viper. Mine has 9000 miles on it, and the original owner changed the rear end gearing to get it to where the torque won't rip the rear end off the car (488 ft lbs of torque). The car is a composite on a frame so stiff it had a recall to check for cracks on the track. You can't put a rear flat tire in the trunk. You can't put a hard top roof in the trunk. You can put the pull out side curtains and windows in the trunk, and you may as well.

Not unlike the old 911s, but for a different reason, the rear end of the car slides around to the front.

The rear tires are 355s and they wear out at an alarming rate.

You can't hear the stereo over the wind blast above 60 mph.

Mine is black with silver stripes, so everyone leans into it when you go more than 50 yards from it, and every mark shows.

I've never heard of one with more than 80,000 miles on it, so I have no idea of how reliable the Dodge V-10 will be over time.

The brakes, while huge, aren't as good as the Porsche 911, the Vette Z06, or even the later generation Viper (which has very good brakes, roll up windows, good air conditioning, and a convertible top).

As I said, there is absolutely no defending a black 96 RT-10 with silver stripes.

I LOVE IT!!