TeddyFreddy

Steering wheel is great, I mean big. But other than that is horrible. I was thinking my Z06 has an ugly wheel until i have seen this one in the new Viper.
Seats are better than in the Z06, agreed.
I never felt the need for adjustable pedals. Guess GM made the car for my size.
Tach and instruments are lame, one of the ugliest ever seen.
Here is a side by side comparison:





I won't comment much on those that you have recognized that are bad. They are very bad.

It is actually funny that I am writing about the interior, because I don't usually care about it so much, with one condition: give me performance. The problem is that this new Viper does not deliver enough performance to compensate for many areas where is bad.
Did I mentioned the truck sound of the engine?

BLU-BY-U

this many pages, and I still can't decipher if the viper was really road tested or not (maybe I missed it). Is this c&d article just talking about the manufacturer specs of the 2 cars or did they get their hands on a new viper and really test it?

and btw - I just got a chance to view the youtube video....it looked good (besides paint) and sounded VERY awesome. I definitely want to view one in person. But for all the heat the 427 Z06 takes with the "it doesn't look different enough from the base c6...", I'd almost say the same thing here versus the '06 viper. I guess I was thinking there would be some big cosmetic changes for the 600hp car

Kappa

Traction problems? Maybe but it's still probably better at managing it's power at that level than a Z06. Shorter gears might lengethen the 0-60 time but everything after that would probably improve.

TeddyFreddy

Yes it was road tested at VIR Grande Course:
2008 Viper 2:57.4
2007 C6Z06 2:58.2

$14K more for 0.8 sec less. I will pass.

allegretto

Tell me that's not faux carbon on the steering wheel. maybe just a bad pic?

AtlBlkZ06

I think its just a diff in color - same material.

I hate having wood or anything hard on a steering - It feels like someone yanked the steering and handed you something else.

Rhino68

I never could understand the criticisms toward the Viper interior. In my opinion, it is the best interior I ever sat in. I am not tall and I am not fat and I can see how either type of those physiques would not fit in the car. For a man of average height and healthy weight, it fits like a glove. The quality and fit and finish is excellent and the seat support is perfect for my size. The Z06 is not bad but it feels like any common interior to me. Getting in and out of the Viper is a chore but maybe that is why it fits so well when I am in the car. I think what the interior lacks is color contrast and it tends to look very plain in pictures. In person, it looks just fine and has a great quality fit of panels, etc. I also like the steering wheel a lot. Again, the Z06 steering wheel feels typical by comparison. For some people, I am sure that the Z06 has a better suited interior but for my body type, the Viper interior is perfect.

TeddyFreddy's post is utterly ridiculous. I, for one, like the white background on the gauges and saying that the gauges are the ugliest he has ever seen is a bit overstated. I wonder if he ever sat in a new Viper or is just basing his opinion on magazine pictures. I'm glad that so many people prefer the corvette. I own 2 corvettes also but feel that the Viper is a very special car; in my opinion, far more special than a vette will ever be. If the Viper did not exist, the corvette would be the next new sports car I would buy. The euro cars never appealed to me and I don't see that changing in my lifetime.

I'm also a weirdo in that I really don't care that much about the sound of a car. A car is not a dog and it's bark is not always related to its level of power. On the Viper forums, they are always talking about getting a louder exhaust. I never can understand that. If I can get the same power from a quieter exhaust, why would I want more noise? I have a '68 vette with a solid roller, high lift cam and it sounds nastier than any new car possibly could. On that car the exhaust has to be as open as possible to make optimum power. On the new cars, this is not always the case, especially with turbocharged Vipers.

WeaponsGradeTorque

Go spend a couple of grand on PS2s and I bet you are easily there.

exukboy

Yep, if we're talking about sounds, "V" 10 motors don't sound good. 8's are great and some hi po 12's but the 10 configuration is

SharkbyteLT4

i'd would pimp it. I wouldn't take too much stock in numbers posted by these car rags. They are usually one off especially when you put a real professional behind the wheel.

Hopefully we will see some future street racing vidoes of a stock Z06 vs a stock 08 viper. Then and only then we can judge how fast it is on the street

355Spider

Very cool but I really thought it was going to be faster. 600hp should at least get you to 129 in the QT but it is a bit heavy. The Blue Devil will be great. Can't wait to see them square off.

TeddyFreddy

Besides the fact that the gauges are white, do you have anyhting else to their defence? Guess not...

I will add some details, for those that can't see the obvious differences in those pictures:

1. They are plain, too small and totally boring; they look like those in the Dodge minivans
2. Very little information in front of you, just gas, tach and speedo does not cut it anymore. Forget about those on the side, the info should be easy to check while driving
3. There are not enough gradations/markings. The Z06 gauges look way better, high tech, more information and modern
4. There is no LCD display to display messages from the computer. I found those messages useful in the Z06
5. The is no Heads Up Display [HUD], a feature I value a lot. It is useful while driving, not a gimmick. It can be configured to display what I want and it is easy to read because I can keep looking at the road at the same time. It can display the navigation info and also has a shift light indicator. Jet Fighters have HUD for a reason.

As for the fact if I sat in a Dodge Viper, yes I did, the 2006 model, which when talking about gauges is 100% the same in 2008.

OK, let's say the gauges are not essential. But what about heat? Grilling heat! Viper fans still need some fans. Everybody hoped that the problem will be cured for 2008. Didn't happened... Here is the 2008 Viper review from Winding Road (Oct 2007, page 48):

"Lest you think the Viper has entirely shed its rough skin, fear not: the Dodge is still physically taxing to drive, with a searing cabin that could double for a George Foreman Grill, even though the exhaust system no longer crosses behind and below the seats before exiting out the side pipes."

Maybe it is a "bonus", for the extra $14K from a Z06 one gets a "George Foreman Grill"

vegasdude

That's why I went to the Caravaggio GT seats. They support you very well and look great........!!

GMuffley

I agree. If the new Viper is faster, does it make the Z06 any less of a super car? Of course not.

Slow Vette

doesn't the steering wheel look like every other one they've put in a dodge??

32valves

great post!

CORVETTEZL1001

I Agree.

vettejoel

I wouldn't drive that "CLOWN SHOE" even if it didn't ride like a lumber wagon.

qboy

I thought it was weird that the viper had such high gears. Can it be ordered with lower gears from the factory? Also, with only a little more curb weight and 95 extra hp, plus more power at lower rpm, the viper should have been much faster. Either the Z06 has more than 505hp or the viper has less than 600 hp.

An easy mod to the Z06 is a Vortec supercharger that's 50 state legal and quiet. And it would still be cheaper than the viper.

blitzu

Lets not forget basic principles of how much a difference HP makes throughout the powerband. I have yet to see what type of power the Viper makes on a dyno so I can't comment on that car. The torque curve on the ZO6's and HP curves are very smooth and high throughout the powerband giving it power all the way through the RPMs. The ZO6 redline is 7100 RPMs vs the Vipers 6200 RPM, which can make quite a difference. Also important to mention is the gearing in relation to that power is also a big factor. Lastly, there are many other reasons why the ZO6 edges out other cars with 600 plus HP. Take all the above said into consideration and add in the areodynamics, light body, tires, differencial, suspension, and presto, you have a car that can pull away from those with much more HP.

I have a video on street fire of my stock ZO6 running a modified 560 RWHP GT500 from 60 to upper 100's. I'm not giving the link since street racing is frowned upon here, but I pull on him everytime. I have also ran my buddies 996TT Porsche several dozen times that has just about 620 flywheel HP, and we're about neck and neck with me edging him out by a headlight.

You have seen it on various other sites, and continue to see this car in stock form take out cars with much more power, and it has to do with the cars entire package. There's much more to a car than just the total HP it puts out. Total HP numbers are good for story books, it's the entire car that makes that HP work, and the ZO6 continues to prove that ohh so well.