Am I making a mistake?I am thinking of selling the 350 and buying a low mile 1999 gts viper silver/blue stripes.the reason for posting this is to get advice from you as there are only about 50 in the UK and I will get sensible comments on this site unlike if I post it on the UK viper site. Any pros and cons will be a great help to me as I am not familiar with the vipers at all. THANKS, Dave.

 

I say sell that sucker!! I'm trying to offload mine right now to get a vette!

good luck

 

The Vipers are simply awesome. So much low end torque you can't even imagine (I had a chance to ride in one ). If you're importing one, I'd say try to get an ACR Viper, even less common than the regular GTS. Either way, I'd take a Viper over a Z.

 

If your not looking to drive it as much i would go with the viper. Its a totaly different car. Very fast.

 

It depends on what you want. Do you want an extremely fast car? Go with the Viper. Do you want a fairly fast car and one that will hold up for a long time? Then keep your Z.

Having owned two Chrysler products in the past (1998 Dodge Ram, 2001 Chrysler 300M) I think the quality and workmanship sucks. Great looking, eye catching designs but they stop there. They don't design quality vehicles under the exterior skin. I will never buy another American Company vehicle again. Notice I said American Company and not American made.

 

I wouldnt compare the viper with a ram or 300m. those are mexican made. the viper I beleive is made in america, by hand.

its a hot car. lack of warrenty does worry me, and no car, even hand made ones, live forever. replacement parts are super expensive. if you can afford the insurance and upkeep though, its an awesome car. I hope to get one eventually. a 99 here is still in the 40's or 50's though I think. so its comparable to a brand new Z06, which IMO though much less "cool factor", better performance all around. plus warrenty.

 

If it is to be a daily driver, I don't think I could live with Viper. Just a weekend fun car? That would be great.

 

Viper - a lot of power, a lot of gas, can't turn, can't stop(no abs) I felt unsafe. Interior is really bleh can't even compare to the Z.

Z - it's got power, reliable, more of a daily drive, can turn, can stop, nice interior. It's just seems so much more refined. Unless you really need that low end torque, I dunno I say test drive both cars.

My friend sold his GTS after a year, was disappointed with the car.

 

The Viper can make the Z look like it's going in reverse.

 

Newer vipers do have ABS.

 

i own dodge - piece of crap - need van for my buissnes - so far costed me over 4000 in repairs for 4 year old vehicle. BOy I can't wait to see what he will pay for that viper after he unloads arm and a leg on repairs. +THE DILLERSHIPS - boy I never encountered such a nest of sharks ..

 

Vipers are high maintenance. Correct me if I'm wrong, but 1999 Viper requires spark plug changes every 3k miles, and timing belt changes every 15k miles.

 

Hmmm, first time I went to Laguna my instructor had a Viper R/T 10 (convertible version). It had race tires, but still, the people who say the Viper can't turn are full of hooey. Now, it may not be as nimble as the an S2000, but on a large track neither the Z nor S2000 nor standard Vette will be close. I think even the mighty Z06 is a tad slower than the Viper (but it has a more nimble feeling).

I also own a Dodge Dakota (built in USA), and that truck has had less problems than the Z (although it is a 2003 DAK, not the first year so many bugs may have been worked out, 17,000 miles on it so far). One nice thing about buying a used car is that you can get an idea of how it is holding up. Listen for squeaks, rattles, check alignment, bearing play, etc. Maybe check some of the large Viper forums to see if there is anything specific to look out for.

Overall, the Viper is in an entirely different league than the Z, but that would really only matter if you get a chance to really drive it, because it has far more performance than can be safely used on the street. I'd have a very hard time resisting the Viper.

-D'oh!

 

It's funny you mention that. I distinctly recall one of my first ever HPDEs, and some student showed up with a Viper. The instructors were falling all over themelves to get as far away as possible. I thought that was strange, because the Viper seemed like an awesome car. One of the instructors finally enlightened me: beginner + Viper = accident waiting to happen. "Another jerk with more money than skill," I heard.

 

I have to agree with MANNISHBOY...
The Z is a great every day ride but the Viper is in that "exotic" range of cars-- better left for tooling around town on the weekends and for picking up the ladies...

 

if you want to ditch the z get the vette or bmw m3. Much better quality and ladies are still there.

 

Actually at the time my RAM was made in America. But it does not really matter where it is made as long as the quality program is enforced. Assuming the quality program is good to start with. And of course the components of the vehicle are designed well.

Funny story. We have a local media/car expert/mechanic that is on the morning show. He constantly recommends anybody who wants a mini-van to buy the Chrysler. He says it's the best value and best mini-van on the market. What I finally figured out is the more people that buy crappy American cars the more potential customers he has. He owns his own shop. I went through two transmissions on my RAM, the 300M tranny was acting up when I got rid of it. My friends Chrysler mini-van needed a new tranny at 30K, 45K, 60K. They got rid of it and bought the Honda. Chrysler is crap, just crap.

I would recommend just about anything over a Chrysler product, well not Ford or GM either. They just don't make them like they use to. I loved my '67 Mustang.

 

I recently saw a video of a NEON making a Viper look like a stationary object...I would HOPE one is able to make a 350Z go faster than a friggin NEON!!!

 

SRT-4s can be insane!!

 

This was a 90's model NEON...I'm 100% sure it was NOT a new SRT-4