jfried Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 The project is complete and I took the '09 out to cars and coffee yesterday. Saw a 2001 GTS Viper like my old car and parked next to him. Nice guy who was actually involved with SRT and consumer programs so we got talking about his Viper (and that I missed my old 1998 GTS). Then he turned the conversation to my car as I popped the hood and we compared notes. I told him about the recent chassis project and he immediately looked under the car and then stood up looking amazed. He could not believe how much work had been done to make the car handle and said he doubted the Viper could handle with the Shelby. Having owned a GTS, I told him my goal was to make the front heavy Shelby handle like a proper sports car and I think I have hit the mark. There were quite a few Mustangs (and some Shelby's) parked up the row from us. The owners were grouped together and all were having the "my dick is bigger than yours" conversation about how much HP they had with dyno graphs to prove it. Everyone of them had focused their efforts on increasing HP only: stock brakes, stock suspension, stock cooling, etc. I was casually walking around and trying to be a fly on the wall as I saw those guys inspecting my car. Everyone of them had a dumbfounded look when they saw the chassis... one guy saw the watts link and was even more dumbfounded. I think I'm happy. Afterwards, we headed out and promptly found some clover-leafs on the interstate. The car always wanted to push in the corner.... that has been cured. The noise from the motor is a little less after some tweaking so I think the cure for that is to just turn on some music. It feels nimble yet with manageable HP is putting all the ponies to the ground. I'd love to get this car on a machine to determine the weight distribution now. I can definitely say it is a different car than the one that rolled off the showroom... And I absolutely adore it! What "tweaking" did you do to get the noise down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperNC Posted April 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 We took Phill's advice - post 26 from this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperNC Posted April 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2014 Update: I think I have created a MONSTER.... is it the car, or is it me??? Or the combination of both? Earlier in the Spring we had a warm day before we started the latest project and I took the car out for a run through some local twisty roads and detailed the drive on the forum. I took the same run on Sunday for the first time with the new chassis/suspension/cooling project completed. Every corner I found myself trail braking, pushing harder into the apex, carrying speed through the apex, and exiting hard on the throttle. The car is on rails. I don't recall my old Viper GTS handling this well and I would definitely say it handles as well as my old 2001 BMW M Roadster did. The heavy steering is gone and any input you put into the steering wheel has an immediate result. You have to be very alert and in tune with what the car is doing. It feels "light"... I know that does not make sense for a heavy car, but I swear it feels light and responsive. The front wheels turn in so well and the rear wheels follow through smartly. I feel like I can get on the power whenever I want and the car will put it to the ground. It's freakin' addictive! I'm headed to CMP to run a few test laps soon and will report back. I think I'm going to need a roll bar soon and a set of track wheels/tires. In the mean time I'm going to have to reel the monster back in and slow down on the street (or try to at least). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMR Fabrication Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 NICE! Sounds as if she's handling well. I knew that you would enjoy the improvement, as pretty much everyone who does the suspension/chassis as you have, cannot believe the difference it makes. It truly does make it a completely different machine in every aspect. I definitely don't like to hear about people being unhappy about the NVH. I know it's there - but I always try my best to help customers get it to an acceptable level. It is tough, going from the stock stuff....to the welded tubular DOM and small poly mounts, and trying to retain OEM comfort. Give me a call tomorrow sir. (Friday) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperNC Posted May 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 NICE! Sounds as if she's handling well. I knew that you would enjoy the improvement, as pretty much everyone who does the suspension/chassis as you have, cannot believe the difference it makes. It truly does make it a completely different machine in every aspect. I definitely don't like to hear about people being unhappy about the NVH. I know it's there - but I always try my best to help customers get it to an acceptable level. It is tough, going from the stock stuff....to the welded tubular DOM and small poly mounts, and trying to retain OEM comfort. Give me a call tomorrow sir. (Friday) Hi Kelly, I'll try to reach out at some point this AM. As for the NVH, I don't mind the vibration/harshness at all. For the noise increase: roll down the windows in the warm months and turn on the tunes when temps are low. That's my solution for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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