There seems to be a lot of going on lately, with Generation 5 Viper owners putting these cars on the drag strip or even worse, roll racing them on the street. Unfortunately, nobody in the circle of Viper enthusiasts really understands what takes place and the long term negative impacts on the already ailing Generation 5 Viper.
There is one individual specifically, using a NINEBALL screen name who appears to receive the most attention and making waves through the internet. Now, this character claims to support Dodge Viper and supposedly pulls these stunts to generate positive publicity for the car, helping its survival.
Unfortunately, the reality of this sad situation is different from this alleged projection. Individuals like this one are as far from promoting the soon to be extinct Viper as one could get. In reality, this is nothing else than ego boosting self promotion and gratification AT THE EXPENSE OF DODGE VIPER.
Cars like Dodge Viper were never intended to spend their lives at the drag strip, this is not the kind of publicity they need, never did and never will. Apparently tools like this nineball fail to understand that Dodge Challenger and Charger Hellcat were created to fulfill this specific mission AT A FRACTION OF THE VIPER cost. These cars do an excellent job at the drag strip and unlike the Viper, have a great potential to increase their power and further establish their domination on the street and drag strip, unlike the Viper.
Dodge CEO, Tom Kuniskis understands this part perfectly, the aftermarket is there to give him a hand as well but... numbnuts like this nineball fail to understand it and thus, off they go to the drag strip with a car that is tailored to perform on the race track and road course. Perhaps it is the limited ability to driver the Viper competitively, perhaps it is the urgency of the instant gratification NOW but the fact remains that the Viper is as ill suited for a straight line competitor as one could possibly get. There are plenty of race tracks and road courses around, including in Texas, if someone seeks a validation from others, this would be the place to do it while benefitting the car but no such luck here.
The effects of this stupidity will appear shortly, right after a few of the Hellcats are modified well beyond straight line performance abilities of the Viper. Without any doubt, idiots like this nineball will be the first ones to jump the ship and switch to the Hellcat to continue self gratifying themselves. Unfortunately, this immediate gratification and recognition are so much more inciting than spending the time to actually learn to drive this car competitively, while negotiating turns on a road course.
After defeats become a norm for the Viper on the drag strip, there will be a backlash, resulting in pushing the Viper to the side, concentrating on considerably more affordable and easier to modify Hellcats, contributing to final demise of the Viper.
Even though this behavior is very entertaining to watch, especially attempts to instigate a competition among another failure's supporters (newest Corvette Z06), it is also a sad testimony to the overall failure of the Viper, as a top of the class track car. In the end, the stupidity and self serving nature of these people will help to put the Viper to rest but there is no doubt that people like this individual will be there in the future, to again drag a rare care into the world of drag racing, among Honda Civics, Camaros, Mustangs and of course, Hellcats.
Of course the drag strip scenario is the better outcome, the real damage is inflicted through a more disturbing trend, roll racing using public streets. The projection and perception of willingness to endanger others using the Viper should do wonders to the perception of the car by potential buyers, currently interested in foreign exotics. Too hard to figure out? Must be...
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