The review thread

[early93viper]

Here's a review I did on my car a While back. I have owned the car for over a year and a half. And put over 11,000 miles on it.


My review:

93 Viper RT/10

The GEN I (92-95) Viper is the most fun car I have ever driven. I have driven a Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari 308 and 365 2+2, lots of Corvettes including a C5 Z06, lots of BMWs, etc. All where great cars but none had the performance of my Viper. I will admit the Lambo and the Ferraris felt more special than the Viper but that doesn't make up for there lack of performance (comparatively of course). And although they where all fun there is nothing quite like the Viper. With the torque, handling, gobs of HP, etc. it truly is a treat to drive. Also I really like to track my car and none would be able to keep up. Not to mention it would cost a fortune to maintain the Ferraris and the Lambo especially if you tracked them.


ROAD COURSE
I have taken my car to two local Road course tracks MAM and HPT several times. It runs incredible. Especially when you adjust the suspension and put some sticky tires on (kumho V700s for me). After those two mods the car sticks like glue with little body roll. In my opinion It is the ultimate street car/Track car.

DRAG STRIP
On the Drag Strip it runs very well. The Fastest I have run so far (with air intake and exhaust) is 12.5 @ 113. Looking for low 12s in the future.

CAR SHOWS AND JUST DRIVING AROUND
Everyone gives you the Thumbs up when you have a Viper. Always a hit at the car shows. It's an extremely rare car with only around 5000 made (who knows how many survived).

AUTOCROSS
Unfortunately the Viper is a little big to Autocross. I Autocrossed it around 12 times with mixed results. On more open tracks it did better while on tighter tracks it was a hard because the Viper is so wide.

It's really not a bad car for around $35,000. I don't think it's the best car ever built and sure If someone wanted to trade me a Ferrari 360 for it I would. But performance wise it's a dam good bang for the buck.

Pros
Great all-around performance, Rare, Fun to drive, absolute blast on a road course, reliable (in supercar terms), etc.

Cons
NOT AN EVERYDAY CAR! Plastic slide in windows, leaky top, not very good on tight autocross courses.

Bottom line:
Can't afford a 6 figure Ferrari or Lamborghini? Try a Viper a very good bang for your buck.
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[BMW325]

2000 BMW M Roadster (240hp US-spec)

Very nice car...Everything feels so tight and precise. Its rated at 240hp but feels like more...though I imagine that the 315hp version would be an absolute beast. Its a pretty small car, so you really feel confident throwing it around. Very tight gearbox. The car I drove had 30,000 miles and was priced at $28,000. For that money you could buy a base brand-new 300hp Nissan 350Z...but the Nissan feels big, and doesnt have the magic connection to the road the way the BMW does...and though the 350Z is rated at 300hp, the M's 240hp feels just as strong if not stronger. So it comes down to old vs new; resale value vs warranty. Honestly I like the look of the 350Z better...and the Z3 body has always been a bit of a girly car. In all honesty its a tough choice.