I actually like my ACR-E

[BJG32]

My car lives at the track. Literally. It is at MotorSport Ranch in track trim now and the next time I drive it will be on track.

Like it should be, but fyi you now have no warranty.

[Arizona Vipers]

The reason why there aren't many "positive" posts at this point is that nobody wants to talk about their mods anymore. Who here now wants to post about their new mods when they know Chrysler is voiding warranty's for mods?
What else is there to talk about? What is the best wax to use? The best cell phone holder? When is the next Cars and Coffee?

I love my ACR too, but it sucks to buy a car like this and to not be able to do any mods whatsoever for fear of blowing a motor.
I've bought 60+ cars in the last 20 years or so and part of the enjoyment of buying/owning a car is modifying it. I would assume that 99% of the guys here are the same way.
Every car I have ever bought I have modified and I've never had one issue ever due to the mod, much less a warranty claim denied and I crank my Mercedes daily drivers to over 800 horsepower and run them hard.
My stock ACR does not sound like I want a car to sound. To pay $150K for a car and not even be able to change the mufflers because of the high rate of blown motors and knowing Chrysler wont warranty their manufacturing defect flat out sucks.

[ViperJon]

In my six months of ownership I've had two recalls (front passenger airbag and rear differential) and today once again being transported to the dealer to try to fix a stalling problem. Car can't go fifteen minutes without stalling just sitting there idling. And all before it has 1000 miles on it. Sorry if I'm not as thrilled as people who haven't had any issues. But I guess mentioning that makes me a whiner?

[Bruce H.]

In my six months of ownership I've had two recalls (front passenger airbag and rear differential) and today once again being transported to the dealer to try to fix a stalling problem. Car can't go fifteen minutes without stalling just sitting there idling. And all before it has 1000 miles on it. Sorry if I'm not as thrilled as people who haven't had any issues. But I guess mentioning that makes me a whiner?

Hey, isn't that more miles than you put on your TA the whole time you owned it? You loved that Gen V so much that you bought another, so I'm thinking you're going to love this one once some initial stuff gets cleaned up under warranty. I suspect if you whine in the future it'll be about selling that TA!

[kverges]

Like it should be, but fyi you now have no warranty.

Not sure why you say that. In fact it's been to dealer from track once already and even arrived in my trailer.

[CarolinaViper]

Another "nothing wrong with my car (currently) so whats the problem?" post.

Keep your car stock and off tracks so you can increase your chances of feeling how you currently do.

Remember, we all felt the way you do at one point in time.

Been to the track of five different occasions...had a blast and not worried about the engine.

[BJG32]

Not sure why you say that. In fact it's been to dealer from track once already and even arrived in my trailer.

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[Policy Limits]

I complained about quality control before it was popular haha

I had a friend blow his motor in his C7 and the dealer checked GPS to determine if he was on the track. He wasn't and they ordered a crate motor and replaced under warranty. Just seems silly if it were built for that purpose like TA or ACR

[BJG32]

Not sure why you say that. In fact it's been to dealer from track once already and even arrived in my trailer.

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[Dave292]

Love my ACR-E. No issues. Want issues??? Own a Gt3RS Porsche and deal with the coolant pipe issues for an engine out fix on every car and it's not covered by the warranty. Viper is a dream!!

[ViperSmith]

This forum is full of debbie downers.

people want to talk about enjoying the car and gets flooded with negativity.

there are legitimate issues but it isn't the norm. stop acting like it is.

[VENOM V]

Yep, but these waves come and go.

As far as the possibility of the factory denying a claim because it was tracked, that must be the exception not the norm. Not worried about it.

I'll add, I LOVE MY FREAKIN ACR! 4,000 mostly track miles, and before that 15,000 mostly track miles on my GTS. Rock solid. Wouldn't trade it for anything

[BJG32]

I felt exactly like OP until my engine went at 3500 miles.

Months of waiting and FCA replaced. ZERO problems to date besides oil burning at unusual rates. FCA said my engine was now solid and issues corrected. They put in a 2016 engine.

Like a fool i believed them and did mods that will use against me if I have warranty issues. I hope the 2 that went are because they didn't check oil levels...we'll never know the truth if they added after the fact.

Engines are popping and the perception is FCA is throwing their hands up. Its an $8k risk every time i start the engine.

My car feels "rock solid". They all do until they go. The reality is we have no idea what gremlins await us and the parent company is looking for ways to pass the buck to us.

I love my viper, but the fun factor is taking a beating. I choose not to be ignorant. As more engines pop it'll be fun to look back at the comments made about us tin foil hat wearing fools. More will join us, just pray its not you...

In the end I really hope for a solid resolution that protects us all. We deserve it.

[commandomatt]

I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a bit worried about what has come to light in the last month or so. I have had zero issues with my 2010 ACR and certainly hope that the 2017 ACRE that I have on order with Bill will be trouble free as well.

While I get that parts can be replaced and issues can be fixed, the fact is that I am 1000 miles from Woodhouse and any major work (even if covered) turns in to a major PITA.

I was originally going to get a 16 but decided to wait it out to get the last year Viper. I hope that what they have learned from previous years will be dealt with on this last batch or cars. I know....its wishful thinking but I have to look at it in a positive way.

I also have to say that anyone not getting their 2017 from one of the big 3 is taking an additional risk. While dealerships will tell you that they will take care of you if you have any trouble, fact is that once production stops, they will have very little incentive to keep a Viper tech on staff and be able to help you if something goes wrong. The big 3 will be selling, servicing and upgrading Vipers for years to come and they will be someone you can count on to go to bat for you. They have proven this by their actions in the past and I am sure they will be there down the road

So I hope that the next few months will show some positive (not the standard "I Love my Viper' feedback) from FCA, CAAP and from those taking delivery of their 17's. I cant wait to get behind the wheel of this last of a kind car

[yellowmz3]

Love my ACR

[Terminator02]

OP so you are upset there isn't more discussion on tuning, set up, and other focused discussions so you create a thread having nothing to do with that but state how you love the car and you are keeping it stock?(which we all know because you have said you are keeping it stock numerous in numerous threads while also giving armchair input on why modding a car is bad for the track). K. Awesome.

[kverges]

I have started a thread on my experience with setup, but gets light traffic:

http://driveviper.com/forums/threads...hlight=Kverges

As for the screen shot of Jorgenson's post I don't know that I'd consider that definitive on warranty coverage for use of car on track. If I abuse the car on track, like missed shift or not checking oil then that would bar coverage. But I've looked at the manual and warranty booklet and don't see an exclusion for track use, but maybe I missed it.

I can say I've gone track to dealer and had warranty work done, FWIW. And I've had similar experience with Porsche and McLaren and Mazda and others, I just don't see DE usage being an automatic denial. Now if SRT is saying it is, I'd like to know that because I think that such a blanket position is wrong, again unless the manual or warranty booklet have a track exclusion.

Maybe I will have a major problem and face warranty denial. But I've had neither so far and don't personally see the need to get worked up. I will say that the car is marketed for track driving and comes with a setup supplement so I would be surprised to see a warranty denial for doing what is in the manual. I've seen very few facts about the bearing problem, but maybe I missed an announcement by SRT or Arrow on their assessment of root cause. I know some folks are working hard with SRT and Arrow on getting root cause analysis to deal with warranty denials, but other than opinions that tunes can or can't cause failures or that debris has or has not caused failures (and I have not seen any quotes from or by SRT or Arrow on this) I don't know what is going on. The few photos I have seen are hard to interpret other than they sure look like lack of oil, but no scoring from debris at that bearing (maybe debris blocked a gallery?).

The sticky thread on engine failures appears to have very little traffic.

It just seems like a lot of speculation and a lot of it by people without any problems and a very powerful negative sentiment that I don't presently understand or share. So I thought WTH, how about a place for positive thoughts?

Granted, not objective, but that kind of thing seems hard to find when discussing problems with the car.

[Terminator02]

Well I think the forums typically bring out different characteristics about not only cars but the people when compared to real world interactions. I only found myself worrying about the bearing issues when perusing the forums and it didn't cross my mind when driving. It's just the nature of the Internet and forum culture.

I was with another albeit now much less crowded viper site since 2004 and the people and topics never change. People want steals when they buy then cry when they get offered nothing on resale, the popular posters have minion followers and a large amount of koolaid seems to be consumed by some.

With that, I found some awesome people from the forums and sifting through the douche baggary nets me great outcomes. I had a gen ll ACR and the harmonic balancer came undone ripping the crank threads apart. A 22k Chrysler quote turned to a 9k arrow rebuild quote which turned to a flat bed to a forum members home for pinning the balancer to the crank for practically free.

I just think viper owners are fanatical about the brand, upset at the end of production and current problems and it's just temporarily manifesting on the forums as an outlet. You are right, irl, everyone I know is driving and enjoying the car. I was just around 60+ owners in Michigan and no one was preoccupied about bearing failures. However it doesn't negate the importance of being educated on what's happening since it appears to be a pervading problem that may affect many people once they start driving the car more.

[swexlin]

Well I think the forums typically bring out different characteristics about not only cars but the people when compared to real world interactions. I only found myself worrying about the bearing issues when perusing the forums and it didn't cross my mind when driving. It's just the nature of the Internet and forum culture.

I was with another albeit now much less crowded viper site since 2004 and the people and topics never change. People want steals when they buy then cry when they get offered nothing on resale, the popular posters have minion followers and a large amount of koolaid seems to be consumed by some.

With that, I found some awesome people from the forums and sifting through the douche baggary nets me great outcomes. I had a gen ll ACR and the harmonic balancer came undone ripping the crank threads apart. A 22k Chrysler quote turned to a 9k arrow rebuild quote which turned to a flat bed to a forum members home for pinning the balancer to the crank for practically free.

I just think viper owners are fanatical about the brand, upset at the end of production and current problems and it's just temporarily manifesting on the forums as an outlet. You are right, irl, everyone I know is driving and enjoying the car. I was just around 60+ owners in Michigan and no one was preoccupied about bearing failures. However it doesn't negate the importance of being educated on what's happening since it appears to be a pervading problem that may affect many people once they start driving the car more.

Excellent post. As we always say, come for the cars, stay for the people. Since being a Viper owner, I've made lifelong friendships, that will long outlast my ownership of this Viper, or any car.

[Viper Girl]

Lets keep this on track...


the OP seemingly wants to read positive lighter hearted conversation about ACR-E's...
There are plenty of other threads to go post in... Every thread doesn't need to end in doom and gloom...

Not saying theres not an issue... it just doesn't need to permeate every thread...

[v10enomous]

Another positive thread! Who would have thought!?!

Got to put some miles on mine this weekend, still like Christmas morning every time I push that red button...

Ha... Yep. Taking the covers off is like unwrapping the presents...

[BAD BEAR]

In my six months of ownership I've had two recalls (front passenger airbag and rear differential) and today once again being transported to the dealer to try to fix a stalling problem. Car can't go fifteen minutes without stalling just sitting there idling. And all before it has 1000 miles on it. Sorry if I'm not as thrilled as people who haven't had any issues. But I guess mentioning that makes me a whiner?

Just be glad it wasn't your REAR passenger airbag and FRONT differential!

[FSTENUF]

This is my 3rd Viper and my 2nd Gen V. I have waited a long time to have a car like this. It is your one stop shop for the best of both worlds. I can drive on the street and get so many thumbs up and nice ride comments that you feel like a rock star. Go to the track and just kick the crap out of every other car in your run class. It sucks that this is the end of the Viper as we know it but as long as I can get tires and parts when needed I will keep the car running down the street and track till they put me in a hole in the ground. Long live the Snake.

[Darius]

0 Problems with my ACR, doesn't use a drip of oil. MY TA used quite a bit at 1st, a quart every 500 miles or so when it was new but slowed down. My 2016 never changes. Every time I check it it's in the same spot. Just the luck of the draw I guess.

[darbgnik]

I show up to my dealership with rubber sausages still clinging to the tire treads from the track. They can test FCA's resolve on warranty all they want, it's not going to change how I treat the car one bit. The Gen 5 is the best Viper track car to date, with the ACR even besting that! Top up the tire fund, and carry on.