My Journey

[SADVIPER]

Hello everyone, I've been on the forums since 2012 and I want to share my journey with you guys. My name is Soud and I imported my Gen V back in the day from Texas to my country Kuwait, where the dealership support for the Viper is weak, but this was always about our passion for the Viper. We got few enthusiasts I suppose for the snake. I just moved in to Texas and brought the car with me. Over 2 years, I managed 10,000 miles on the street and few track sessions. In the past 3 days I managed to increase that number by 2,000
The car landed in Chicago and the moment I left the cargo terminal, I saw a Gen V cruising on the highway so naturally I sped up and drove next to him, we gave each other the thumbs-up gesture and then pulled over to have a chat. My initial plan was to ship the car on a truck to TX but after I had a nice chat with this fella he told me to drive it down there and enjoy the ride, I wanted to change my oil/filter before I drive it and get the car serviced by a proper dealer, all 3 Dodge dealers that I initially called were hesitant to accept my car when I asked them if they are SRT-certified to work on a Gen V Viper. He told me to forget about the dealerships and gave me the number of his mechanic and I knew a Viper guy wouldn't just leave his car with about any mechanic so I called this number and drove to his workshop. He was Bill of Frankfurt Auto Family service center, former president of Illinois Viper club. What a nice service center they have and they done all the required checks on my car and oil replacement, I also asked them to remove a persistent error code issue that was with me lately and then I was ready to hit the road.
Back home, I used to order my spare parts from Mark and work on the car at home with my friends, I had the full Ballenger installed and HPTune, TA 1.0 spoiler and alignment, upgraded overall brake system, and track pack on my car. The car has been amazing with me previously and now I wanted to test it more on this road trip and enjoy it more. The journey totaled around 18-20 hrs of driving time and I averaged no less than 4 hrs per day on the highway, plus the minimal city driving. The mileage was better on the highway and the weather was nice in IL & MO but warm in AR & TX and that is where I had to use the AC. At all points, the ride was awesome and comfy as it gets and the AC stayed cold all the time. The engine oil and coolant temperatures stayed less than half even when I hit 100+ MPH. It was heavily raining at some locations and I was scared but the car was just fine with 50 MPH and less, I got the R888s by the way. I just loved the car more and more as it was a new experience for me especially when people drive next to me and waive with big smiles, people at the gas station come for photos and talk about how beautiful of a car it is, and getting to chat with car guys here and there and so on. Was really a nice feeling.
Now that I'm in TX, I'll probably call Andy to get some servicing done and do a couple of pending recalls and to fix my sudden horn issue lol. I want to meet Viper guys in the area and try some tracks such as Circuit Of The Americas.
Here are some pictures of my baby:

[gcrain]

Nice story, this car does generate a ton of attention. I love the sense of connection, everything is so direct.

[Terminator02]

Wow talk about a strong connection with your car. I am a huge believer in having smiles per mile and enjoying the car whilst making memories. I don't think I've ever had such a cool story with a car like you have. My first viper ACR moved with me from the US to Canada but when you live in Detroit and go a few minutes over the border to Windsor it's nothing nearly as cool as from Kuwait back home to Texas. Well done sir.

[ViperJon]

Great story and welcome. Love to read stories about the car performing well and being enjoyed.

[Bruce H.]

Great story and experience!

[GTSilver]

All the best Soud !!

[VIPERGTSRT10]

Great story, thanks for sharing!

[Peter99GTS]

Hello everyone, I've been on the forums since 2012 and I want to share my journey with you guys. My name is Soud and I imported my Gen V back in the day from Texas to my country Kuwait, where the dealership support for the Viper is weak, but this was always about our passion for the Viper. We got few enthusiasts I suppose for the snake. I just moved in to Texas and brought the car with me. Over 2 years, I managed 10,000 miles on the street and few track sessions. In the past 3 days I managed to increase that number by 2,000
The car landed in Chicago and the moment I left the cargo terminal, I saw a Gen V cruising on the highway so naturally I sped up and drove next to him, we gave each other the thumbs-up gesture and then pulled over to have a chat. My initial plan was to ship the car on a truck to TX but after I had a nice chat with this fella he told me to drive it down there and enjoy the ride, I wanted to change my oil/filter before I drive it and get the car serviced by a proper dealer, all 3 Dodge dealers that I initially called were hesitant to accept my car when I asked them if they are SRT-certified to work on a Gen V Viper. He told me to forget about the dealerships and gave me the number of his mechanic and I knew a Viper guy wouldn't just leave his car with about any mechanic so I called this number and drove to his workshop. He was Bill of Frankfurt Auto Family service center, former president of Illinois Viper club. What a nice service center they have and they done all the required checks on my car and oil replacement, I also asked them to remove a persistent error code issue that was with me lately and then I was ready to hit the road.
Back home, I used to order my spare parts from Mark and work on the car at home with my friends, I had the full Ballenger installed and HPTune, TA 1.0 spoiler and alignment, upgraded overall brake system, and track pack on my car. The car has been amazing with me previously and now I wanted to test it more on this road trip and enjoy it more. The journey totaled around 18-20 hrs of driving time and I averaged no less than 4 hrs per day on the highway, plus the minimal city driving. The mileage was better on the highway and the weather was nice in IL & MO but warm in AR & TX and that is where I had to use the AC. At all points, the ride was awesome and comfy as it gets and the AC stayed cold all the time. The engine oil and coolant temperatures stayed less than half even when I hit 100+ MPH. It was heavily raining at some locations and I was scared but the car was just fine with 50 MPH and less, I got the R888s by the way. I just loved the car more and more as it was a new experience for me especially when people drive next to me and waive with big smiles, people at the gas station come for photos and talk about how beautiful of a car it is, and getting to chat with car guys here and there and so on. Was really a nice feeling.
Now that I'm in TX, I'll probably call Andy to get some servicing done and do a couple of pending recalls and to fix my sudden horn issue lol. I want to meet Viper guys in the area and try some tracks such as Circuit Of The Americas.
Here are some pictures of my baby:

Glad I could help and it was very nice meeting you. Bill is a very nice guy, I knew he will take care of you. He's the only one that works on my car's other than John from Roanoke Motor. I'm glad to hear you made it there safe, when you come back through Chicago don't hesitate to let me know. I tried driving/ road trip my Viper as many as much as I can. Love this car.

[esm_viper]

What part of Texas are you in? I bought my car from Viper Exchange and also take it there for service. COTA has a ton of track days and is an absolute blast! There's a track day put on by Edge Addicts coming up October 1st weekend that I was thinking about going to.

[ACRucrazy]

Awesome story! That's what it is all about!

[DanH]

Great trip, story and brotherhood.

[Steve-Indy]

Soud, welcome to the U.S....and thanks for sharing your story with us.

Agree with the positive comments about Bill Sampognaro...great guy, great tech, always willing to help.

Enjoy your Viper !!

[Crotalidae]

Great story & beautiful car!!! Welcome to the Rebublic of Texas!!!

[Arizona Vipers]

Great post, thanks for sharing!

[SADVIPER]

Thank you everyone for the nice words
I believe if anyone loves a Viper for what it is, they'll enjoy it beyond whatsoever negativity that might surrounded it from time to time.

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All the best Soud !!

Thanks Yousef, I'll see you next year!

[SADVIPER]

Glad I could help and it was very nice meeting you. Bill is a very nice guy, I knew he will take care of you. He's the only one that works on my car's other than John from Roanoke Motor. I'm glad to hear you made it there safe, when you come back through Chicago don't hesitate to let me know. I tried driving/ road trip my Viper as many as much as I can. Love this car.

Thanks Peter, I really appreciated the chance. Hopefully we'll meet again and I get to see your new ACR.
The road trip is just amazing as you said and makes you love the car more.

[SADVIPER]

What part of Texas are you in? I bought my car from Viper Exchange and also take it there for service. COTA has a ton of track days and is an absolute blast! There's a track day put on by Edge Addicts coming up October 1st weekend that I was thinking about going to.

I'm in Lake Jackson and I bought my Viper from them as well, will pay them a visit probably. I'm so looking forward for tons of track days lol I can't wait for October! Being new to the area, I'd appreciate getting to know the tracks and schedules and how to register for them.

[SADVIPER]

Wow talk about a strong connection with your car. I am a huge believer in having smiles per mile and enjoying the car whilst making memories. I don't think I've ever had such a cool story with a car like you have. My first viper ACR moved with me from the US to Canada but when you live in Detroit and go a few minutes over the border to Windsor it's nothing nearly as cool as from Kuwait back home to Texas. Well done sir.

Thank you sir, believe me this shipping over the world gave me sleepless nights but the end result is worth it

[Viperawi]

Great story, great passion.
Now have fun in those tracks and be safe : )

[esm_viper]

These are the 2 companies that I've seen, but I'm sure there's more out there. Easy to sign up as everything is done online.

http://www.edgeaddicts.com/

http://www.chinmotorsports.com/tracktimes.aspx

[SADVIPER]

Great story, great passion.
Now have fun in those tracks and be safe : )

Aziz, is that you Thanks bro I will try to learn new tricks to compete against you back home

[SADVIPER]

These are the 2 companies that I've seen, but I'm sure there's more out there. Easy to sign up as everything is done online.

http://www.edgeaddicts.com/

http://www.chinmotorsports.com/tracktimes.aspx

Great! Will sign up, thanks. Hopefully I'll meet some of you Texans out there

[mjorgensen]

Great! Will sign up, thanks. Hopefully I'll meet some of you Texans out there

I have 3 good friends bringing me to COTA on Oct. 1-2 for track day if you are there would love to meet you in person for a change!

[sadil]

awesome story!

[ViperPete]

Nice story.

One day i'll take my Viper on a proper road trip like you!