Did I make the right decision

[swexlin]

Very nice, and congrats. Change the oil, drive it 500 miles, than change it again. If it were me, I'd get a Blackstone analysis done as well.

[v10enomous]

I remember back when the GenV came out. The second one I saw at a dealership was a 2013 Bumblebee GTS I believe with every option available in 2013. The sticker was $154k and they had a $15k markup on it. They had it roped off on the SRT dealer mat and I was completely overwhelmed by how gorgeous the car was.

[ACRucrazy]

Why the two gen Vs? Lol

[Mazak]

Congrats Mazak, glad it all worked out.
She's a beauty!

More pics!

I posted some on the Gen V forum.

Went to drive it home and the screen would not come on. Took it back and it was in "ship" mode.

Went to drive it home again and the radio had no sound. Took it back and they said the amp was not working and they would order a new one.

Finally made it home.

Glad all is minor,so far ..........

[SilverACR]

I had the same conundrum between the gen4 and gen5! I drove both and like you have seen before the gen 5 is a better driving car, but if you want a hot rod beast of a car you made the right choice. I personally like the gauges vs. the tv screens. I couldnt imagine playing with all the touch screen stuff while driving the gen5 car anyways.IMG_4431.jpg

[Donato]

I had the same conundrum between the gen4 and gen5! I drove both and like you have seen before the gen 5 is a better driving car, but if you want a hot rod beast of a car you made the right choice. I personally like the gauges vs. the tv screens. I couldnt imagine playing with all the touch screen stuff while driving the gen5 car anyways.IMG_4431.jpg

I'm in a similar spot, Gen-4 ACR or Gen-5 GTS, they are both in my price range. I was leaning toward the Gen-5 after much thought and several comments from Forum members. Now after seeing this post I'm second-guessing again and I'm curious as to why you went with a Gen-4 ACR vs. a Gen-5 GTS or SRT I'm assuming?

[commandomatt]

The Gen IV ACR's are really the last of the raw, unforgiving, spartan and straight forward Vipers made. Analog gauges, bare bones equipment and with a great race pedigree. To some, this is very appealing

I am not arguing that the Gen V's aren't better overall cars....just very different in many ways.

Besides, while the ACR's are available right now due to many having sold or traded when buying a Gen V, I think that before to long, they will be picked up and few will be available for sale in the future. Especially in the cool color combos.

This while Gen V's will keep coming down in price and be available in higher numbers for a couple of years at least

So picking up a Gen IV ACR at this time, maybe a good move. I would much rather have a unique Gen IV than a more common, Red or Black base type Gen V

[Vipes]

Don't forget about the warranty. That was one of the main reasons I switched.

[SilverACR]

My favorite has always been the gen4 ACR(dream car), but I started considering the gen5 when the prices started to align. I got the opportunity to drive both side by side and was really shown the ins and outs of both (Thank you very very much John Gastman from Roanoke dodge!) After that day I realized that the gen4 ACR would be it because of a few different reasons. 1) IMHO the gen4 has a better view from the driver seat. Gauges vs tv screens, windshield size, fenders etc... if you seen view from both you may know what I mean. 2) it will never be a daily driver so the better ride wasn't a positive for me as I liked the firmer ride of the ACR. 3) the overall look! Can't find a gen5 short of the ACR that looks as tough. You could have ordered a new TA 2.0, but a new car wasn't in my budget. I was stuck on having a driver stripe and couldn't look past it! I also thought the offset view from the back of a gen5 didn't look as good as the 4... weird proportions I guess... eye of the beholder... 4) last of the no stability cars. This could be a negative for some people, but I never owned a "fun" car with it so why start now.
And finally the gen4 ACRs seem to be getting harder to get right now. Lots of gen5s available but the ACRs seem to be not coming to market as a lot of people expected (less choices for sure). I figured my heart was with the gen4 ACR and if I didn't spring for it now I would have a harder time going back from the gen5 due to availability. I probably can buy a non ACR gen5 for a reasonable price for the next few years, so whats the harm in trying the gen4 ACR for a while. You will note that I didn't mention racing as any viper is capable of exceeding my road racing abilities. I plan on doing some track events with the club, but likely no hard core competition. People could say why buy the ACR if you not going to do a lot of racing and my response is it's not an ACRX.

Good luck on your hunt as you can't go wrong with either! (I will say the banter on the gen5 engine issues are a little nerve racking whether this issue is a big deal or not...)

Best, G

[ViperJon]

Not sure why people try to frame the Gen 5 state of the art electronics aka "tv screen" as a negative. Because having Bluetooth connectivity, streaming music, detailed performance gauges, navigation, USB or SD connectivity, temperature control etc at a glance or controlled by steering wheel buttons or voice is a bad thing. A couple of dinky inaccurate gauges...better.

Exterior looks aside, the interiors are not even in the same stratosphere. The previous generation interiors wouldn't be acceptable in a Neon now.

[Sybil TF]

The previous generation interiors wouldn't be acceptable in a Neon now.

Haven't made Neons in years and I resent that

[SilverACR]

Nothing negative about the TVs and the high tech! I love that stuff while I'm drinking coffee in my non viper daily driver!

[darbgnik]

I think you should get the Gen 4 ACR if it speaks to you in some way, as I wouldn't get one strictly for performance. If you look at the example of Laguna Seca lap times, the Gen 4 ACR and all Gen 5 iterations are basically within a half a second of each other(TA a little quicker, GTS and SRT a little slower), save the new ACR, obviously. And all the Gen 5's get to basically the same place with smoother rides and more creature comforts. Nicer paint, and interiors not even in the same half century.

Although I agree with the poster above, who pointed out the rear 3/4 view of the Gen 4 ACR is epic, IMO. And they are still one of my favorite cars.

[Red venom]

Gen IV vert for the win!

[Red venom]

You can spiff up the interior of the 4 with all the money you saved not getting a gen 5. That's what I did. No factory convertible for the Gen 5 was a deal breaker

[darbgnik]

You can spiff up the interior of the 4 with all the money you saved not getting a gen 5. That's what I did. No factory convertible for the Gen 5 was a deal breaker

I really found just the addition of the silver painted center bezels in my old 05 Commemorative Edition did wonders at getting rid of the all-black plastic fantastic look, compared to the ones without. Works especially well on a vert. Even though the exterior of my car was white, the silver paint looked...... right. And bright. The dash doesn't look as bad when the center stack is a color. Not sure I'd do red on a red car, but other colors maybe.......



DSC00292.jpg

[IndyRon]

The only Gen 5 that speaks to me is the ACR-E...but then again, I can't resist the aero and presence. Hopefully some of you 1st owners of your ACR-E's will tire of them.....especially you ViperJon...I've been in love with the white/black/red color scheme.

[jaxtk]

Very nice, and congrats. Change the oil, drive it 500 miles, than change it again. If it were me, I'd get a Blackstone analysis done as well.

Gen IV has no issues, unlike the Gen V.

[SilverACR]

The only Gen 5 that speaks to me is the ACR-E...but then again, I can't resist the aero and presence. Hopefully some of you 1st owners of your ACR-E's will tire of them.....especially you ViperJon...I've been in love with the white/black/red color scheme.

I've developed a love for all the aero cars gen4 and up. I also second the white/ black/ red color scheme! Almost got a hold of a gen4 in that color, but it slipped away like a lot of the driver stripe cars before my silver/ black/ red.