The Chronicles of SneakySnake Vol III

[Steve M]

Steve I don't, Andy will, but I will tell you locating a vendor for this 5th gear was a monumental pain in the ass. No one had it in stock, tremec refused to sell any direct, and the car ended up sitting with the tranny out for a month waiting on us to locate a set.

Sounds like nothing has changed in that department...thankfully, I'm in no hurry to have this done, but I'd at least like to have the parts in hand before I need a tranny overhaul.

Awesome build thread BTW...your threads on here have saved me multiple times when I've needed good detailed shots of different things I'm trying to tackle.

[cashcorn]

Cool. What is the ratio of 5th in a stock Gen V? thanks! Great thread by the way..

[slowhatch]

Sounds like nothing has changed in that department...thankfully, I'm in no hurry to have this done, but I'd at least like to have the parts in hand before I need a tranny overhaul.

Awesome build thread BTW...your threads on here have saved me multiple times when I've needed good detailed shots of different things I'm trying to tackle.

Just paying it forward from all the forum knowledge I've gained over the years.

Cool. What is the ratio of 5th in a stock Gen V? thanks! Great thread by the way..

Its 0.77

[viperBase1]

...longed for the short ratio ACR 5th like I had installed in my old gen 4.

Thanks Alex.

[slowhatch]

Had an opportunity to head out to San Antonio with the local Viper guys and visit Lackland AFB. One of our club members is a retired Master Sgt stationed there, and he was able to get us some access and escort around base. The draw for the trip (for me), was to see my favorite aircraft of all time (SR71), to finally get some extended seat time in the car, and to break in the new gearset in the trans. Plus San Antonio hill country offers some incredible driving roads.

So we cleaned the beast up, filled up the tank, and headed out west.









This was the first time I'd taken the car on a multi-hour trip and I have to say its so much more livable than my old coupe. Even with the full exhaust, the improved sound deadning keeps interior noise reasonable, and everything just feels rock solid in the interior (no squeaks/rattles/etc). It was an absolute pleasure to drive. The only gripe for me is that the seats are more suited towards holding you in place, rather than spending hours driving in a straight line, and I'd find myself stretching every hr or so to avoid fatigue. I would never want to drive my old gen 3 or 4 for more than 4-5hrs at a time (mostly because of road/exhaust noise, they actually had more comfortable seats imo), but I could set off for an extended road trip in this new one with zero reservations.



The new 6th gear is so much better for cruising as well. It helps keep drone to a minimum, and we turned 20mpg (hand calc confirmed at fill up) on our trip between Houston and SA. It was funny because when we left on a full tank the range showed 165 miles, and it stayed at 165 miles until we were 70% of the way to SA! On the next fill up in SA, the range was showing 325 miles.




Following morning we were up bright 'n early to head to the base to meet the rest of the gang;

[slowhatch]

As more and more arrived we caravan'd over to the beauty that be the SR71, and lined up for some shots;









Walk around of all the snakes https://www.instagram.com/p/BWkt-ehl...y=sneakysnakes

We then roamed about all the static displays and took it all in. Some very classic aircraft on display;

[slowhatch]

Still can't get over this thing, it's an absolute engineering marvel. As an engineer myself, doing what these guys did in the timeline they had, by hand, no FEA, no CFD, I'm just speechless. I can't believe it was done to be honest. The flow surface development, all the compressible/incompressible flow calcs, overall design/effeciency tricks of the J58s, just unreal. Kelly Johnson was one hell of an engineer.








As a huge dog fan, this service dog memorial was awesome.





We stopped by an old hanger on our way to grab some lunch;

[13COBRA]

Great photos, thanks for sharing Alex.

[slowhatch]

Hit some incredible driving roads on the way to a 2/3 replica of Stonehenge. https://www.instagram.com/p/BWoDnUZF...y=sneakysnakes

Which, apparently, a man created to decorate his backyard, but got so tired of the locals trespassing on his property to view, that he donated the ensemble to the city. Now its on display for the public in its own location. Pretty neat, but I enjoyed the drive through the hills on the way there more than the destination. Had an absolute blast.












We finished off the night with a beautiful dinner view from the Plaza Club in Frost tower.



Just missing a cigar and some bourbon in this pic;



Headed home the following day, absolute blast of a trip, saw new things, drove new roads, met new people, and got to fall in love with the car all over again.

Oh, and we saw some corn. Lots of corn.

[SRT BILL]

Sounds like an awesome trip and great pictures.

[One Viper Bite]

SR-71...greatest aircraft ever engineered, hands down.

Love the pictures, Alex! Nothing like a no-stripe, non-ACR Viper with TA 1.0 aero. Yours is just stunning.

But hey, I might be bias

[v10tt]

Great pics!, the coating on your car came out awesome!

[The_Ruski_Driver]

Sweet photos Alex!

[Dr.Ron]

A great thread continues.

[slowhatch]

[timberwolf]

Very nice....

[serpent]

OP, what tires are you running front and rear?

[slowhatch]

OP, what tires are you running front and rear?

OEM Pirelli Pzero Corsas. Hopefully moving to R888R soon.

[slowhatch]

Recent birthday dinner with the other half and some friends;







Few snaps after some soap 'n suds;





The old lady and I headed to Texas A&M airfield for some auto-x with the TAMSCC.



Its always super fun to cruise together, I'm very lucky to have my other half be as excited about tracking/autox/etc as I am;





Andy and I at the line;



Auto-x was extremely fun, as usual, and it was very interesting to be able to go back n forth between the Viper and our C7. The first thing I learned was that my oem Corsas have absolutely had it--they are just heat cycled out. Felt like I was on an ice-skating ring most of the time. Came out driving the car like I was used to driving my old gen 4 on R888s and ended up spinning the car on the first session. After they got some heat in them things improved slightly but you can just tell from the driver's seat the grip isn't there.

Stepping out of the Viper and into the C7 for a lap makes you understand what makes these cars polar opposites from one another. Forget the power differences, out here, it means nothing. Immediately you notice how numb the steering is in the C7, its lifeless. There's weight to it, but it doesn't communicate what the contact patch is doing at all, and its nowhere near as direct in feeling as the Viper. I think the vette may also have a slower rack than the Viper which seems to exacerbate this. I set off in the vette and in the first corner I'm thinking two things; I feel like I'm sitting ON the car rather than in it, and the steering feels "sloppy". I prod the brakes and while full pedal the car seems to slow just as strong as the viper, there is zero initial bite in the first inch or two of travel, and you have to be IN them to get something in return. The Viper has strong initial bite and the brakes come on immediately, there is no sponginess in pedal travel, maybe the fluid in the vette needs replacing? There are things however, that I preferred in the vettes dynamics over the viper (suprise surprise). For instance, the vette seems to communicate when you are approaching, and at, the adhesion limit. The car, while lowered, still has body roll, and this helps during slalom for me to work with the chassis to understand exactly which contact patch is loaded and how I can manipulate the throttle and steering to keep the car's motions smooth. I would akeen it to dancing with the perfect partner, you just get into this rhythm and there are no surprises from either party about what's going on. When the rear starts to come around, it doesn't snap around, its very progressive, almost playful, and you can easily dial in yaw with the throttle. In the Viper, the limits are much higher, it almost beckons to pushed harder and its grip grip grip until there isn't. There is no body roll in the Viper, the rear snaps out and takes quick hands to reign back in, and the car just overall doesn't communicate to me when I'm approaching the adhesion limits like the vette does. I think there is two reasons for this, number one, the Vette is on brand new Super Sports, while the Viper is on shit 5 year old tires; also, I think the Vettes electronic diff does a REALLY good job at putting the power down mid corner and makes me feel like I am much better driver than I am. In short, I think there is some software wizadry going on in that diff that makes me think I'm doing more than I really am. In the end, the Viper on a fresh set of tires would wipe the floor with the vette, no question, but I was running the same times in the Vette, as I was in the Viper that day.

[slowhatch]

Oh and Lia is getting hella good! She is so smooth out there, even with all my yelling LOL.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXd9GuQF...y=sneakysnakes

[serpent]

Is that a c7z or a GS?

[slowhatch]

Is that a c7z or a GS?

Neither. Just a base model C7 Z51.

[serpent]

^ LOL that is a reminder on why im glad I got the gen V. I couldnt even tell if the vette was a c7z or a GS, only to end up completely wrong!

I didnt read, but is the stingray a manual?

[slowhatch]

Stopped by Viper Exchange for some quick service;

First I wanted to check the oil consumption, drain the oil, cut open the filter, and make sure we don't have any debris. I have put around 2k miles on it since we rebuilt the top end, so i figure its a good time to check on her health. I also sent off a sample to Blackstone for analysis.





Oil levels look great, with no additional oil added since the last change;



Alien spaceship



Look at all that MEAT!! Still can't wait to get rid of these tires though!!



Draining and inspecting;




Cut open the filter and checked through each fold, it was clean (don't mind the errant stuff on there that's from the towel);




On the re-fill we decided to step away from the factory fill 0W40 and go for a heavier 15W50. I drive the car harder than most and live essentially on the surface of the sun, nice to have some additional viscosity at the upper end of the envelope.





All buttoned up and Morgan adjusted a few things that were bothering me;

The side sill to hood alignment was slightly off so we adjusted both sides to be perfectly flush, and then we pulled the door panel off to camber the window ever so slightly (which solved my issue of the window sometimes no engaging into the rubber seals when opening and closing the door).

[txA&M08]

we pulled the door panel off

You didn't pull shit boi