We re going to nurburgring

[Boba Fett]

Much respect and appreciation to all involved. This is a win either way for the Viper. Glad to have been a part of this.


And I agree....makes for a good movie...

[Dr.Ron]

Congrats to the ENTIRE team!

Nothing to be ashamed about. What was accomplished on such a limited budget, with a limited team and on limited time is extraordinary!

Plus fighting against all of the issues and bad luck or timing makes it that much more impressive. I'm sure had it not been for those issues the car WOULD have done what everyone feels it could have.

Ron

[Coloviper]

Great effort guys! And Kuhmo now has a ton of real world Data for their tires. Nothing stopping them for revising or releasing a different tire for ACR use going forth. In no way is this a PR issue for them. It is an opportunity to incorporate real time performance improvement going forth.

The fact the professional drivers gave it all, good enough for me. No regrets! Still the fastest Viper ever!

[Bruce H.]

Very impressive effort and results...thanks to all involved! You've all made Viper Nation proud!

[viperBase1]

I don't mind saying it again.

• A new record would rock the entire world!
• Somewhere in the Top 5 would be F'ing AWESOME.
• Staying in the Top 10 for long long while would be INCREDIBLE.

According the NurRing Top 100 Lap Records the Viper now has a SOLID CLAIM to:

• 7th place regardless of car class, configuration, setup, blah blah bullshit.
• 3rd place for a stock production car. 3rd .. behind the Porsche 918 and the Lamborghini Aventador.
• 1st place for a naturally aspirated, manual transmission rear wheel drive.

That makes it:

F'ing AWESOME & INCREDIBLE!!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Plus we can say forever "everybody knows the Viper has a 6:5x lap time in it".
N' somebody will probably pull it off one day.

[Russ Oasis]

Hey Everyone,
We went to the very excellent Mintgen shop today to visit our hurt friend. We managed to pull the video off the recorder and as promised, here it is. Notice that there was a small transmission issue in the shift between 2nd to 3rd (we didn't have another transmission with us). That tiny issue probably cost 2 seconds in total. This was Lance's VERY FIRST HOT LAP. If we had more time and money...... Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/r-Qb7W0OD4M

[ACRucrazy]

Hey Everyone,
We went to the very excellent Mintgen shop today to visit our hurt friend. We managed to pull the video off the recorder and as promised, here it is. Notice that there was a small transmission issue in the shift between 2nd to 3rd (we didn't have another transmission with us). That tiny issue probably cost 2 seconds in total. This was Lance's VERY FIRST HOT LAP. If we had more time and money...... Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/r-Qb7W0OD4M

It's like a video game.

[Stealth]

Great video! Russ/Andy: any feeling on how a Viper with lesser aero and corsas would have done at the ring? I understand that the immense downforce and excellent Kumho tires are needed for grip on shorter tracks but what about the ring now that you've had a chance to experience it extensively?

[FLATOUT]

Unreal, you see how hard some of that curbing hits lol. Amazing watching those guys wheel those cars.

[FLATOUT]

Great video! Russ/Andy: any feeling on how a Viper with lesser aero and corsas would have done at the ring? I understand that the immense downforce and excellent Kumho tires are needed for grip on shorter tracks but what about the ring now that you've had a chance to experience it extensively?

Aero didn't slow the car down and Vmax on the final straight was actually faster than we expected. A different tire would have helped the car go quicker, but doubt a Corsa would have got it done.

Just my opinion.

[ACRucrazy]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorspo...ring-ring-lap/

[stradman]

Aero didn't slow the car down and Vmax on the final straight was actually faster than we expected. A different tire would have helped the car go quicker, but doubt a Corsa would have got it done.

Just my opinion.

Why are you saying that a different tire would have helped car go quicker Andy? I never thought it was a case of tire too slow. Just untested over that track the sidewalls seem to be lacking perhaps in durability. But not that it would go any faster....

[TrackAire]

Wow, that video show just how jarring the Ring is....the drivers arms are shaking and bouncing all over the place. Thanks for posting, that was an incredible lap.

My personal opinion about the Kumho's is they are by far the stickiest and fastest production tire ever put on a street legal car. Kudo's to both SRT and Kumho for having the balls to design it and use it.

If I had any reservations about the tires it would be the front size. I think the issue is that the sidewall is too short (being 25 series) for the amount of energy and downforce the car can create, especially on rough tracks with bumps, etc. The shorter sidewall probably gives much better steering feel for such a wide front tire but the trade off is no give, curb pinching and the possibility of breaking the bead if the pressures a just a little too low. A smaller diameter wheel with a 30 series version might solve a lot of the front tire issues.
Again, just my opinion.

[FLATOUT]

Why are you saying that a different tire would have helped car go quicker Andy? I never thought it was a case of tire too slow. Just untested over that track the sidewalls seem to be lacking perhaps in durability. But not that it would go any faster....

The Kumho lost a lot of grip the last third of the lap or so aswell which isn't uncommon for a tire that is designed for street/track duty but yes we had more Car than Tire, period.

[ACR]

Do we have telemetry info for the failed laps to see if we were on track for a 6:5x?

[Dave1968]

Yeahh...you are right. The 15 records the Viper set on Kumho's in the US dont mean shit

Exactly - they don't! You pay how much for 1 tire?!! Please - stop making excuses.

[SRT_BluByU]

would shaving the khumos have helped at all?

[Exhlr8n]

Congrats to all involved in this amazing effort and it's accomplishments.

[ViperJon]

Exactly - they don't! You pay how much for 1 tire?!! Please - stop making excuses.

Since Kuhmo is the only company that makes a tire for the ACR-E and it is the tire that comes on the production car as standard equipment and this run is for the production car record......wtf is your point???

[13COBRA]

lol

[Unlimtd]

Wow! People who can drive that well are mutants. I am jealous. The down force produced at the tight, banked corners has to be brutal on the tires, the suspension and the driver. I've done Homestead turns 3 and 4 at speed and it always feels a bit strange. But at least the track surface is perfect.

[Bruce H.]

would shaving the khumos have helped at all?

I would expect it would, and perhaps Kumho did shave them, and maybe even heat cycled them. Maybe Andy or Russ can confirm. The more tread on a tire.. the more tread squirm...the more heat generated... the quicker the tire overheats... the sooner grip is reduced... the longer the lap time.

[Russ Oasis]

Guys,
After nearly 4 weeks of experimenting, what we found is that if you put a LIGHT heat cycle on the tire and then let it sit overnight, it got rid of a lot of tread squirm. We tried treating the tires differently to see what would produce the best results. In order, I would say the most effective strategies are: 1) light heat cycle and sit overnight 2) fresh tires 3) regular use and then sit overnight. The thing that seemed to trouble the tires most is if you scorched them to death in the first 3 minutes without giving them a chance to come up to temperature slowly. It's the incredible lateral forces experienced at the Ring that created the environment for tire failure. While I don't know for sure, I suspect that shaving them might have made that worse. We never heat cycled the tires with warmers before we went out on them for the first time. We thought about it, but since the car didn't have air jacks, there was no reasonable way (in the pits, at the track) to get the car in the air so that the tire warmers could be put on the tires. We didn't have 8 jack stands and a generator in the van. It's been my experience from my own racing that heat cycling a tire without actually driving it, does very little. It's the scrubbing of it that starts the process with the chemicals in the rubber.

[skydeals]

Ok .. I am just going to ask the big question that probably on a lot of our minds ....Russ , talking to Andy and the rest of your team, if you got a large donation , or if the money could be raised again , is there any chance on going back to the Ring with these cars and trying it again, since you and all the rest of this Viper nation know there is a 6:5X number that can be had , or is this chapter closed with your team ?????

Thanks again for all your effort that you put into this great achievement in motor sports history ....

[Mark1107]

Ditto!!!

Ok .. I am just going to ask the big question that probably on a lot of our minds ....Russ , talking to Andy and the rest of your team, if you got a large donation , or if the money could be raised again , is there any chance on going back to the Ring with these cars and trying it again, since you and all the rest of this Viper nation know there is a 6:5X number that can be had , or is this chapter closed with your team ?????

Thanks again for all your effort that you put into this great achievement in motor sports history ....