More Fake News

[gfviperman]

This is a Fake News write-up from Motor Trend. It is from an on-line article giving extreme high praise to the latest Corvette ZR-1. The article, also, lists the fasted times around Willow Springs, CA.

“Did the ZR1 set another record at the "Big" track? Sadly no, but it did outpace the last Z06 he (Randy Probst) drove there by a significant 1.3 seconds. In order, the top five spots currently belong to a 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS (1:21.08), 2018 McLaren 720S (1:21.75), 2018 Lamborghini Huracan Performante (1:22.53), 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder (1:23.54), and 2017 Ford GT (1:23.69). In sixth place by a mere 0.01 second, the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 with the ZTK package made a 1:23.70 lap. With Chevrolet on hand to support the effort and three sets of tires sacrificed in the process, it was the best that car could do that day.”

However, the mag rag somehow forgot to list the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR with the Extreme Aero Package which blistered the west coast circuit at 1:21.24!!!

This time keeps the Viper in second place over two years later!!!

[512BB]

Agree with you on them being a bit dishonest to keep Viper out. From what I hear the ZR1 is not that much faster than the previous Z06 and is also prone to running hot. I have a 08 Z06 and since owning it, tracking it, working on it and looking at everything Corvette (including all C7 generation cars), I will personally never buy another GM product.

If you recall Viper set records for a single lap and a second lap, all with a forward planning for the time when the one lap record is definitely broken they can bring out the two lap combined record. Now that will be an interesting marketing and I expect a whole bunch more conversation and disagreements if/when that happens.

[Policy Limits]

I'd be so pissed if I dropped a buck and a half on a ZR1 and it started over heating. Ugh.

[BrianACR]

All the car mags are anti-Viper and pro-vette. Always have been and always will be. The ZR1 is still just a 'vette that will be driven by a 60+ tryin to be young again lol. And they look funny too. Saw one for the first time yesterday. Not a fan. Too much glued on tacky aero bits.

[gfviperman]

"Too much glued on tacky aero bits."

Agree 100% ...

Styled by committee and everybody got to draw something ...

[SmoknTires]

I felt the same way, definitely completely disjointed! Looks like they just glued on a bunch of aero stuff after the fact.

As for Vipers poorly represented reputation in mags. Many of us who've been around for a while have always seen evidence of an odd, but somehow consistent, aversion to Vipers from several publications. In some cases it seems purposeful, they seem to knock it and downplay achievements - like they don't want it to succeed. In others it just seems like ignorance. The reality is there was no other car in that space, at that price, and with that performance, that held up so well to a beating. And also certainly - American built.

[Angleiron]

I felt the same way, definitely completely disjointed! Looks like they just glued on a bunch of aero stuff after the fact. As for Vipers poorly represented reputation in mags. Many of us who've been around for a while have always seen evidence of an odd, but somehow consistent, aversion to Vipers from several publications. In some cases it seems purposeful, they seem to knock it and downplay achievements - like they don't want it to succeed. In others it just seems like ignorance. The reality is there was no other car in that space, at that price, and with that performance, that held up so well to a beating. And also certainly - American built.

I think the main reason that the Viper was beat on so much by the media is that the Viper never evolved like other cars. Same engine for the most part, same transmission, and it stayed basically raw until the Gen V...and by then it was too late because of the low volume and high costs to make it compliant to the 2018 side impact curtains. As much as we owners like this car is it is/was...bottom line is the Viper would have probably stayed around with higher sales and that would have required an auto trans/paddle shifter's and all of the high tech goodies that are on other performance cars.

The Viper was the T-Rex of the car world, and it just evolved too late to avoid extinction.

[viperBase1]

The Viper was the T-Rex of the car world, and it just evolved too late to avoid extinction.

Well said.

On the street the C7's are the next best thing to a Viper. There's a Grandsport in my not too distant future.

[Martin]

I felt the same way, definitely completely disjointed! Looks like they just glued on a bunch of aero stuff after the fact.

As for Vipers poorly represented reputation in mags. Many of us who've been around for a while have always seen evidence of an odd, but somehow consistent, aversion to Vipers from several publications. In some cases it seems purposeful, they seem to knock it and downplay achievements - like they don't want it to succeed. In others it just seems like ignorance. The reality is there was no other car in that space, at that price, and with that performance, that held up so well to a beating. And also certainly - American built.

I think that, for some reason, the media turned on the Viper right around the 2000 model year, and definitely when the Gen III came out. I've got stacks of old auto mags that raved about the Gen I, and went nuts when the Gen II came out - for the first eight years of its existence, it was like every writer on the planet went nuts over it and overlooked the minor things like a cramped cockpit, hot side sills, hard-shifting transmission, and somewhat funky build quality (sloppy welds, epoxy all over the place, etc.). They even talked around the obvious things that were a real pain and focused on the sheer fun of the car and its capabilities.

When the Gen IV ACR came out, positive attention started to pick up again, but that was short lived. Then, when the Gen V was announced, everyone thought it was beautiful - but for some reason it didn't really get the same kind of attention that I thought it deserved. Even when all the records were being set by the ACR-E, nobody really cared much. It was weird and sad. I chalked it up to writers who just got old, retired, and were replaced by young guys who never learned how to drive a stick other than their own.

[SRT_BluByU]

I think that, for some reason, the media turned on the Viper right around the 2000 model year, and definitely when the Gen III came out. I've got stacks of old auto mags that raved about the Gen I, and went nuts when the Gen II came out - for the first eight years of its existence, it was like every writer on the planet went nuts over it and overlooked the minor things like a cramped cockpit, hot side sills, hard-shifting transmission, and somewhat funky build quality (sloppy welds, epoxy all over the place, etc.). They even talked around the obvious things that were a real pain and focused on the sheer fun of the car and its capabilities.

When the Gen IV ACR came out, positive attention started to pick up again, but that was short lived. Then, when the Gen V was announced, everyone thought it was beautiful - but for some reason it didn't really get the same kind of attention that I thought it deserved. Even when all the records were being set by the ACR-E, nobody really cared much. It was weird and sad. I chalked it up to writers who just got old, retired, and were replaced by young guys who never learned how to drive a stick other than their own.

interesting perspective for sure

[flyboy1of1]

One negitive on the Gen.#5 when it was being evaluated by the media was- the seats were not bolted down properly when the Viper left the factory.During the track tests they came loose!! The magazines had a field day with this!

[Martin]

One negitive on the Gen.#5 when it was being evaluated by the media was- the seats were not bolted down properly when the Viper left the factory.During the track tests they came loose!! The magazines had a field day with this!

When I think about the number of screw ups with the media cars, it makes me cringe. Let's not forget the brake pedal incident - kind of hard to stop when that breaks loose.

[gfviperman]

One negitive on the Gen.#5 when it was being evaluated by the media was- the seats were not bolted down properly when the Viper left the factory.During the track tests they came loose!! The magazines had a field day with this!

This was the result of a pre-production Viper "Mule" being sent to the mags to be checked out.

However, it wound up in a comparison test and judged against production cars from other manufacturers.

Have never found out if this was a mistake at Viper or if they misled by the mag rag.

In any event, the mags used this to beat up on the Gen V unmercifully ... it hurt!!!

[TOMBOTT2014]

One negitive on the Gen.#5 when it was being evaluated by the media was- the seats were not bolted down properly when the Viper left the factory.During the track tests they came loose!! The magazines had a field day with this!

Maybe they would have liked it more if a Dodge Executive crashed the car at a track.

[J TNT]

Car mags can be biased to advertising dollars and is why I take them with a grain of salt at best...............
Has been that way for many years .