Don t sell it Drive it

[Martyb]

This coming Sunday - barring rain - I'm doing a 500 mile round trip in my '96 GTS to see the IndyCars at TMS. That's 875 miles in a day. I've gotten very handy over the years at changing alignments and shock adjustments from aggressive street, to long highway, to drag strip to full-tilt road course configuration and it doesn't happen with just the push of a button. I'll have to admit that sometimes this car frustrates me, but most times it brings me pure joy and exhilaration. It brings other people joy just seeing it as well!

I contemplated driving my 98 from Phoenix to TMS for the race but can’t because of my schedule. Enjoy Dean! Nothing like a road trip in a Gen 2!

[GTS Dean]

I ended up making it an over-nighter. We drove 560 miles round trip - even through a few rain showers coming home. The trip up was a joy - averaged 76 mph and got 20 mpg going up. The car was a huge hit at the track - with lots of smiles and thumbs up, questions and supportive comments. Even with the light flywheel, it handled crawling traffic quite well, but it can get jerky in first.

And the IndyCar race was FANTASTIC!

[Bruce H.]

George, my TA slots in similarly on track, but it's more down to who's driving the GT3's and Vettes. If it's a young guy feeling invincible I'm toast, lol. And maybe I'm just not as interested in trying to be the fastest anymore. I find I'm really enjoying coaching others more and more.

I don't seem to be bothered by risks of tracking and parts availability. I've tracked for over 20 years on some of the fastest tracks like Road Atlanta, Road America, VIR, and some of the more dangerous like Watkins Glen, and my home track, Mosport, is probably the most dangerous. I never bought track insurance, and when I accepted that I might incur a complete loss if I pranged it that freed me to enjoy tracking relentlessly. Now I do it with my 911 Turbo S, sometime tracking both cars on the same day. Rain or dry, I do every session, always driving the car, never trailering. Risky, sure, but I figure driving to the track days on busy public highways is the riskiest part.

I know many are afraid to drive theirs for fear they'll need a part that's discontinued, but there's a lot of parts out there if you know where to look, and a lot of parts, at least for the Gen V's, that are reported as discontinued, aren't actually. I just love driving and tracking the car too much to worry about all the what ifs!

Having said all this, if I was smart, I'd have probably bought or built a track car years ago like you did! We have almost 20 club track days planned in Ontario, and I'll do as many as I can in one car or another. Happy tracking to you on the left coast! Hi to Todd and rest of the gang out there!

Hi Bruce,
Yes my main track car is a 2003 C5Z06 that is hyper modified in the suspension, brakes, cooling upgrades, lowered weights but the engine is essentially 100% stock for reliability and cooling. Other than pesky GT3's, Viper ACRs, other Z06's, etc it holds its own pretty good against modern hardware. The 2014 and up C7's had some real cooling challenges, mine with just aero mods and a stock radiator can run Thunderhill in 95-100 degree temps and stay below 220 degrees. It does have an aftermarket oil cooler so those temps never get over 256 degrees.

I tracked a lot in 2022....and saw a lot of good hardware get totaled. On my last track day of the year we lost an uber build C6Z06, a new Supra, a 911 and a Mustang GT350. It was a rare but bad day on the track (thank you Sonoma!!). I'm very concerned about wrecking my Viper and not being able to find parts to fix it correctly. You never know when you'll hit somebody else's oil, etc and into the wall you go. So the Viper is for special track days but the Vette is the disposable weapon of choice. Wreck a Vette and you can essentially get another roller in 24 hours to start swapping parts on. It really bothers me mentally thinking that finding Viper parts is becoming an occupation of its own. As I get older, that's the kind of stress that drives me crazy since I'm a bit of a control freak and perfectionist.

[serpent1of38]

Variety is the spice of life!

[J TNT]

Cool Cars and Garage Serpent !!! Did you Mod your Interior on your Gen 3 ?

[Siciliano15]

yea thats some amazing garage. dont think id ever want to leave there lol. i see u have some couches too im sure theres a tv there thats the best. watch a nascar race, some nhra drag racing, and then do a 180 and take your pick and go for a joy ride. awesome

[commandomatt]

Variety is the spice of life!

That’s not a garage……that’s a living room with garage doors !!!1

[serpent1of38]

Cool Cars and Garage Serpent !!! Did you Mod your Interior on your Gen 3 ?

Yes sir, I had so much fun doing that. Very rewarding project.
Here’s the original link.

https://driveviper.com/forums/thread...erior-upgrades

yea thats some amazing garage. dont think id ever want to leave there lol. i see u have some couches too im sure theres a tv there thats the best. watch a nascar race, some nhra drag racing, and then do a 180 and take your pick and go for a joy ride. awesome

. You got it!

That’s not a garage……that’s a living room with garage doors !!!1

. That’s the exact direction I gave the builder!