NA Gen II RT-10 runs 179.2 mph at Mojave

[viperr]

I just got back from a 2,500 mile road trip driving to Mojave California with my 1999 Viper RT-10. I went down for the Mojave Magnum on April 11th & 12th. It is a standing mile and a half competition held on the 12,000 foot runway of the Mojave Air and Spaceport. The organization runs a safe and efficient competition for cars and motorcycles and uses timing lights for the mile and mile and one half distances. Drivers come from all over to makes runs at the 3,000 foot elevation track. We had everything from a completely stock 36 horsepower Karmann Ghia which ran 110 mph to a Suzuki GSXR1000 which ran 262.6 mph. The had McLarens, Ford GTs, Ferrari F-12 ,Aston Martin DB9s, and a 2008 version of the Superbird which ran 212 mph.

My car is a 1999 Viper RT-10 with 107,000 miles with several upgrades. I have 3:55 gears, big brake kit, 3/4 inch lowering caps, Belanger headers, roller rockers, and Roe ported and polished heads. I run the stock 708 cam, and with the ported heads the engine has a very nasty idle. I recently bought a set of new Sidewinder wheels and Pilot Sport Super Sports from Jon B. The 19 inch rears throw off the speedometer about 5 mph at 70, but I make sure I watch my speedometer. I have a pair of small canards up front, a carbon fiber version of the Mopar rear spoiler, and a set of 4 diffusers at the rear. It is naturally aspirated and produced 483 rwhp and 522 rwtq on the dyno. I think I am about as far as I can go without a blower.

I entered the A-1 class which has an upper speed limit of 180.0 mph. I figured that 180 was about all I can expect from my 16 year old car. They had 47 cars entered in my class and my old RT-10 was able to take first place with the 179.2 run. I made a slightly faster run of 180.3 mph in the mile and a half and 170.2 mph in the standing mile. Unfortunately these were considered a "breakout" by .3 mph and were not scored. I don't usually brag, but beating 46 other cars in my class was a fairly big deal to me. By the way the speedometer showed 172 mph through the traps and I was turnng 5,600 rpm.

There were lots of Corvettes, especially C7s. Of the 11 C7 Corvettes I was able to beat all of the 6 new Stingrays by several mph. I expected the more modern car and better aero would be faster than me, but I was pleasantly surprised with my car. They had 5 C7 Z-06s and I was able to beat 2 of them. The remaining 3 were very fast, running 188 to 192 mph. I think the Z-06s with the maximum aero packages really slowed them on the pure straightaway runs. By the way they also had a manual transmission Challenger Hellcat there and it ran through at 190 mph.

I wanted to let you know about Mojave because it gives you chance to see once and for all how fast you can go. At car shows that seems to be the first thing they want to know, so now I can tell them. Also, for people who worry about "high mileage" Vipers I want to assure you that they still can run strong with over 100,000 miles, so don't sell the older Vipers short.

I have attached 2 You Tube videos of my 179.2 run. Ther first one is the short version with the announcer calling out my speed. The second one has no sound but also shows me returning to the pits. In its original version the PA was blaring the song "Life in ther Fast Lane", but You Tube deleted the sound of it due to "copyright issues". It is still worth watching. I also have included the entire results of the 2015 Mojave Magnum so you can check out the variety of cars and how fast they went. Be sure to turn up the volume on the first video. It is the Rich 179.2 Final on their menu.

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...ch+179+2+Final


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wHP...ature=youtu.be


http://www.mojavemile.com/images/pdf/mag3_results.pdf

[TrackAire]

Nice runs and congrats. My buddy ran his 2013 ZR1 Vette (#416) and topped out at 195 mph....it was his first time at this type of event and he was pretty damn happy about it. Said he had a blast.

[viperr]

I saw the ZR-1s and they are awesome. It is so nice to have people come out and see what their cars can do. I was in a lower speed class, but I watched those ZR-1s post some great speeds.

[Greg Good]

Nice runs. Congrats.

[99RT10]

Nice runs, best year evar.

Looks like Youtube deleted your sound. too bad. Looked like a lot of fun.

[C.J]

Impressive run! What exhaust are you using with your Belanger headers?

[viperr]

I have the Belanger 3 inch cat backs with muffler delete and high flow cats I got from Roe. After putting on the ported heads it has a great sound. I was happy to get my brother to take a video of the run because I didn't know what it sounded like before now.

[cashcorn]

Thanks for sharing viperr! Great video's & your V is amazing with that kind of mileage, also... I'm driving up to Bakersfield on Sat for the 1/2 mile roll racing event, can't wait!(2 1/2 hrs each way)... That is now on my new bucket list. looks like no roll cage on newer cars in the 175 - 200 range?

[Double0fox]

Awesome Rich! And taking it to them with over 100,00! I just feel like:

[1ststrike]

Very nice!!!

[viperr]

Thanks for the comments. One of the things I forgot to mention in the original post was that not only does the car have a bunch of miles, so do I. I will be 71 in July and I have no plans to slow down. I actually am still waiting to grow up, but driving the darn Viper just doesn't allow me to it to happen, it just makes me feel a lot younger.

[TrackAire]

Thanks for the comments. One of the things I forgot to mention in the original post was that not only does the car have a bunch of miles, so do I. I will be 71 in July and I have no plans to slow down. I actually am still waiting to grow up, but driving the darn Viper just doesn't allow me to it to happen, it just makes me feel a lot younger.

71, good for you!!

I tell my wife that playing with cars is cheaper than paying for visits to the shrink and Viagra.

[Rocket]

Thanks for sharing. I did my first 1/2 mile this year and had a blast! Will watch for their next events for sure. What gives .... only one other Viper in the group?

[viperr]

The previous time I went there we had 7 Vipers, all with blowers except mine. On Sunday this year Steve Dana came with an awesome snakeskin green Comp Coupe which he ran through for testing. It was geared for short sourses and had a huge aero package, so the top end wasn't really great, but I wouldn't want to try to stay with that car on a road course.

The nice thing about Mojave is that you get a certified mile time as well as the mile and a half. You are a lot closer to there too. Keep checking their website for announcements of the next competition. They limited it to 110 cars per day and it filled fast this year.

[ACRSNK]

Very cool! Congrats!

[345s-bspinnin]

107,000 miles!!! Amazing. Way to represent the Viper community.

[viperr]

I think the Viper was engineered to take anything you throw at it. I have 1,000 miles on track and many long trips, but I change oil every 3,000 miles and stay on top of all the other maintenance. It seems that when I am on the highway I get in to 6th gear for hours on end and when you are only turning 1,600 rpm at 75 it doesn't put a lot of strain on the engine. It reminds me of a very fast draft horse. You feed it and take care of it and it will do anything you need.

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

Rich, I cannot believe I only just now saw this highlight! What an amazing story.

I knew you were going, and were back, but that's all.

GREAT JOB, and great fun. [... a lot more fun than you being the Pace Car at The Ridge last year.]

[rlhay2]

Very, very cool! Thanks for sharing!

[v10enomous]

I love it !!! I really need to drive my GenII more. There was a sonic boom at the 14 second mark