...To use as a daily. YES, IT MAY SOUND CRAZY, BUT HEAR ME OUT. Before my M3 I had a 2010 Camaro with a big whipple supercharger, a camshaft, exhaust so loud that it gave some of my passengers tooth aches, and 600 rwhp. It ran 11.1 in the 1/4. The reason I'm telling you this is so you know I dont mind driving a loud, hard to handle car every day. I honestly dont find my M3 much more luxurious than my Camaro. The only things my M3 has that the Camaro didnt are GPS and Bluetooth.

I think the M3 is boring, It's slow (in my opinion), and for a car with just 400 horsepower, the ride should not be so damn stiff. I bought the M3 because I thought it would be a very comfortable but very fast daily, It was neither. Shortly after I bought my M3, I decided to get a weekend car. I bought a 2012 Maserati Granturismo and I LOVE it. Best car I've ever owned. So with my weekend car covered, I want a new daily, and I'm thinking 2004 - 2008 Viper. I want to go back to that raw american feel.

I have a few questions, though, and it would be awesome if some could be answered:

Most people say it's bad to drive every day, but WHY?

Is the air conditioning really so bad it feels like you're being cooked alive?

Is it true it can't be driven in heavy rain?

Is it true that 2004-2008 vipers break a lot?

Is there a specific model or year I should get? my max spending limit is $55,000. Like for example would 2006 be significantly better over 2005? Is there anything I should look for when buying?

And last.. How much attention to these really get? Will I be followed home like I sometimes do in my Maserati? I'm in west florida..

 

try to get a Gen4 2008+ as they are much better than the older ones , +100 hp too.
AC is not bad .
Traction with michelin super sports is very good , but flooring a V10 600+hp RWD sports car is not very wise in the rain .
I have a 2009 ACR since new and love it , but these are above 55k for sure and it is a very aggressive car that i would not drive daily.

 

the gen 4 is about 65-70k, I really want to stick around my budget.. I also hear Gen III vipers are easier to modify and cheaper? Someone told me the Gen III had an xpipe under the cabin and would heat it up to about a hundred degrees, though.

 

mine is a gen4 so the exhaust does not have the pipe , a G4 OEM exhaust is an upgrade for a g3 as it doesn't have the pipe

 

I have a 2003 first year of the Gen 3, Paxton supercharged about 650 RWHP. I drive it as much as possible including to work, and have used it as a daily within reason. I don't drive it to Home depot to pick up lumber. The AC works great. I've driven it in heavy rain and start to hydroplane around 70mph (Nitto Invos), so better to drive reasonably in the rain anyway. The hood scoop allows water to hit the K&N, Paxton setup used a flat rectangle filter, the Paxton instructions recommend installing anything to block water hitting the filter if to be driven in heavy rain. The only thing that broke on the car in 2+ years of ownership is the window regulator, and they are $350 new now. 03-06 is Gen3, 06 was first year for the coupe. The 06 will be just the same as an 05. A lot of Viper owners recommend if you plan to keep it stock go with the Gen4, if you want to mod it get the Gen3 and spend the extra savings on mods. True, the crossover pipe o nthe gen3 exhaust runs right under the seats and when I first bought the car I could not drive unless the windows or top were down OR with the windows up and the AC at least at the lowest setting. I've since swapped in a Magnaflow kit that eliminates the crossover and I can run with the windows up and AC off no problem.

The 08+ are drive by wire and have some throttle response lag. But they have the TR6060 transmission which I hear is smoother shifting. Also they have upgraded rear diff, and the 8.4L engine. The 08+ has a swingarm type oil pickup tube that swings with oil in hard corners. The 03 had a stationary pickup and reported in hard cornering can cause oil starvation. The only issue I have wit hthe Gen4 is the the PCMs are locked and you can't tune them for many mods without spending a lot of money with stand-alone products.

I've added the 08 style hood, 08 swingarm pickup and oil pan, ACR front splitter, upgrading to ACR shocks. What I lack in power from the 08+ I think I make up for it in mods.

 

That is really cool!


I find this statement fascinating! I've tracked a 1LE and ZL1 and own a 335d with the iDrive. imho they are worlds apart although the ZL1 was a blast!

Good luck in your search!

 

Wow, that post makes me feel a lot more confident about actually persuing one of these.I've also started looking into exhaust and I really like the sound of the Balenger system. I'm going to a dealership tomorrow to check out an 05!

 

Hey, I noticed you posted up on one of the Viper forums. I'm in the Brandon area and will be home the end of Oct. And, I see you already got in touch with Ryan (98Intrigue). If you're interested in local exotics events check out Tampa Auto Club.

 

I've got a 2004 Viper for sale.

The 2003-2005 (GEN 3) are the best for modifying. The ECU on the gen 4 is harder to work with. Check out the Viper forums (viperalley or viper club of america). If you're going to keep the car stock then get a GEN 4, but from what I read you plan on modifying. The Viper has a bulletproof engine. Not sure who said the 2004-2008 breaks a lot but that's definitely not true. There aren't many records of them breaking or randomly dying. The maintenance is very easy as well. You could easily DD it as long as you're not worried about putting mileage on it. The A/C in the Viper is better than the A/C in my Mercedes. I've never driven mine in the rain but I'm sure you could as long as you're careful and don't mind driving a soft top in the rain

Mine is completely stock, never modified or abused. Would be a great platform for you to start with. It's within your budget as well. You can do full exhaust/headers/cams/tune etc or just do a supercharger or twin turbo build if you wanted crazy power.

Let me know if you're interested!

I can't PM so check out my AD and call me if you're interested

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...miles-45k.html

 

The XPIPE under the cabin will be removed when you do an aftermarket exhaust. This will get rid of the heat. Also, getting rid of the cats will get rid of all the heat.

 

what kind of weekend drives do you do? leisure cruise or just C&C?

for backroads on weekends, i dont think i would want a GT car

why not daily your maserati? i can understand if it's mileage/depreciation/maint/repair costs. not sure why you'd want a 600hp car for commutes. i would keep your M3 for daily and use a viper or C7 vette for weekend drives.

the door sill on the viper is wide, the nose is low, and the car is wide. these are reasons that it isn't a good daily. also, i would want a nav, maybe good stereo for daily.

i dont think m3 is a lux car. it does offer much improved fit and finish over america cars. even so, i think its interior is still "cheap", compared to a maserati.

anyways, if you want a powerful car, i would look at the c7. hp doesn't mean everything and i think c7 will corner better and be more suitable as a daily.

 

hope this helps!

 

I don't drive mine daily to work. Not the most comfortable car but it can work better if you're a small guy. Not a fan of driving the car in heavy rain. Remove the crossover exhaust pipe and hope your window regulators don't go bad. Mine just did....sigh. And it does get attention. I get lots of thumbs ups and waves and the occasional picture takings but it's not too bad.

 

So what happened?

 

I daily my viper and I have not had any issues at all. And by daily I mean I'm putting around 250 miles a week.