355 vs dodge viper

As a former GTS owner and a current F355 6spd owner I must disagree to a point. Yes the Viper pulls harder (it better with over twice the displacement) but I would definitely not say the F355 is slow. Strictly comparing it to a Viper it is slow and the Viper is fast (quick) but then I'll compare the Viper to my R1 and it becomes slow which really isn't true.

I also felt the handling of the Viper was very good for it's size. Tram lining was very noticeable but what car wouldn't with all that rubber? I ran both cars at my favorite track but the F355 was on 6 year old tires and it could not be pushed to the limit so I don't have an accurate comparison. Unfortunately (for this comparison) I am fitting the F355 with R-compounds so the next track outing will have the Ferrari at an unfair advantage. Who knows if I'll ever have "normal" street tires on the F355 ever again so we may never know.

Bottom line is I miss my Viper but I won't be selling the F355 to get another.


I am working on a few mods to make the 5.2 F355 a bit more powerful but I doubt it will be winning drag races against a Viper sans boost, stay tuned.


Rob

 

http://youtu.be/fXokJWksv7o

 

WOW the ending of video...yikes

 

the 355 would have held that corner.

 

That will buff right out.

 

driving that fast on that road is just plain stupid!

 

l dont think so !

First is driver then the Viper is the worst built car ever for this streets, a HUGE engine on a 40 years old suspension Technology compared to european cars.
The car is a grave it self !

sorry for talking like that for a beautiful muscle car but this is the reallity!


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edLnXzAwHVc[/ame]

 

interesting point!

 

Viper suspension got better over time and the nannies being provided increased. The original cars were absolutely a handful. All are insanely quick.

End of the day though, it isnt remotely the same driving experience as a Ferrari.

IMO, if a person can drive a Viper and a Ferrari (ANY Ferrari), back to back, and come away with the only conclusion being "man... Viper is a lot quicker", than the Ferrari is *not* for them.

This isn't meant to be a slam, but I've found that some drivers are focused exclusively on straight line power. They either don't care about, or can't perceive, the driver engaging differences that come with a car like a Ferrari (or other drivers car) vs primarily a muscle car.

There's nothing wrong with that, but the cars just have two very VERY different missions. The Ferrari is meant to be balanced and engaging and well rounded. I've stuck with NSX's and 911's because IMO, they're the closest I can get to the Ferrari experience in my budget.

Prior to my first NSX I owned a pretty modded Vette. I drove *many* Vipers and considered them seriously before ultimately walking away from Viper/Vette forever. They just have a different goal and so are made to appeal to a different kind of driver.

And this isnt to say (before the flames come out) that a Vette or Viper cant do *very well* on a roadcourse in the hands of a competent driver. They absolutely can. They just go about it in a very different way that, IMO, won't be appealing to someone who is looking for what a car like a Ferrari, 911, NSX, Lotus, R8, etc deliver in terms of experience.

When I sit behind the wheel of a F355, or any other small, light, mid-engine car, before I even turn the key my senses are engaged by the forward view and intimacy of the small proportions. When I get behind the wheel of a Viper or Vette, immediately I am struck by the big, heavy, "feel" of the cars, the endlessly long hoods and the sense of being somewhat disconnected from the road. Starting them and getting moving the differences just amplify. If all of this is completely meaningless to someone, and/or completely overridden by tire smoking tq when they mash the pedal, then the Vette/Viper (or maybe GTR) are their car.

 

That was honestly the dumbest thing I have ever heard. I love Ferraris and equally love the viper. I had seen both cars on the track( limeRock) and both Track very well. With that said i would still give the Viper the upper hand. Especially for a car that costs 100,000.00 Less Brand new. The old saying if it aint broken don't fix it.

 

A Viper, no matter what year will destroy a 355 any time, any where...you just cannot compare 8.0L's of v10 to 3.5L' of V8. Just the tire sizes alone will tell you there is no catching the viper. Yes its a brute, unrefined, and terribly unpredictable, but damn its a fun car, and cheap to run. (in comparison to the 355).

 

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Rather uneducated response it seems, since the viper gts @ 8min06 is both significantly quicker than a 355 and 360 or about as quick (1 second quicker) as a 550 on the nurburgring. If it's fast on the Ring than it's fast on the street....

 

Us european l see it differently.

I can not imagine to compare a Technology of an 8 LITER Engine with 50bhp per Liter and Train Torque with a 15 jears old mid engine Ferrari with the 1/3 of the Vipers engine.This things to compare l find uneducated!

The numbers at Nürburgring Ferrari had 20 jears ago!

Why nobody compares a Viper front engine more than 6 Liter with a 599 GTO that also has a front engine and its a bit of the same category??

This is what l find the dumbest thing , to compare two Absolutely different Worlds !

Ferrari plays till 6.5 Liter engines and 800bhp and racing her cars the last 60 jears,what did you find to compare with the Viper?

l understand that the Viper is an American Symbol and im with you but this is a Ferrari Forum so please excuse me

 

Last time I looked Amsterdam was in Europe, so you're not alone ;-)

I still don't understand your posts though, we're here on the 355 section of this forum where in this particular thread the OP compares the 355 to a viper gts. So yes, it makes perfect sense comparing nurburgring times of these cars, as well as 360 and 550 as these are all cars from the same era as the viper gts...e.g. Second half 90's !!!!

The 599 you mentioned as being a better (front engined) benchmark to compare american technology against is all fine and well, to make this comparison fair let's use a contemporary opponent as well.....how about a C6 ZR1 @ 7min19 (6secs faster than enzo!) ???? ;-)

Rgds

 

Agreed, but you also can't compare the prestige of a Dodge to that of a a Ferrari

 

What was the dumbest thing? You cant possibly mean my post after I went SO far out of the way to *specifically* point out that they both track very well.

NO ONE that has driven both cars can possibly say that "its all the same" and just comes down to better performance, however, and be taken seriously.

If you were talking about my post, how many Vipers and how many Ferrari 355s have you driven? They couldnt possibly be MORE opposite in terms of what you experience as a driver. #'s around Lime Rock or watching cars go around a track is immaterial. What you are *feeling as you drive one* is all that matters.

To me, and I think to *many* who prefer a Ferrari, 911, Lotus, etc... The power and performance of the Viper *isnt worth it* considering the tradeoff in driving experience. SOME folks *prefer* the Viper (or Vette) driving experience. It's simply two different things.

 

Any opinions about the VW beetle v the 355 while your at it?

 

This beetle will positively smoke&burn a 355:

http://www.ronpatrickstuff.com

;-)

 

If I always drove in straight lines and didn't turn corners - maybe I would think about a Viper!

Actually, no I wouldn't

 

You chuckleheads that think the Viper is vastly inferior to any comparable year Ferrari are a true tribute to the power of Ferrari Kool-Aide at maximum dosage. I have had 2 355s and 5 Vipers and tracked them all, and raced some in Viper Cup and have to tell you that a 355 is just not in the same category as the Viper on track. Now you can whine all you want about having to know how to drive and spout off on all the subjective crap that you have to spout in order to come up with reasons why a 355 is "better," but for performance measured by lap times, the Viper will CRUSH the 355.

Those of you who don't know this are or were probably afraid of your Viper (and it can bite far harder than a 355) and therefore unable to extract from the Viper the performance it can deliver. So maybe, for the relatively incompetent and conservative driver, the 355 is better, since you can drive it closer to its limits and extract more performance than your limited skills would yield in a Viper. I.e a 355 at 9/10ths may be faster than a Viper at 7/10ths.

And of course Dodge does not have the panache of the Ferrari; which is odd considering that Dodge has a far greater heritage of racing its street cars over the past 20 years than does Ferrari. Dodge has won LeMans in its class and even won Daytona overall; when was the last time a Ferrari did either? Of course the 355's race heritage is about nil, other than the Challenge series that did not pit the car against any other manufacturer.

Don't get me wrong, I think the 355 is a lovely, beautiful joy of a car to drive (I still have one and love it), but when I feel like driving something ferocious and powerful, the 355 cowers and whimpers in its little corner of the garage when the Viper goes out. And if I had to weed out the herd, the horse will have to prance out before the snake slithers away.

 

Agree to disagree....

I have never driven a Viper but at the local race track I never hear anything good about them - and these are guys that teach at the racing driving school!

True story!

 

what im trying to say is that for me a 355 it can not be comperable with a car that has 2 more engines under the hood.
Ofcource the viper is faster us it has fast the same Weight and 3 times more Torgue.
For me comperable is 2 cars with the same capacity and same horsepower!

 

These kinds of threads are always really weird b/c of the disproportionate defensiveness. I had to-reread the thread to be sure, but there was *ONE* post "disparaging" the Viper. Considering this is the Ferrari enthusiast *home turf* thats pretty good! Compared to the absolute stupidity that gets slung around on any of the Viper forums, this thread is looking incredibly fair.

How is it that in your view the Viper is somehow under attack here? With the exception of one post, every Viper comment has been that the car is obviously faster, and can obviously be made to do better lap times, but that the driving experience is certainly not for everyone.

Mario Andretti expressed similar thoughts on the two cars a while back, but Im sure he's just lacking skill, isnt man enough, drank the koolaid... blah blah blah blah

 

Just for the record we are talking about a Viper GTS (Gen II, '96-'02) with an 8.0L making the difference 500cc more than twice as big.

I agree the cars are not in the same class but both offer a wonderful time when experienced behind the wheel.


Rob