Fun. It still is. A lot of fun.
The Dodge turns heads wherever it goes and as a result I get invites to parties, photoshoots and meets. That's always fun but even more fun is just driving my car. I love the sound, the way it devours the miles and how relaxing it is to cruise in. It's very comfortable over any distance with only the roughest of roads causing problems. Then comes the other side of its character.Flooring it in any gear bring effortless pace and a wave of torque. I've only had it up to 160 mph but you could feel it was happy to go much faster. There's so much power and so little fuss from the engine, until you really wind it up to the red line... Then it does turn into a rocketship with the driver hanging on to the steering wheel as much as actually steering
The roof is watertight in any weather and at almost any speed. The car definitely prefers the dry though for better traction. The tyres are new but do seem to struggle with corners in the wet a bit. I guess I'll get a bit more practice in over the winter! The headlights are fantastic for night driving and the heater is brilliant for chilly roof down journeys. The stereo can be heard at motorway speeds even without the roof, the air conditioning really works and I can charge my sat nav and iPhone at the same time...
The car has run brilliantly with the only damage being caused by me. Running it in all weathers and catching the odd kerb means the chrome wheels are going to need fixing. I plan to have them powder coated in black to match the roof and other details. That should hide the brake dust!
The engine runs superbly with the (non-standard) exhausts giving it the sound it deserves. And on ordinary unleaded too so filling up only costs me about £70 currently. I have managed 24 mpg on a motorway trip but normally I get 20-22 mpg I reckon. About 8 mpg more than the Cobra and that had a smaller engine! The car as a whole feels rather better built and waaaaaaay more reliable than the Cobra too
So what's left to do? Well I guess the wheels need doing, perhaps a stereo connector for my iPhone and that's all I can think of. Oh, maybe a sat nav DVD for the built-in system, as long as it doesn't just show the nearest burger...
Overall I'd thoroughly recommend everyone owns a Viper, it's such a great experience. And now I've done the research for you there's no excuse
Pics and a video from a charity track day:
http://www.pbase.com/gemmf/image/128201556" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.pbase.com/gemmf/image/128184126" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYINKCCV0lM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
