2013 SRT Viper First Test

First Test:

By Scott Evans | Photos By Wesley Allison | March 13, 2013  |  

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You, the avid reader, are no doubt aware that we recently hosted a little dust-up between the 2013 SRT Viper GTS and the 2013 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 that ended with the outgoing ZR1 setting a new lap record at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Much hand-wringing and explanation-giving ensued with regard to the worse-than-expected performance of that “pre-production” Viper GTS. But was the GTS the right model for the test? Vipers of old didn’t give you a lot of options, short of the race-ready ACR model. For the fifth generation, though, SRT has decided to do a significant two-model split. For the racer, the base model gives you all the thrills and few of the frills. If you like leather seats and contrast stitching, get the fancier GTS model. Until now, all our testing has been done on the GTS. This isn’t unusual, as automakers like to get their fanciest model out to the press first to dazzle us with all the features. In truth, the extra weight of some leather and do-dads shouldn’t meaningfully affect performance on a 640-horsepower car. Nevertheless, we felt it our duty to test the base SRT model as well, just to make sure. SRT is pitching this car as the highest-performing car under $ 100,000. At $ 99,390 to start, it’s an optional paint color away from breaking the C-note mark, and there are only three no-cost colors. Unfortunately, there’s the small matter of the gas guzzler tax, which pushes the price to $ 101,990 out the door. Our tester also sported a $ 500 set of polished wheels, but other than that, it was as base as it could get. So technically, it’s only an under-$ 100,000 car before tax, but never mind that. Is it the best? Let’s see how the Viper performed, then. As it happens, we also had a production-spec GTS with us, so we’ll compare it to its high-dollar brother first. The base SRT hit 60 mph in 3.5 seconds, a tenth of a second behind the GTS. The same thing happened in the quarter mile, where the base car trapped in 11.5 seconds at 128.7 mph, a tenth of a second behind the GTS. In trap speed, the SRT was a tenth of a mile per hour faster than the production-spec GTS and a tenth of a mile per hour slower than the pre-production GTS. Pulling 1.04 g average on the skidpad, the SRT was barely out-gripped by the GTS at 1.05 g average. Oddly enough, the GTS was a tenth of a second quicker around the figure-eight test at 23.3 seconds to the SRT’s 23.4, but the SRT pulled higher average g at 0.93 to the GTS’ 0.91. The only substantial difference in performance between the two cars was in braking, where the SRT stopped 5 feet shorter, needing only 99 feet to stop fro m 60 mph to the GTS’ 104. That pre-production GTS, though, was on Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires, while the production GTS and the SRT were both on standard P Zeros. In case you’re wondering, the pre-production GTS and its stickier tires pulled 1.08 g on the skidpad and ran the figure eight in 23.2 seconds at 0.91 average g. But wait, there’s more. You see, we also took these beasts back to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to see what they’d do at the track. And it got interesting. The Corsa-tired, pre-production GTS, as you may recall, lapped the famed circuit in 1:35.8. The production-spec GTS on P Zeros just edged it at 1:35.78, but the SRT and its non-adjustable suspension (the GTS gets two-mode electronically controlled dampers) pulled off a 1:35.37. Then it got even more interesting. As it happens, we had a set of the Viper’s optional P Zero Corsa tires with us, and we ran them on both cars. The result: 1:34.63 for the SRT and 1:34.23 for the GTS. How did that happen? Even hot shoe Randy Pobst was confused. “I liked the SRT better,” said Pobst. “The rear end of the GTS was still too loose. I felt faster in the SRT.” We took a look at the telemetry and the difference, it seems, was actually in the brakes. The GTS was equipped with the optional Track Package, which among other things upgrades the brakes with lighter, slotted, two-piece, StopTech rotors. Normally, we wouldn’t expect upgraded rotors to have a big effect, but the data showed that Randy was consistently braking slightly later in the GTS than the SRT, which earned him the extra tenths at the finish line. Of course, we’re talking tenths of a second here, which can be earned or lost in one good or bad corner. We’ve established, then, that both the SRT and GTS Vipers, in their full production spec with final suspension tuning and optional tires, are faster on the track than previously observed. Not fast enough to take the lap record from the defunct Corvette ZR1, but not as slow as previously observed. What, then, about that other claim? Best performer under 100k?

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