Although long overdue, the life support is being discontinued for the terminally ill Generation 5 Dodge (SRT?) Viper. Since with the Viper being gone, there is only high performance two seater left for the gray haired crowd (Alfa 4C, Porsche Cayman and Boxter are imports, Ford Mustang GT350R starts out as a four seater and Ford GT is out of reach for majority of buyers), the question should be raised:
Is +General Motors Chevrolet Corvette C7 Z06 a credible replacement for the future buyers who will miss out on Dodge Viper after it is discontinued in 2017?
The short answer is NO, and as a matter of fact it never was, although purpose wise, the previous generation's "real" Z06 came close and in certain aspects of performance, surpassed the mighty Dodge Viper.how
Right off the bat, any Corvette, no matter powerful and high performing it may be, is always based on a pedestrian base car and this car in turn, borrows deeply from the +General Motors technologies developed for even more banal purpose, SUV and pick up trucks specifically. Now, this approach works well for cars like Chevrolet Camaro but it certainly creates a big fail for cars that are advertised as valid alternatives to four wheel exotics.
Secondly, there is a matter of reliability, something that the latest generation of Corvette can never meet satisfactorily. Even though the previous generations of Corvette had many faults and caused multiple headaches for their owners, the magnitude of reliability issues plaguing newest Corvette generation is simply mind boggling. To make the matter worse, the problems spread evenly between manufacturing and assembly issues and hastily thought out design and engineering solutions.
On the other hand, Dodge Viper tends to be more or less bulletproof. Yes, there were several problems with engines requiring replacement in the 5th generation of Viper but Chrysler handled the matter in a super classy way, ironically on par with Porsche customer service, the Holy Grail of Corvette sales aspirations and the previous generation of Viper had no issues at all, rendering those cars more or less BULLETPROOF.
And here lies another problem with Corvette, one that actually should send anyone used to Dodge Viper service quality running, the typical incompetence of GM dealership service departments, combined with just as horrible corporate customer service. Even though Corvette, and especially Z06 command up to six figure prices, the quality of GM service is at best, on the level of Chevrolet Sonic clientele. The incompetence and lack of Corvette specific knowledge runs rampant among GM dealerships, making a simple oil change a nerve wrecking experience or like in case of alignment, a truly frustrating one (just about none of the GM dealershpis know how to properly align the newest Corvettes, either for the street or track.
Although the list of reasons why Corvette C7 Z06 is not a valid alternative to the late Dodge Viper, one should also remember the truly horrible fit, finish and paint "quality", with the paint giving Earl Scheib the ultimate validation and reward for his take on rattle can like paint jobs. Anyone familiar with Dodge Viper understands the quality of assembly and paint on those cars, they are superb as a matter of fact, down to the hand wet sanded and buffed paint finish, in lieu of the typical armadillo like paint finish.
In reality, there is no valid alternative to Dodge Viper since the car is as much of a state of mind as it is driving and visual experience and the potential buyer should not even bother to look at any C7 Corvettes and especially, the C7 Z06 failure.
Rest assured, no car is perfect and Viper is not even close to perfection but it is all about unique experience and none of it can be emulated by the pathetic collection of plastic and composite parts, hastily assembled to create an illusion of some exotic car.
As far as alternatives go, assuming that the supply of Generation 4 and 5 Vipers finally dries out, there are a few worth noting, with mid engine cars being the only sensible alternatives.
Without any doubt, the demise of Viper will embolden GM to do absolutely jack shit about problems and quality issues plaguing the piece of shit caled C7 Z06, just like it is already seen with 2017 production year and the geriatric crowd, more concerned with underhood murals than with overheating or handling issues will still come to buy these cars but it will never be due to Dodge Viper being discontinued..
I've had my Gen V Viper GTS for over a year now, and I can say without a doubt, it is one of the most beautiful and badass cars on the road. My ownership experience has been fantastic. I haven't had any issues with the car. Not one. Nothing. Nada. Zero. I've put 13,000 km/8,100 miles on the car with some very aggressive driving. It's burned a couple quarts of oil, and a bunch of gas. That's it. It recently passed the R28 recall inspection for potential engine damage, so it's got a clean bill of health, with all safety campaigns and recalls attended to. FCA has taken a very proactive approach to the engine failure issue, unlike GM, and it's done an excellent job of making sure Viper owners are satisfied. In fact, even though my car's engine has a clean bill of health, FCA has extended the drivetrain warranty for an extra 2 years on those of us who had to get the oil analysis done for the R28 recall. That means my engine, transmission, differential, etc...... are all covered till 2020. Beat that GM!!!! There is no replacement for this car. I'll leave it to my son in my will. They can pry the keys from my clinched fist.
ReplyDeleteTadge is a bs artist. instead of acknowledging problems he ignores them. z06 prices are going down like a crack hoe.
ReplyDelete2017 is a nothing year for the c7 while the camaro keeps improving and not overheating. lets face it. this is a 50 year old design using leaf springs. what do you expect.
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget the mid engine myth, can you say an even bigger disaster. They can't cool down the engine in the front of the car so let's move it to the middle and cook the drivers too. Ha Ha
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