2014 SRT Viper TA: Ralph's Revenge
Setting the Record Straight in MT's Very Own Viper
To say that SRT boss Ralph Gilles was unhappy with the results of our comparison test between the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and the SRT Viper GTS would be like saying Michael Corleone was a little disappointed in his brother Fredo. Ralph was understandably livid. After all, the largest automotive publication in the land had just said that his new baby -- the only product in his brand's stable and the car that somehow survived the executioner's axe during Chrysler's bankruptcy largely thanks to his force of will was not as good as a four-year-old Chevy mere weeks away from going out of production. Rubbing salt in that wound, with racing great Randy Pobst at the wheel, the ZR1 set the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca production car lap record with a time of 1:33.70, beating the old record -- held by a Viper ACR -- of 1:33.92 in the process. I'd be upset, too.
Ralph was pissed. He Tweeted, "There is a lot more left in the car. Randy has always struggled with the Viper." I asked Randy about this, and he said, "Well, yeah, I've always had a hard time with cars that don't handle well!" Then Mr. Gilles accused GM of sending us a ringer 'Vette with a juiced-up engine. When we pointed out that the two cars were basically identical in power, weight, and straight-line performance, Ralph brought up tires. Corvette was cheating -- the Michelin Pilot Sport Cups gave the ZR1 an unfair advantage over the Pirelli P Zero Corsas on the Viper GTS. For our part, we never thought it was the tires. Having actually driven the two cars, we (meaning us and Pobst) thought the 2-second gap in lap times (1:33.70 vs. 1:35.77, see "Monsters' Brawl Redux," March 2013) came down to the Corvette's better brakes, and especially its superior magnetic suspension.
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