[Rymanrph]

That was difficult to watch. Even when he was saying good things about the Viper, I still wanted to smack the host. The SLS is not a bad looking car, but in comparison to the Viper, its a little awkward. It was a comparison between the two cars, but they picked the winner based on how they compared to older versions of themselves - I don't get it.

 

[RVC]

Well, truth be told the viper looks and sounds ten times better than the monstrosity they made out of that SLS.
But the Merc wins on ride, handling, track setup, brakes, transmission, comfort, interior, soundproofing, heat insulation, and probably more stuff. It also costs $200k MORE; what did you expect!?

 

[JavelinAMX]

The Viper lap of 1:36.42 vs AMG Merc 1:35.03 is about 1.4 seconds.

I'm thinking they develop a Dual Clutch with Paddle shifters for the Viper and those two cars end up closer to head-to-head. Even with a pro driver, driving with a shifter gives more opportunities per lap to Add hundredths to the lap-time.

But SRT deliberately chose this feature-set to present as the Viper. The new Viper vs Competitors is now Oh-for-two.

Again, I'm wondering if what we know as the Viper would be a better balanced car with an all-out V8 in place of the V10?

Would the car exhibit greater refinement and enable it to get round the corners more smoothly, thus helping the lap-times?

 

[LoganSix]

The Viper lap of 1:36.42 vs AMG Merc 1:35.03 is about 1.4 seconds.


Would the car exhibit greater refinement and enable it to get round the corners more smoothly, thus helping the lap-times?

According to Motortrend, back in March, the $120k 2014 Viper TA beats the AMG Merc with a new lap record of 1:33.62. And you still have $180k left in your pocket. So, take their review with a heavy dose of skeptism.

 

[Mike V.]

Looks like motor trend is trying to stir the pot again. All in the name of sales

 

[UN4GTBL]

I watched this, but didn't want to share it because the bias is just terrible.

When the reviewer is complaining about shifting gears...IN A VIPER...there is something wrong. yes an automatic will be faster, but seriously...


Next they should take a Dart and compare it to an S-Class.

 

[Muther]

WOW, THAT GUY HATES Vipers. Everyone else bemoans the use of flappy paddles, and praises the Viper's stick. This guy finds a way to complain about the stick. This may as well have been scripted by MT's ad slime department.

Its MT. There is simply no way a Mercedes anything is going to loose against anything else, just like in Topgear. They shower anything German with praise, and have no issues contradicting themselves article to article, or even within an article.

Count the Daimler ad space vs Fiat-Chrysler ad space. That way you won't even need to read the articles to see who they choose.

 

[TripleT]

Did this review Predate the TA, I thought I saw it before the TA was even announced.

 

[LoganSix]

Did this review Predate the TA, I thought I saw it before the TA was even announced.

Video says : Published on Jul 3, 2013

And so does the article. So, basically they tested the 2014 Viper TA back in March and then did a comparison with a 2013 Viper vs a 2014 Mercedes AMG. Sounds fair.

 

[Sir Moses Wellington]

To be fair, they may have not been able to get a TA to test it, cause it's not officially in production yet, correct?
But more likely, it's just to make the Chrysler product lose. Anyone remember when they did this comparo? It's not MT, but still...
It's never set up to be fair to the Chrysler product, cause if they do it that way, it will win against anything even relatively close to the price or specs.
http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-reviews/car-comparison-tests/2011-dodge-challenger-srt8-392-vs-2011-shelby-gt350

 

[Muther]

The Merc had MPSC2's, also. It also costs 60% more than than the Viper. Be patient and wait for the new Pirelli gumballs to debut next year.

The most honest reviews anywhere are available on Jay Leno's garage. He doesn't have to like or hate anything, he own's most of it, and gives everyone a fair shake, and tells you what the owners of the cars know, not what the auto journalists print to fill space between that ads.

Motorweek is pretty good too, but a little dry and antiseptic.



If I'm going to read about cars i can't afford, I'd rather see a comparison between these!

http://www.topspeed.com/cars/mercedes/2011-mercedes-benz-black-falcon-sls-amg-gt3-ar113107.html

http://www.allpar.com/cars/viper/GT3-R.html

 

[LoganSix]

To be fair, they may have not been able to get a TA to test it, cause it's not officially in production yet, correct?

They have a TA available to them, Ralph created one for them. And if they wanted to test it again, I am sure Ralph would have provided it with no issue.

However, the bigger problem is that the reviewer saying that you can "buy 3 Vipers for the price of the SLS, but they won't be faster". This is obviously not true, based on their own testing.

 

[Mike V.]

Well just the fact they are not comparing a standard SLS to the GTS is enough to reality really wasn't considered in this test.

Clearly the SLS Black series should be put against a TA or ACR version if the Viper.

I still hate the TA nomenclature though.

Mike

 

[TripleT]

Video says : Published on Jul 3, 2013

And so does the article. So, basically they tested the 2014 Viper TA back in March and then did a comparison with a 2013 Viper vs a 2014 Mercedes AMG. Sounds fair.

Maybe it the post date.... I pitch all my magazines but I am pretty sure the comparison was prior to the TA.

Heck I guess they could have done it a second time but then it does beg to the question WHY?

 

[LXbuilder]

I thought the Viper did very well against the $300k Dumbler Benz product, and I didn't think MT was unfar in comparing them at all.
They really didn't say much bad about the Viper other than to mention the ridiculosly hot exhaust issues which the Viper is well known for. I felt the whole video showed that Dodge could build a great sports car that comes very, very close to one that costs nearly THREE times the money, sounds like a winner to me.
(must give Dumbler some love for the exhaust noises coming from that SLS though.)

 

[Muther]

Well just the fact they are not comparing a standard SLS to the GTS is enough to reality really wasn't considered in this test.

Clearly the SLS Black series should be put against a TA or ACR version if the Viper.

I still hate the TA nomenclature though.

Mike

I suspect they did the compare, because they happened to have these two cars available at the time, and no other reason. hat is why i dislike a lot of autozine rags, lack of disclosure.

I LOVE the TA. Makes me think they will take it back into the Trans Am series, to spank more Corvette's.

Challenger T/A anyone? :clap:

 

[dakrt99]

Looks like motor trend is trying to stir the pot again. All in the name of sales

Exactly what I said in the youtube comments. I guess they got a kick out of messing with Gilles. That video got 1000s of views within an hour or so.

 

[LoganSix]

Maybe it the post date.... I pitch all my magazines but I am pretty sure the comparison was prior to the TA.

Heck I guess they could have done it a second time but then it does beg to the question WHY?

It isn't like they have a problem with driving a Viper every few months. (Sept. 2012, Dec. 2012, March 2013, July 2013)

 

[Mike V.]

I suspect they did the compare, because they happened to have these two cars available at the time, and no other reason. hat is why i dislike a lot of autozine rags, lack of disclosure.

I LOVE the TA. Makes me think they will take it back into the Trans Am series, to spank more Corvette's.

Challenger T/A anyone? :clap:

It's too bad the Trans Am series really is fragmented with multiple classes and lack of consistent participation.

Even with the "merger", professional American road racing is an absolute mess. The only good thing is that the Grand Am Series does many aspects of what the SCCA Pro Racing side of things used to have. There is definitive class structure, solid rule sets, and large participation.

The SCCA screwed themselves badly in the mid to late 90s. Even World Challenge is struggling.

Mike

I thought the Viper did very well against the $300k Dumbler Benz product, and I didn't think MT was unfar in comparing them at all.
They really didn't say much bad about the Viper other than to mention the ridiculosly hot exhaust issues which the Viper is well known for. I felt the whole video showed that Dodge could build a great sports car that comes very, very close to one that costs nearly THREE times the money, sounds like a winner to me.
(must give Dumbler some love for the exhaust noises coming from that SLS though.)

I give you lots of credit for making lemonade. I think the real goal is to rile people up, and they did succeeded.

Mike