Category Archives: Automotive
Driving The Viper For The First Time In 11 Months
It’s been 11 months since I’ve been physically able to drive my Viper, but yesterday I finally got the chance! My clutch pedal leg is sore today but it was all worth it.
I thought I’d make a video of the long overdue startup to celebrate:
New Exhaust On The Viper
Over the weekend I installed new exhaust on my Viper. I’ve been wanting to do it for years but I had to wait until I finished paying off the car to be able to afford it. After making the last car payment in January, I splurged and went for it.
It’s hard to capture the sound and especially how loud it is, but here’s a video that my friend made to give you an idea:
The old exhaust had 4 catalytic converters, 2 per side. I replaced them with a pair of higher flowing ones and that had 3″ pipes instead of 2.5″. They’re made by Random Technology.
I also replaced the cat-backs (mufflers) with ones from Corsa Performance.
My friend Jim was kind enough to offer both his lift and a helping hand to get it installed. Installation wasn’t too terrible but there were a pair of hard to reach bolts to remove the side sills and one of the cats was a pain to get on due to fitment issues, but overall it went fairly smoothly!
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- It all fit in my trunk!
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- Side sill removed with stock exahust in place
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- Stock catalytic converter
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- Access to the catalytic converters is easy!
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- The catalytic converters bolt directly onto the stock manifolds
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- New exhaust in place
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- New exhaust tips (I need to go back in and adjust placement)
44,444 Miles
Another milestone for my Viper. I bought the car with 9299 miles on it in March 2012.
Father & Son Cars
My dad swung by Cars & Coffee this morning with his late 1960’s Triumph TR250. I grew up riding around in it and he recently got it running again and restored. It was fun having both of our very different cars sitting next to each other, especially since his is one of the things that got me into cars in the first place! 🙂
Viper Dyno
I put my Viper on a dyno today to see what kind of horsepower and torque it was making at the wheels. It supposedly makes 600 horsepower at the crank and I’ve heard reports of 530 to 560 horsepower at the wheels, so I was curious to see what mine actually makes. Turns out it’s 533 horsepower and 504 lb-ft of torque. Considering it was a little warm out and decently humid, that’s not bad!
Viper Fluid Change
Changing out every single fluid in the Viper with help from my friend Jim! We’re also installing braided stainless steel brake lines to replace the factory rubber ones.
Viper Drive
Out for a drive with 9 other Vipers. Should be a fun day!
Mercedes-Benz Museum
Rental Car Top Speed
Achievement unlocked: we maxed out our Mercedes-Benz E250 rental car on the Autobahn in Germany. No, I have no idea why it has winter tires on it in August.
