In a message dated 6/14/2005 4:32:23 PM US Eastern Standard Time, SSIMM@triad.rr.com writes: All-First of all, those Viper owners really need instruction. Vipers really have very little "manners," gobs of torque and, in unskilled hands are extremely dangerous. BTW, I know Terry Earwood is an extremely talented race car driver and instructor but a squeeling tire is not necessarily a happy tire. It might well be an under-inflated tire driven at or beyond the limit by someone in over their head. Next, I'd like to give a "plug" to all the Club driver schools held around the country. If you'd like to see what's available on the East coast, take a look at http://www.trackschedule.com/. As Dave alludes, you don't have to own a car of the particular marque of the club hosting the event. For instance, the Carolinas Region MCA just held its DE event at CMP in SC last week-end and, along w/Mustangs, there were BMW's, Corvettes, Porsches, various rice-burners, A 360 Ferrari, Maserati Quatrovalve. One of my students brought a Crown Vic Police Interceptor w/ Vortech, big Brembo brakes, etc....a very fast 4 dr. ride. We'll be at VIR over the 4th instructing for BMW CCA and there will be quite a variety of makes there. The whole point being: Don't lament thet there's nowhere to exercise your favorite ride and satisfy your need for speed. Most of these schools are well-run, safe and inexpensive. Regards, Stan Stan, I owned Vipers, open and closed, from 1996 to 2003, and I can tell you that, primarily due to Skip Thomas' Viper Days events, there are many Viper drivers out there who know 'way more about driving their cars than most of the muscle car owners I know. I've seen men and women who didn't know the first thing about high-performance driving develop over a few years into very capable open-track drivers, eventually going wheel-to-wheel in the daily race events that are optional to the program. The instructors usually come from the Porsche and/or BMW clubs, plus a few professionals, and I have to say that I learned as much in a few of the Viper events as I did at either Bondurant or Skip Barber, primarily because there was so much seat time, with and without instructors. For any performance car, whether it's a Shelby, Viper, whatever, the main thing is to get it to a track and get some instruction on more than the line around that particular track. I joined the VCA primarily for tech tips and expecting the "gold chain" crowd with no driving ability to be dominant. I couldn't have been more wrong! As for the Viper having no manners, have you ever driven a 427 Cobra? I have owned them simultaneously, and I can tell you for sure that I feel a lot safer in the Viper, although the thrill factor of the Cobra remains unmatched. They are completely different cars to drive, especially on the track, and I believe that from my amateur's point of view, the Cobra is the more difficult, simply because you have to be smarter about braking, or you are going to be off-course right now! Too much power applied too early will of course get you in trouble in either car. Don't get me wrong- I love both types, as well as the Shelby Mustangs. I just couldn't let the topic go unanswered. Thus endeth the rant... Cheers, Mike Heroy CSX4045 67 GT500 #841 68 GT500 #389 85 SVO
Mike-I'm sure that a Viper, in the hands of a skilled driver is a potent vehicle but I must have gotten mixed up w/ the "gold chain" crowd because I, along w/many of my fellow BMW CCA instructors, instructed at one of the first Viper Days events held at Rockingham (NC Motor Speedway) a few years back. 90% of the students were novices and the remaining 10% thought they knew it all. By lunch-time, more than half of the instructors (including me!) were sick to their stomachs from the violent torque and terrible throttle modulation. Very few of the cars and their drivers showed any sort of finesse. We instructors who attended still laugh about the event (but it wasn't funny at the time). Regards, Stan ----- Original Message ----- From: MHeroy@aol.com To: SSIMM@triad.rr.com Cc: shelbymustang@carmemories.com Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 5:56 PM Subject: Re: Drivers fulfill their need for speed In a message dated 6/14/2005 4:32:23 PM US Eastern Standard Time, SSIMM@triad.rr.com writes: All-First of all, those Viper owners really need instruction. Vipers really have very little "manners," gobs of torque and, in unskilled hands are extremely dangerous. BTW, I know Terry Earwood is an extremely talented race car driver and instructor but a squeeling tire is not necessarily a happy tire. It might well be an under-inflated tire driven at or beyond the limit by someone in over their head. Next, I'd like to give a "plug" to all the Club driver schools held around the country. If you'd like to see what's available on the East coast, take a look at http://www.trackschedule.com/. As Dave alludes, you don't have to own a car of the particular marque of the club hosting the event. For instance, the Carolinas Region MCA just held its DE event at CMP in SC last week-end and, along w/Mustangs, there were BMW's, Corvettes, Porsches, various rice-burners, A 360 Ferrari, Maserati Quatrovalve. One of my students brought a Crown Vic Police Interceptor w/ Vortech, big Brembo brakes, etc....a very fast 4 dr. ride. We'll be at VIR over the 4th instructing for BMW CCA and there will be quite a variety of makes there. The whole point being: Don't lament thet there's nowhere to exercise your favorite ride and satisfy your need for speed. Most of these schools are well-run, safe and inexpensive. Regards, Stan Stan, I owned Vipers, open and closed, from 1996 to 2003, and I can tell you that, primarily due to Skip Thomas' Viper Days events, there are many Viper drivers out there who know 'way more about driving their cars than most of the muscle car owners I know. I've seen men and women who didn't know the first thing about high-performance driving develop over a few years into very capable open-track drivers, eventually going wheel-to-wheel in the daily race events that are optional to the program. The instructors usually come from the Porsche and/or BMW clubs, plus a few professionals, and I have to say that I learned as much in a few of the Viper events as I did at either Bondurant or Skip Barber, primarily because there was so much seat time, with and without instructors. For any performance car, whether it's a Shelby, Viper, whatever, the main thing is to get it to a track and get some instruction on more than the line around that particular track. I joined the VCA primarily for tech tips and expecting the "gold chain" crowd with no driving ability to be dominant. I couldn't have been more wrong! As for the Viper having no manners, have you ever driven a 427 Cobra? I have owned them simultaneously, and I can tell you for sure that I feel a lot safer in the Viper, although the thrill factor of the Cobra remains unmatched. They are completely different cars to drive, especially on the track, and I believe that from my amateur's point of view, the Cobra is the more difficult, simply because you have to be smarter about braking, or you are going to be off-course right now! Too much power applied too early will of course get you in trouble in either car. Don't get me wrong- I love both types, as well as the Shelby Mustangs. I just couldn't let the topic go unanswered. Thus endeth the rant... Cheers, Mike Heroy CSX4045 67 GT500 #841 68 GT500 #389 85 SVO
