Mopar Retires VIPER From Formula D Series

[Ris4drift]

i also jsut recieved an autoweek, this car was one the few they mentioned

article

"CHRYSLER CROSSFIRE DRIFTER"
When factory drift pilot Sam Hubinette's Viper was banned from competition this year, Chrysler's Skunkwerks decided to offer a less threatening but still comptitive entry. The Crossfire Drifter is officially just a show car , but it is built to meet SCCA safetly regs for drifting. The advantage of the convertible is that fans can watch the pilot work, designers say. Plus removing the top's mechanicals, along with the otop edge of the windshiled, the dash switches and the airbags saved between 300 and 400 pounds, the engineers said"

Autoweek, November 15, 2004, page 19-20.



also in the article they ran the word advantage from one line to the next. where was the break?

ADVAN-tage. coincidence? maybe. then again maybe autoweek is more jdm than you think...

[TrendLineMotor]

Originally posted by CRASH
why did they get rid of the viper anyways?

It did not meet D1 rules. It wasn't something they could market to "drifters"

[Craftsman]

Originally posted by TrendLineMotor
It did not meet D1 rules. It wasn't something they could market to "drifters"

Rather the car was a race bred chasis...

The Viper Comp Coupe is half tube frame chasis. The rules for D1 I believe (speculation by me, I can't exactly all remember) asks for unibody chasis.

The suspension is no where near a street car suspension. It has race car suspension geometry.

The car isn't a street car. It's a track bred race car.

[hondoo]

Originally posted by Craftsman
Rather the car was a race bred chasis...

The Viper Comp Coupe is half tube frame chasis. The rules for D1 I believe (speculation by me, I can't exactly all remember) asks for unibody chasis.

The suspension is no where near a street car suspension. It has race car suspension geometry.

The car isn't a street car. It's a track bred race car.

correct. but formula d's rules are diff than D1's rules.

[Ris4drift]

wow again. everyone sure on the ball as usual here.

the viper was NEVER legal for FD. period. beginning of the year there was a drivers meeting where the viper was voted to be allowed to compete by the FD drivers.

the comp coupe is completely above anything else. the car was so adjustable it had different mounting points for the shocks. the viper never has been, "legal" by fd or d1 rulebooks.

[Oki Drifter]

Originally posted by Ris4drift
wow again. everyone sure on the ball as usual here.

the viper was NEVER legal for FD. period. beginning of the year there was a drivers meeting where the viper was voted to be allowed to compete by the FD drivers.

the comp coupe is completely above anything else. the car was so adjustable it had different mounting points for the shocks. the viper never has been, "legal" by fd or d1 rulebooks.

so what you're saying is that the FD drifters thought they could take on a pure racecar and got their a$$es handed to'em in during the season

[drz]

Originally posted by Oki Drifter
so what you're saying is that the FD drifters thought they could take on a pure racecar and got their a$$es handed to'em in during the season

No, not at all. Sam wanted to compete, but didn't have a car do do it in except the Viper which Mopar could provide at the last minute. The drivers were brought together to vote on it before Atlanta, and the drivers voted it in so that Sam would have a car to drive. There was no arrogance involved as you make it out to be, just the drifting community doing what it always does - making accomodations for fellow drifters, as friends would.

[hondoo]

Originally posted by Ris4drift
wow again. everyone sure on the ball as usual here.

the viper was NEVER legal for FD. period. beginning of the year there was a drivers meeting where the viper was voted to be allowed to compete by the FD drivers.

the comp coupe is completely above anything else. the car was so adjustable it had different mounting points for the shocks. the viper never has been, "legal" by fd or d1 rulebooks.

according to FD rules, the Viper Comp Coupe was legal.

Here are the FD Rules right out of their rulebook:

Eligible Vehicles:

A)Any 2 or 4 door coupe, sedan or sports car.
B)Must be a production car with a minimum build run of 250 units
C)Must maintain original unibody or frame
D)Vehicles that do not meet the above criteria must be approved by the series.

therefore, the viper is eligible cuz it has a higher build run then 250 units and it maintains the original "unibody" and frame off the stock viper.

this subject has been discussed to exhaustion on this forum, but those are the rules that FD set up, and the viper cc meets those rules.

[driftersil80]

D1 is even accomodating the Viper. Hasn't anyone noticed that Sam is competing in December against Japanese drivers at the US vs. Japan Competition? Im pretty sure he's not going to start the Crossfire at the very end of the 2004 series.........

[spock]

Wouldn't a convertible (Crossfire drop-top)
have a much weaker frame than a hardtop?

[Craftsman]

Originally posted by spock
Wouldn't a convertible (Crossfire drop-top)
have a much weaker frame than a hardtop?

With some of the current FEM (Finite Element Method) tools that engineers have today, most of the convertibles made today are stiffer than older generation cars...

Basically, they can optimize the chasis of cars. This is how the S2000 is an extremely stiff chasis... I could go into the details, but it's not something that I fully understand. I slept in class...

[Ris4drift]

the corssfire droptop is nowhere as stiff as teh fixed roof.

sleepign thru class or not, basic common sense should tell you that.

however, for drifting i dont think it will matter. you really dont push a cars chassis hard drifting like you can road racing.

[Ris4drift]

Originally posted by hondoo
according to FD rules, the Viper Comp Coupe was legal.

Here are the FD Rules right out of their rulebook:

Eligible Vehicles:

A)Any 2 or 4 door coupe, sedan or sports car.
B)Must be a production car with a minimum build run of 250 units
C)Must maintain original unibody or frame
D)Vehicles that do not meet the above criteria must be approved by the series.

therefore, the viper is eligible cuz it has a higher build run then 250 units and it maintains the original "unibody" and frame off the stock viper.

this subject has been discussed to exhaustion on this forum, but those are the rules that FD set up, and the viper cc meets those rules.

i have a rulebook. thanks for telling me part of what it says.

competition coupe=/=viper. there was a meeting where they voted to let sam campaign his borrowed comp coupe so he could compete. its not coming back a 2nd time. why are you arguing here?

[CrazyHawaiian]

I think he is trying to point out that the Viper CTC technically fit within the Formula D rules. You said it was never legal, but apparently it was. It did maintain the original CTC unibody/frame, even if it was more of a racecar than a streetcar. That rule is very vague. And because this was sort of a grey area I think thats why it went to number four, the vote you talked about. It was voted yes, which means it was deemed legal. If the outcome of the vote was no, then the CTC would have been illegal and these conversations would never have happened. hahahaha

I think everyone agrees that it was impossible to foresee a major auto manufacturer entering their top of the line production race car and thus the rules were not written as specifically as some might have wanted. But even with that said, it could have been voted out, and it wasnt. Which is why I dont understand the peanut gallery always complaining about the CTC being illegal and unfair. *shrug*

Dodge could have brought back a built up street version of the Viper built to D1 specs. I think they decided to change platforms because they want to change their marketing strategies. At first it was all about getting exposure, testing the waters. Now that it looks like it was a success its all about selling cars.

[hondoo]

Originally posted by Ris4drift
i have a rulebook. thanks for telling me part of what it says.

competition coupe=/=viper. there was a meeting where they voted to let sam campaign his borrowed comp coupe so he could compete. its not coming back a 2nd time. why are you arguing here?

I wasnt arguing, merely pointing out the rulebook. Lose the attitude and sarcasm, lets stay on subject and merely discuss the issues.

Originally posted by CrazyHawaiian
I think he is trying to point out that the Viper CTC technically fit within the Formula D rules. You said it was never legal, but apparently it was.

Exactly.