SAMUEL HUBINETTE; Viper in 2005

[slideways2004]

any pics of sam's fd '05 viper?

[OverCorrect]

Is this the car that Sam will be using at Long Beach next week?

[mikespeed]

? So is the frame on the GTO, except it's steel. Corvettes? Same thing. Tubular frames are typically defined as frames made from (are you ready for this?) round tubes, except in the drifting world, where apparently anything that has one round tube in plain view must mean the entire chassis is tubed framed. Guess what? That's not what a tube framed chassis is. Tube frame chassis cars are built from the ground up using either tubular steel or tubular chromoly. If you want a tube frame chassis, look at Pro-Stock drag cars. Your definaition of a "tubular frame" is way off..

gto is unibody.

and FD rules specifically state something about tube frames being a nono.

[INFO]

Is this the car that Sam will be using at Long Beach next week?

No, he will not drive the new Viper.

[OverCorrect]

No, he will not drive the new Viper.

do you know what he'll be driving at long beach?

[INFO]

do you know what he'll be driving at long beach?

He will not be driving.

[Henry G]

Hope to see him compete this year!

[Tsunami]

For the 5 millionth time:

THE COMP COUPE IS NOT A TUBE FRAME CAR.

God dammit. Why is that so hard for you people to understand?

Hahaha it's about time somebody said that. Everything I've read or seen about the car says it's not that much different than the street version.

I don't know why the classify the Vette as semi-tube frame. It's a unibody with hydroformed front and rear rails. Nothing remotely tubular about it.

Both the street Viper and the Comp Coupe are wicked machines, and Sam is a great driver, so I think he'll still be the one to beat. But the GTO is at the top of it's game, and alot of teams are stepping up with better cars. It'll be fun to watch.

[MonkeySlide]

"The Viper Competition Coupe chassis construction is a backbone tubular steel space frame with separate cowl structure."

competitioncoupe.com

so um...if a TUBULAR steel space frame..isn't a tube frame..then what is? 'Cause ...that really looks like a tube frame to me.

[Tsunami]

Ahh, now I see. They caged and braced it, alot like Porsche does to turn a 911 GT3 into an RSR. If you look closely, you can see production frame, front bumper, and rear framerails. Also, according to the DC Viper website, if you scroll down you can see that it says the production car has a tubular steel spaceframe.http://www.daimlerchrysler.ca/EN/DOD...R-MODELS,.html

[INFO]

[Jaggorri]

"The Viper Competition Coupe chassis construction is a backbone tubular steel space frame with separate cowl structure."

competitioncoupe.com

so um...if a TUBULAR steel space frame..isn't a tube frame..then what is? 'Cause ...that really looks like a tube frame to me.

Great holy jesus. Pay attention. You see all of those tubular braces over the engine with the round holes on the end? Yes those. They have said holes on the ends because they are bolt on braces that will fit any of the SRT-10 model vipers. Mopar includes them on the Comp Coupe because (surprise surprise) it a RACE CAR. Underneith all of those pretty tubes and such is a stock SRT-10 frame. THe same exact frame that EVERY SRT-10 gets from the factory.

I still do not understand why you people keep insisting that the Comp Coupe is a tube frame car. I've said it a thousand times already.

Trust me. I've worked on the damn things.

[ALI]

I still do not understand why you people keep insisting that the Comp Coupe is a tube frame car. I've said it a thousand times already.

So why in your opinion did Formula Drift not allow the Competition Coupe from returning this year? Because I agree with you in that it's not very different from the street version of the SRT10. What I would like to know is what allows an SRT10 to compete in FD, but not the competition coupe?

Like I said before, the sky is the limit on the current FD "rule" book and Mopar could potentially have a better weapon with the SRT10, and there is nothing that says they can't convert this new car into something that outperforms the comp coupe by a long ways...

I know neither one of them is a complete tube frame car, I've raced completely tube frame cars, they are nothing close to being anything like a street car. But I think the fact that the design of the Viper is radically different from other vehicles is what makes most people insist that it's unfair? Who knows...I'm just as confused as you are here.

[TRusst]

The reason that the Corvette and the Viper aren't considered unibody cars, is because they aren't unibody cars. They are body on frame. I know more about Vettes than Vipers, but I know for a fact the vette, no matter the generation is body on frame. I it does need to be said again it seems, that just because a car has some tubular bracing does not make it a tube frame chassis. If you look at the photo of the Viper CC you can clearly see the frame rails in the rocker panel area. As for why the CC was banned...probably because of the contoversy and ignorance that surrounds it.