Why on Earth a VIPER?

[my 1 88 u]

And I would rather more inexpensive lightweight FR cars produced. Domestic, japanese, euro, australian who gives a ^%#@ any more.

[nissanguy_24]

The problem with the Viper entering has nothing to do with its country of orgin, i think most fans will agree that has little effect on the vehichle. The problem is the sheer amount of money. Mopar took it to the next step so to speak. Not only did they start with a 100 thousand dollar car and went from there, but they actually are fielding 2 cars. Thats alot of money just starting out. On top of the parts and matenience ect.. Suddenly mopar has alot more money invested then any other team.

Yes some of the japanese teams are putting similar dollars down but mopar upped the antee. And now mopar, is suddenly in a position where they want to win, and win badly because they need to justify the hundreds of thousand dollars they are spending. Even if the viper has no advantages over lets say a humble 240sx, like gushi's then we still must take into consideration the fact that Sam is being paid, Mopar has alot of money. Meaning they can rent out tracks, they can pay Sam so he doesnt have to hold down another job. They can pay for tires and fuel for more practice then the other teams. If something breaks or they crash a car they can replace it easily. The viper has an advantage that its stock pieces were designed for abuse to begin with, meaning its not likely the viper will break an axel and be unable to compete. This has two negative side effects as far as im concerned, aside from giving them an obvious advantage.

The first one is they Also sponsor the series which has been mentioned. And one of the judges works for Mopar. suddenly theres alot of interest to keep mopar winning so that they wont pull out there piles of cash and take them to another sport. It also puts mopar in a position to purposely influence the outcome of a close match. You see the problems here?

And the second thing it does is causes everyone else who wants to stay consistantly competitive to need more money. Its often thought that Gushi could of beat Sam at Texas and indeed yesterday, he has the skill and his car is perfect for him, However mechanical problems kept him from having a chance. Gee if only a big name corporate sponsor picked up Gushi right?

Of course if that happened i doubt he would be running a very obtainable S13. Theres really very little mega expensive stuff on his car. I dont know about you, but i like having a chance in the competition...

Formula D doesnt apear to be strong enough, moraly or politicaly to stop it. Pandora has opened her box, there is no going back. And this time, there may be no hope left in the box.

Having the Viper sweep the series will only prove to corporations and such that you need alot of money to win.

[my 1 88 u]

http://www.drifting.com/forums/showt...&threadid=6161

If other influensial people think like Kida maybe mopar wont go too far.

[mranlet]

Can we say "class system"?

-MR

[nissanguy_24]

Originally posted by mranlet
Can we say "class system"?

-MR

Drag racing has been the main example of classes and look, no mater what name they come up with the classes slowly turn into funny cars. My father and i were talking about this. He said he used to like the super street class when he was young because they were real cars. Similar to his mustang that he drove to the event with. But now in most domestic drag racing super street is practicly funny cars. and funny cars are just rails with fiberglass.

I think the rules just need to be put in place limited certain mods. with drifting i think they should keep the D1 rule, stock unibody must be in place. if its not a unibody car it cant compete, meaning no one off tube cars. This will eleminate some cars like the viper and the Seven type kit cars but i think in the whole it will be healthier for the sport. Some say the viper isnt a full tubeframe.. well whatever but its not a unibody is it?

[INFO]

DRIFTING.com had interviewed MOPAR yesterday, but they might be asked more questions after the transcript is reviewed.

Please list your questions about the Viper and Mopar’s involvement with drifting here or on a new thread if necessary.

[chuaboi36]

Originally posted by nissanguy_24
The problem with the Viper entering has nothing to do with its country of orgin, i think most fans will agree that has little effect on the vehichle. The problem is the sheer amount of money. Mopar took it to the next step so to speak. Not only did they start with a 100 thousand dollar car and went from there, but they actually are fielding 2 cars. Thats alot of money just starting out. On top of the parts and matenience ect.. Suddenly mopar has alot more money invested then any other team.

Yes some of the japanese teams are putting similar dollars down but mopar upped the antee. And now mopar, is suddenly in a position where they want to win, and win badly because they need to justify the hundreds of thousand dollars they are spending. Even if the viper has no advantages over lets say a humble 240sx, like gushi's then we still must take into consideration the fact that Sam is being paid, Mopar has alot of money. Meaning they can rent out tracks, they can pay Sam so he doesnt have to hold down another job. They can pay for tires and fuel for more practice then the other teams. If something breaks or they crash a car they can replace it easily. The viper has an advantage that its stock pieces were designed for abuse to begin with, meaning its not likely the viper will break an axel and be unable to compete. This has two negative side effects as far as im concerned, aside from giving them an obvious advantage.

The first one is they Also sponsor the series which has been mentioned. And one of the judges works for Mopar. suddenly theres alot of interest to keep mopar winning so that they wont pull out there piles of cash and take them to another sport. It also puts mopar in a position to purposely influence the outcome of a close match. You see the problems here?

And the second thing it does is causes everyone else who wants to stay consistantly competitive to need more money. Its often thought that Gushi could of beat Sam at Texas and indeed yesterday, he has the skill and his car is perfect for him, However mechanical problems kept him from having a chance. Gee if only a big name corporate sponsor picked up Gushi right?

Of course if that happened i doubt he would be running a very obtainable S13. Theres really very little mega expensive stuff on his car. I dont know about you, but i like having a chance in the competition...

Formula D doesnt apear to be strong enough, moraly or politicaly to stop it. Pandora has opened her box, there is no going back. And this time, there may be no hope left in the box.

Having the Viper sweep the series will only prove to corporations and such that you need alot of money to win.

not to fair, alot of drifters drift for fun and everything usually comes out of their own pocket.

[NFJohn]

The car is borrowed, the trailer is borrowed, the truck is borrowed, the tools are borrowed. Mopar doesn't have as big of a financial involvemetn as you might think. We are lucky the car doesn't hurt any parts. Some people like it, some don't. Overall, when you see him do his 360's in it, you know he is one of the best out there. To say that Mopar has hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in this is wrong. And also, it was stated taht they have two cars they are sponsoring. What is the second car?? Samuels is the only one I know of..

[nissanguy_24]

Yes my apologiese, i was corrected earlier, they are only running 1 viper. I thought they had a back up, but i was in error

[NFJohn]

If you have any other questions, you can AIM me if you want. I will answer just about anything I have knowledge on..

[CrazyHawaiian]

This is in reply to Craig's post:

I've been drifting a Camaro since 2002 at the Drift Session events here in Hawaii. There are currently two of us that regularly drift domestics (both Camaros), and I am the lesser-skilled of the two. I have noticed that both drivers and fans react differently to our domestic cars when they first see us. The initial reaction is usually disbelief, a WTF look on the face, and a few scratches of the head. "Domestics can drift? I thought they were too heavy" stuff like that. But generally, people have been very accepting of us getting involved with the sport. Even 3000 strong, the fans have not boo'd the domestic, and people dont talk bad about us to our face. Maybe some of them dont like it, but they dont disrespect us. At one event I even remember a bunch of fans clapping and yelling "WOOHOO!!" while Revlimit slides past them. As for the drivers, well at first I could tell they were unsure. This is probably because we share the track, and its possible they could be drifting tandem with the domestics. Nobody had seen domestic drifting yet, so they didnt know what to expect. But after drifting with them for a few years, we have been accepted into the group and I believe they now trust us.

Over in the continental USA, I believe the GTO was the first domestic to be introduced in front of a crowd at the D1 in Feb 2003. Everyone boo'd the GTO in a show of complete disrespect. I heard a LOT of people were talking bad about the GTO, and I dont think it went over very well with the crowd. Some said they were boo'ing because of the car, some said they were boo'ing because of the sponsors, and some boo'd because everyone else was boo'ing (sheep). Seems its getting better at the more recent events, but that first outburst pretty much set the mood if you ask me.

So I'm not really sure why there are two completely different reactions in different parts of the USA. Maybe people in Hawaii are more laid back? The way I see it, the current crowds in the drifting scene are composed of 99% Import fans since Imports make up 99% of the competition. Because of this, they automatically dont like the domestics (results of the Import vs Domestic wars that have been going on forever). And because of this, people that are into domestics dont like the sport of Drifting. I believe that if a few domestics can get out there and represent, then maybe more domestic fans will come out to the event. I never understood why people are so against domestics, as having them involved will ultimately help the sport grow. More people will get involved and the sport will grow bigger.

And Craig, as a fan of European cars, I'm supprised that you would rather keep the sport all Japan. I remember watching AlexP. choku dori'ing a Blue M3 at the first Signal Auto Clinic here in Hawaii (2001?2002?). It was beautiful!!!!!!!!!!! I know I'd like to see some Euro's represent!! Bring out the W/B M3 Craig!!