Glad to see someone who knows what they are talking about. Gears are a MUST in my opinion. Probably the BEST modification in terms of response, quickness, usability and of course speed. I've owned 4 Viper and my current 2009 ACR has the 3.55 and a Mopar tune and it is significantly faster and more responsive than my old 4th gen stock ACR.
Thanks for making this helpful list 👍🏻 I definitely am interested in changing the gears . So far I did the Roe high flow cats, K&N filters with smooth tubes , X pipe Muffler delete from Jon B/ Parts Rack.
Ive got 2 right now. One is bored and stroked supercharged 1000 hp. And a 650 hp. Topend Mods . Both have forged internals rearends and trans . Need to sell one . The 1000hp has total veh mile at 12,000 The 650 hp has under 10,000 total veh miles. Both are as clean and untouched as a 15 year old virgin bride... Both rear end and trans replaced etc etc.
Sounds like a nice pair of Vipers. There are a few Viper facebook groups for selling Vipers specifically, have you thought about posting them there? What years and colors are they?
@@LifeatSpeed Thanx for the suggestion. Also both engines built by Exotic Engine and Specialty Performance Team. Kevin Singleton and Dan Craigin.... These 2 men both worked for Team Viper when it was going on. Now both are in private practice building Vipers and their engines as long as people continue to take the Viper format and continue to believe that Viper is the #1 American Sport and Muscle Supercar of all Time.... Tbe Viper will like the Cobra and Ford GT Be the Mopar edition to the Triad of American Badassed cars... Long live all of them. Regards 1000hp and that is just where you start the race.... Dont start Fast the race is 24 hrs.
I know both those names and yes they definitely know what they're doing on these cars! And I agree the Viper will be like the Cobra in the future in terms of collectability and how they are regarded.
@@LifeatSpeed outside philadelphia. i've hard 4x4 jeep shops are good for these swaps? It's not really a big job, just want to make sure it's done right
Jeep shops can definitely handle it as the carrier is a dana 44 which is common in Jeeps. The downside is they may not be as meticulous with your Viper as you would like. Have you reached out to the local Viper club for recommendations? I'll check my contacts and see what I can find.
I just checked and about 2.5 hours north of you in South Salem NY is Tator's Garage. Chuck is known as the Viper Wizard in the community and for good reason. With him being that close to you I would make the trip, you won't find a better shop.
@@LifeatSpeed Very helpful, thanks a lot for looking into that! I've heard of Tator's before. My car has 81,000 on it, so it might be time for a more thorough inspection...
Cam, ported or upgraded heads, and a newer style intake manifold really wakes them up beyond the more basic bolt on mods you mentioned. I personally don't like to swap out the gears because the OD in these cars is weak, with the stock gears you can basically avoid the OD under WOT. My 96 B&W GTS is a UGR TT, the FI cars (especially turbos) like the taller gears anyway. When you start making bigger power (1k plus), the rest of the drivetrain pretty much has to be beefed up too. The brakes aren't the greatest on these cars, especially the rears... so plan on upgrading them. I also like to replace the PS pulley for the billet piece after I lost the factory (crap) plastic pulley on my 97 GTS road racing it (mid corner too).
Once you start making serious power, like you, everything needs to be upgraded. And yes the brakes on these need attention regardless of power level. I too replaced the power steering pulley and bracket. Luckily in my case I got to them before they failed. I have posted videos on both the power steering issue and brake issue, if you're interested check them out.
I got rid of the boxes and put smooth tubes that pulled air from in front of the radiator in the facia and I got rid of the cats. Mustang dyno proven 422 hp and 500 ft lbs on my gen 1. With a 1.97 60’ I still ticked her at 13.03.
There are many areas in California where SMOG testing is not required. Most track guys of all brands pay for a mail box not a PO box in one of those counties for registration purposes.
I am running the stock gears in my 01 ACR and it will easily break the tires loose in first and second, so I will keep them. I run 3.55s in some of my muscle cars and they are good there but they handle and drive way different then the Viper. A friend of mine who had a 01 GTS did all sorts of upgrades and ended up with basically an undrivable car (due to the supercharger) but to your question about the wires, I don't think you will get much in HP gain that you will feel but you should get some consistency throughout the HP range.
I was thinking the same thing about the 355 gears. There is SO much torque already with the stock gears. I know a lot of Viper owners have upgraded to the 355s but it just seems a bit overkill. Then again, overkill is the Viper's middle name...
To me, your thought process is just ridiculous. I have owned 4 Vipers, gen 2-4. ALL sports cars continue to push the envelop in performance and power with electric vehicles making 1000+ HP. Is that too much??? Of course not. If you are spinning in second you are riding the car very hard. I would rather have 3:55 and actually have a 5th and 6th gear that actually did something and accelerate. Also, having a supercharger means power without need to "floor-it" which stresses and wears the engine.
Casually today I was thinking about adding the smooth tubes to my car and about how it would feel if I change the ratio to 3.55, I like the cruising in 6th with low rpm, because the car is so loud 🙈, but love how it Pulls. Also thinking about the ligth weight flywheel, what do you think about it? Mine is a gen 1
I can't remember exactly what the rpm increase was in 6th at highway speed, but I think it was around 500 rpm delta. As for the lightweight flywheel it will definitely rev faster and free up a bit of hp, but the car will "buck" more at low speeds, which in a parking lot can be a tad annoying.
I did the fidanza lightweight flywheel on my 97 GTS. Car does rev faster. My clutch went so I had the flywheel done at the same time. I would recommend doing this on your next clutch change.
How does the Borla do with drone? Thats why i am more focused on Corsa. Already have the H&N filters and high flow cats. Looking at M&M headers next and a tune.
i would love to do all the upgrade you say, but here in italy i cant trust any mechanic to change the valve train...i hope the '97 valve still tough :(
I haven't heard of that many people bending the pushrods. Mostly I've heard they deflect some whoch results in a slight performance loss. As long as you aren't using it as a full time racecar, the stock valvetrain should hold up.
@@LifeatSpeed im using the car just for meeting and cruise, never gonna race or stress it, im owning the car just from 6 month and im doing initial maintenance to a 23 years old car, but in Italy something is difficult to know how to intervene, so im going step by step on some stuff with the service and maintenance manual
Unless you don't plan to drive your car on the street I would never change my rear end ratio. 6th gear was designed to be overdrive which means it's supposed to make the engine rev lower. With a higher ratio your top end speed reduces, gas mileage goes to shit. The torque on Vipers is so high that it's easy to spin the wheels. With a lower ratio you will lose traction much easier too. If you plan to add more HP the high ratio will make it even harder to get good traction. Now if you plan to race your car of course it would be a good modification. I have no complaints about my 3.07 rear end. I can still spin my tires at 80mph and use 6th gear to cruise on the hwy.
I along with most Viper owners I know have been driving our cars with 3.55 gears for years on the street and we all agree it was the best upgrade we did to our cars. I get 20 mpg highway cruising all the time in and ai have no traction issues at all. Also noth 5th and 6th are overdrive gears and still work as such.
![Chlöe - Shake (Feat. Jeremih) [Official Visualizer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aDs_1ufpfv8/mqdefault.jpg)
Glad to see someone who knows what they are talking about.
Gears are a MUST in my opinion. Probably the BEST modification in terms of response, quickness, usability and of course speed.
I've owned 4 Viper and my current 2009 ACR has the 3.55 and a Mopar tune and it is significantly faster and more responsive than my old 4th gen stock ACR.
Idk how many times I’ve rewatched this just to admire the garage. Great choice in cars and blue color scheme👌🏿
Thank you!
Thanks for making this helpful list 👍🏻 I definitely am interested in changing the gears . So far I did the Roe high flow cats, K&N filters with smooth tubes , X pipe Muffler delete from Jon B/ Parts Rack.
All excellent upgrades!
Some gains in the range of 30 to 50 hp can be had with some mild head work.
Thanks Mike!
I think a good quality tune is one that you could add to your list.
Ive got 2 right now.
One is bored and stroked supercharged
1000 hp.
And a 650 hp. Topend
Mods .
Both have forged internals rearends and trans .
Need to sell one .
The 1000hp has total veh mile at 12,000
The 650 hp has under 10,000 total veh miles.
Both are as clean and untouched as a 15 year old virgin bride...
Both rear end and trans replaced etc etc.
Sounds like a nice pair of Vipers. There are a few Viper facebook groups for selling Vipers specifically, have you thought about posting them there? What years and colors are they?
@@LifeatSpeed
Thanx for the suggestion.
Also both engines built by Exotic Engine and Specialty Performance Team.
Kevin Singleton and Dan Craigin....
These 2 men both worked for Team Viper when it was going on.
Now both are in private practice building Vipers and their engines as long as people continue to take the Viper format and continue to believe that Viper is the #1 American Sport and Muscle Supercar of all Time....
Tbe Viper will like the Cobra and Ford GT
Be the Mopar edition to the Triad of American Badassed cars...
Long live all of them.
Regards
1000hp and that is just where you start the race....
Dont start Fast the race is 24 hrs.
I know both those names and yes they definitely know what they're doing on these cars! And I agree the Viper will be like the Cobra in the future in terms of collectability and how they are regarded.
I'm doing those 3.55's pretty soon, can't wait. Just gotta find a shop I'm willing to trust with the car... lol
That is definitely a challenge. Where abouts are you located?
@@LifeatSpeed outside philadelphia. i've hard 4x4 jeep shops are good for these swaps? It's not really a big job, just want to make sure it's done right
Jeep shops can definitely handle it as the carrier is a dana 44 which is common in Jeeps. The downside is they may not be as meticulous with your Viper as you would like. Have you reached out to the local Viper club for recommendations? I'll check my contacts and see what I can find.
I just checked and about 2.5 hours north of you in South Salem NY is Tator's Garage. Chuck is known as the Viper Wizard in the community and for good reason. With him being that close to you I would make the trip, you won't find a better shop.
@@LifeatSpeed Very helpful, thanks a lot for looking into that! I've heard of Tator's before. My car has 81,000 on it, so it might be time for a more thorough inspection...
Cam, ported or upgraded heads, and a newer style intake manifold really wakes them up beyond the more basic bolt on mods you mentioned. I personally don't like to swap out the gears because the OD in these cars is weak, with the stock gears you can basically avoid the OD under WOT. My 96 B&W GTS is a UGR TT, the FI cars (especially turbos) like the taller gears anyway. When you start making bigger power (1k plus), the rest of the drivetrain pretty much has to be beefed up too.
The brakes aren't the greatest on these cars, especially the rears... so plan on upgrading them.
I also like to replace the PS pulley for the billet piece after I lost the factory (crap) plastic pulley on my 97 GTS road racing it (mid corner too).
Cooling is another issue I forgot to mention. They need all the cooling they can get, with big engine mods even more so!
Once you start making serious power, like you, everything needs to be upgraded. And yes the brakes on these need attention regardless of power level. I too replaced the power steering pulley and bracket. Luckily in my case I got to them before they failed. I have posted videos on both the power steering issue and brake issue, if you're interested check them out.
I got rid of the boxes and put smooth tubes that pulled air from in front of the radiator in the facia and I got rid of the cats. Mustang dyno proven 422 hp and 500 ft lbs on my gen 1. With a 1.97 60’ I still ticked her at 13.03.
Thanks for the data point!
There are many areas in California where SMOG testing is not required. Most track guys of all brands pay for a mail box not a PO box in one of those counties for registration purposes.
I am running the stock gears in my 01 ACR and it will easily break the tires loose in first and second, so I will keep them. I run 3.55s in some of my muscle cars and they are good there but they handle and drive way different then the Viper. A friend of mine who had a 01 GTS did all sorts of upgrades and ended up with basically an undrivable car (due to the supercharger) but to your question about the wires, I don't think you will get much in HP gain that you will feel but you should get some consistency throughout the HP range.
I was thinking the same thing about the 355 gears. There is SO much torque already with the stock gears. I know a lot of Viper owners have upgraded to the 355s but it just seems a bit overkill. Then again, overkill is the Viper's middle name...
To me, your thought process is just ridiculous.
I have owned 4 Vipers, gen 2-4.
ALL sports cars continue to push the envelop in performance and power with electric vehicles making 1000+ HP. Is that too much??? Of course not.
If you are spinning in second you are riding the car very hard.
I would rather have 3:55 and actually have a 5th and 6th gear that actually did something and accelerate. Also, having a supercharger means power without need to "floor-it" which stresses and wears the engine.
Nice hoodie.
Thanks
Very informative!
Thanks!
Casually today I was thinking about adding the smooth tubes to my car and about how it would feel if I change the ratio to 3.55, I like the cruising in 6th with low rpm, because the car is so loud 🙈, but love how it
Pulls.
Also thinking about the ligth weight flywheel, what do you think about it?
Mine is a gen 1
I can't remember exactly what the rpm increase was in 6th at highway speed, but I think it was around 500 rpm delta. As for the lightweight flywheel it will definitely rev faster and free up a bit of hp, but the car will "buck" more at low speeds, which in a parking lot can be a tad annoying.
I did the fidanza lightweight flywheel on my 97 GTS. Car does rev faster. My clutch went so I had the flywheel done at the same time. I would recommend doing this on your next clutch change.
@@charliemckelvey9282 i did the flywheel and clutch in December, the car feels a lot better, and I don’t see any problems on low rpms, it’s worth
How do you feel about 373’s
It's a fine gear to go with, especially if you have oversized wheels. Traction off the line mught be a bit more challenging, but not unmanageable.
How does the Borla do with drone? Thats why i am more focused on Corsa. Already have the H&N filters and high flow cats. Looking at M&M headers next and a tune.
People claim the Borla drone, but I don't notice it. I also have 3.55 gears, changing the cruising rpm range
Have you also tried looking into intake setups
Yes but for the Viper they are all pretty expensive and don't gain that much more power compared to K&N filters and smooth tubes.
Life at Speed I may have two smooth tubes I would be willing to part with that I do not use
Good to know. I'll keep that in mind if anyone I know is looking. Thanks! I have a set on mine already.
i would love to do all the upgrade you say, but here in italy i cant trust any mechanic to change the valve train...i hope the '97 valve still tough :(
I haven't heard of that many people bending the pushrods. Mostly I've heard they deflect some whoch results in a slight performance loss. As long as you aren't using it as a full time racecar, the stock valvetrain should hold up.
@@LifeatSpeed im using the car just for meeting and cruise, never gonna race or stress it, im owning the car just from 6 month and im doing initial maintenance to a 23 years old car, but in Italy something is difficult to know how to intervene, so im going step by step on some stuff with the service and maintenance manual
Then the valvetrain should be ok
Are you a Mopar guy?
I'm a car guy who also happens to love Mopars and currently owns 5 Mopars lol.
Unless you don't plan to drive your car on the street I would never change my rear end ratio. 6th gear was designed to be overdrive which means it's supposed to make the engine rev lower. With a higher ratio your top end speed reduces, gas mileage goes to shit. The torque on Vipers is so high that it's easy to spin the wheels. With a lower ratio you will lose traction much easier too. If you plan to add more HP the high ratio will make it even harder to get good traction. Now if you plan to race your car of course it would be a good modification. I have no complaints about my 3.07 rear end. I can still spin my tires at 80mph and use 6th gear to cruise on the hwy.
I along with most Viper owners I know have been driving our cars with 3.55 gears for years on the street and we all agree it was the best upgrade we did to our cars. I get 20 mpg highway cruising all the time in and ai have no traction issues at all. Also noth 5th and 6th are overdrive gears and still work as such.
@@LifeatSpeed Interesting, I don't know of any other owners that have a 3.55 rear end. Must be a regional thing.
Possible
@@rockys7726 Not one person is disappointed with the 3.55 gears. A lot of owners do this swap.
@@IanRainey well personally I wouldn't do it.
Is there a video like this for gen 3 vipers?
Not that I am aware of. I may need to put one together.
@@LifeatSpeed you should!! Thanks for the video!!!
I'll start doing some reseaech and add it to the list.
best thing you can do is keep it og
Creampuff lmao