Me thinks the "gentleman" doth protest too much.

 

The 5th gen viper is pretty easy to drive hard at the track, much more forgiving than previous gens. I had a student in a 5th gen and he was pretty rough with the inputs but the car stayed straight.

 

1. True, but most young men will lust over a Ferrari or a Porsche, so while your statement is certainly valid I will just say that the other cars you mentioned are more likely to be in a young mans dreams.

2. They are luxurious GT cars and not hardcore sports cars, this is not up for negotiation its really quite factual. And I think Maserati is comfortable with this label, no pun intended.

 

Deathly afraid? That's dramatic.

Keep the stability control on and work into it. The viper has so much more grip and brakes it would be hard to lose control. Stability system won't step in unless you lose control.

Buy the track day insurance to cover the asset, $400ish

 

My car is worth about as much as a newish Viper and the insurance is about the same. $400 per event with an $8000 deductible is a pretty tough pill to swallow personally.

 

My car is worth about as much as a newish Viper and the insurance is about the same. $400 per event with an $8000 deductible is a pretty tough pill to swallow personally.
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$400/event, 2-3 events per year = $1200.... How is that a tough pill to swallow when you are driving a $100-$130k car ?

 

My car is worth about as much as a newish Viper and the insurance is about the same. $400 per event with an $8000 deductible is a pretty tough pill to swallow personally.
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$400/event, 2-3 events per year = $1200.... How is that a tough pill to swallow when you are driving a $100-$130k car ?
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Well, I'm not driving a $130k car, I'm driving an $80k car. Standard deductible on these policies is 10% of the value of the vehicle. This means that if I smash my bumper and do $7500 of damage, the insurance won't pay out a single penny of it. That figure rises to $13k for said $130k car.

It's not the price of the insurance that's so tough, it's the deductible. "Insurance" like this is really only useful if you do a massive amount of damage to your car. Most guys I know who run cars like this don't buy insurance. They instead drive at 9.0/10 intensity instead of 9.95/10 intensity and go home safely in one piece.

 

My car is worth about as much as a newish Viper and the insurance is about the same. $400 per event with an $8000 deductible is a pretty tough pill to swallow personally.
[/quote]

$400/event, 2-3 events per year = $1200.... How is that a tough pill to swallow when you are driving a $100-$130k car ?
[/quote]

Well, I'm not driving a $130k car, I'm driving an $80k car. Standard deductible on these policies is 10% of the value of the vehicle. This means that if I smash my bumper and do $7500 of damage, the insurance won't pay out a single penny of it. That figure rises to $13k for said $130k car.

It's not the price of the insurance that's so tough, it's the deductible. "Insurance" like this is really only useful if you do a massive amount of damage to your car. Most guys I know who run cars like this don't buy insurance. They instead drive at 9.0/10 intensity instead of 9.95/10 intensity and go home safely in one piece.
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Yeah but the problem with that mentality is that you can take it easier, but there are some stupid people on the track sometimes too. Shit happens, either your fault or theirs, and than someone crashes; etc. I wouldn't risk taking it on a track if i didn't have insurance. 10% still isn't that bad IMO. if you crash i almost guarantee you will have more than $7500 in damage on the porsche. $7500 in damage is nothing on those kind of cars. Also you can insure for higher amounts as well. You can insure for $90k or the original msrp. When i take the exige on the track i insure it for $65k.

 

Bunch of babies here.

You buy a car that can only be pushed safely on the track and you're worried about 10%? Ha!

The logic that you can drive easier and reduce risk is flawed. All my close calls were other drivers. In one case I pointed by a kid who then lost it right in front of me!

9/10 or 9.9/10 is racing. I don't know many people with high end cars who actually drive on the real limit of the car for long. Most of us are driving 6-8/10s. We are there to have fun. It's also hard to get a lap without some slower cars. Even at that I am pulling over a 1g in turns on a car rated for .9. It's a blast!

I assure you any contact you make will far exceed the deductible. Live a little here people. Buy the insurance, find your man card and go take your car to the track.

 

Harsh words in here.

Some people buy cars for various reasons. I have my personal reasons for not tracking the Viper right now.

I have a S2000 that will be more than enough to take on any track and I'm assuming I'll probably have more fun in the S than in the Viper anyway. I'm 99% sure when I actually do take the Viper to PCA drivers education events (I'm also a P-car owner) I'll be stuck in traffic, in 3rd gear, with my A/C on, while talking to my wife on Bluetooth, while being bored to death due to he majority of cars being slower than the Viper.

Cars like the Viper need open road fast tracks and a really good driver behind the wheel to truly enjoy it's amazinginess. I'm nowhere near a good driver that can take it to a track event and wind her out.

Why take a chance of getting hit by somebody while I'm using 45-50% of the cars potential. You also have the "it's a viper, I want to take it down" people. The viper is a target. The S is not. Some people would try a little too hard in making me point them by, in return, making mistakes, driving over the car and persons limits and boom, I get taken out. It's not my definition of fun. Like I said, personal reasons. Not to mention I have a wife and a 1 year old daughter to worry about. Viper has higher limits hence higher speed crashes. Physics say, higher speed crash, higher likelihood of getting killed. My wife gets Traumas from the point all the time.

Tracking is a dangerous hobby. For someone to discount how dangerous or serious it is... That's a person I do NOT want to share a track with.