Viper/Saleen1

Well, it has lived up to all of my expectations. Aggressive styling, beautiful color (VistaBlue), tremendous exhaust note, wonderful power, etc.,etc.,etc. I haven't dropped the hammer yet but did change the oil to synthetic Mobil 1 yesterday. Planning on hitting the pedal hard soon......as for the 4:10 gears, I didn't really like it at first. Seemed too short between shifts, but as I've allowed the tach to creep just past 4K, I'm seeing the beast come to life. My verdict so far is the 4:10's were the right choice. This beast runs cool (temp hasn't even gone past the halfway mark) even when driving in 95 degree heat with the A/C blowing. Intake air temps remain below 160 degrees. That takes some good engineering to keep 550hp cool in that weather. And, this is city driving; not highway.

As for problems, just two. Battery issues (no keeping charged) and today I found a mashed battery wire at the alternator that had burnt through the insulating cover and was shorting out. Car would not run again today so alittle investigating found the problem. Put electric tape on it to keep going but will shrink-wrap it tomorrow. This will probably solve both issues. On this note, I did call my local dealership for assistance, and was told to bring it right down. When I got there, first thing asked was "where'd you buy it from?". Out of state. "Who going to service it?" Well, you guys, of course. "We can't look at that problem because its a Saleen issue." Uh, it's just a burnt wire from the battery to the alternator; can't you check to see if the circuit is OK with an ohm meter? "Uh, we're busy today can you wait til Wednesday?". You guys did tell me to come right over to make sure it won't catch fire, right? I will get my brother to look at it tonight...see ya.

Typical dealership service.....if we didn't sell you the vehicle, take a number! Bill Talley Ford in Richmond, VA; you're not giving me good vibes. Just let the vehicle go down the road and burn a $70K car up over one wire....makes sense to me.

05HOTROD

in your opinion does it feel like 550rwhp? I heard saleen under rates the hp on these things.

SaleenBuyer

The dealer punting to Saleen after finding you didn't buy it from them really sucks. I'd hope that Saleen could incent dealers to service their cars promptly and properly. It shouldn't matter where you bought it.

05SDI

Not nearly in your league but:
I found out with talking directly with the local Saleen authorized dealer that not only will they NOT install my Saleen S/C, they will offer NO assistance or help before , during, or after the install of said S/C. As soon as I bolt it on to consider the engine and drive train part of my warrenty void. I was told that it would be very hard for me to prove that the additional 180hp DIDN'T cause any warrentiable damage. I guess one of my biggest problems it the next closest Saleen dealer is like 2500 miles away! Nice! 05SDI

cableguymicah

Thats not totally unheard of. Unless the dealer has a dyno I would let a Good shop with a dyno install your s/c

Excalbur7

So viper time to put that pedal to the floor!!!! So you can tell us if its really 550 horses. I am going to put a few mods on mine to try too get close to yours hehehe!!! I have a Cia picked out and programmer and 39 lb injectors. The CIA is a 95mm . dont know if I want to mess with the
Pulleys yet. Hope its all you wish of . Oh Cableguy is that 1/4 mile time you posted with 4:10 gears? talk to you soon.

Excalbur7

So viper time to put that pedal to the floor!!!! So you can tell us if its really 550 horses. I am going to put a few mods on mine to try too get close to yours hehehe!!! I have a Cia picked out and programmer and 39 lb injectors. The CIA is a 95mm . dont know if I want to mess with the
Pulleys yet. Hope its all you wish of . Oh Cableguy is that 1/4 mile time you posted with 4:10 gears? talk to you soon.

S281 E

Good to hear viper. How many miles does Saleen recommend putting on the car before you actually open her up? That stinks about the service. I have a feeling I'm going to have the same problem.

Viper/Saleen1

I don't really know how to tell if it rwhp or not? I cannot dyno my 4wd Jeep GC but estimate it was pushing 500hp and ran 13.0 in the 1/4 with a terrible 2.1 60-ft time. With the stroker going in this week and lower compression, it should be at least 550-600hp and looking for 12.5's. That's a 4400lb 4x4 Jeep, mind you. The 281E feels much more aggressive than my Jeep. It also feels more aggressive than my Viper. Will it beat my Viper??....maybe. The gearing is sooo much different. I can hit 60mph in 1st gear in the Viper; I'm sure I'll need 2nd gear to get that in the EXTREME; but the PULLING power of the Saleen is much stronger, so it should be neck-in-neck.

I guess only way to know rwhp is to dyno it. Saleen dyno's the engines but I would assume(?) it done before the engine is installed? If not, let Saleen tell us what is has.

I'm at 1000 miles so if the engine was put together right, hard pedaling shouldn't be a problem. Really, if its put together correctly, you can hit it right out of the box, but I like to seat the rings in well first. Saleen's instructions state to run the as-delivered oil in for 500 miles; then drop in a high-grade synthetic 5w-30w oil. Reading that, I would take that as an "OK" to hit it.

S281 E

Interesting...