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2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring

Posted By: Uhcoog1

2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 08/18/17 02:13 PM

A few buddies and I rented Texas World Speedway on Tuesday morning. I took the 2002 Dodge Viper ex-world challenge car. Laid down a couple 1:52's.

Video:


My best time in the Duster was a 2:03. That video below.


I've wondered in the past what a pro touring car like my Duster was giving up, looks like 'about 10%' was the right answer.
Posted By: Uhcoog1

Re: 2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 08/18/17 02:28 PM

2002 Viper specs for that run:
3350 lb with full load of fuel and driver
Full cage, stiffened chassis
Triple adjustable penskes- on base setting - no tuning done yet
18x13 with full tread Nitto NT01's: 335/30/18 square
Dyno from 12 years ago was 530 rwhp on dyno jet

1973 Duster specs for that run:
3840 lb with 2/3 load of fuel and driver
4 point roll bar, minimal stiffening (subframe connectors, XV radiator crossmember)
Bilstien RCD shocks. 1.04 TB's, 0" arch MP leafs, custom front sway, hellwig rear
18x9.5 with Hoosier Continental slicks: 285/30/18 square
Dyno not run with 392, but assumed 480 rwhp based on prior #'s from 5.7 dyno (420)


The Viper is significantly easier to drive.
Posted By: Skeptic

Re: 2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 08/18/17 06:15 PM

Looks like it's time to get creative in the weight loss dept. for the Duster, 500 lbs is quite a large penalty. eek
Posted By: Supercuda

Re: 2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 08/18/17 06:37 PM

While we are looking at weight, keep in mind relocating required stuff to more advantageous places.
Posted By: Jerry

Re: 2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 08/18/17 10:19 PM

that's pretty good to only give up 10% to the viper.
Posted By: Skeptic

Re: 2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 08/18/17 10:21 PM

It's a race car VS "Pro Touring" as well. If you gut the street car it's a better race car and a worse street car. If "Pro Touring" is more Weekend/Track than cruiser, strip it down and get some ear plugs. As I've gotten older and tinnitus has gotten worse, I want some sound deadener and even A/C.
Posted By: AndyF

Re: 2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 08/19/17 05:47 AM

Tim's red Valiant would hang with Vipers and Z06 Vettes at Portland International but his car was 3450 lbs with driver. With the 427 inch small block he had roughly the same power as an early Viper. Roughly 550 hp at the crank.
Posted By: Skeptic

Re: 2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 08/19/17 02:51 PM

The Red Brick was/is a well sorted car driven by somebody that put in a lot of seat time. That weight is a about 400 lbs lighter than the '73 Duster in the OP, too. work
Posted By: NV69B7RR

Re: 2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 08/20/17 12:09 AM

Here's what the scales look like on Tims car with a full tank of gas, and the 2nd pic is with the driver.

Attached picture RBscale.jpg
Attached picture RBscldrvr.jpg
Posted By: 72Swinger

Re: 2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 08/20/17 12:34 AM

This makes the Duster look good lol! If it had the Vipers tires I bet it would get under 2 min.
Posted By: AndyF

Re: 2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 08/20/17 03:04 AM

Tim's car has gained a little weight since the last time I weighed it!

Attached picture DSC_4329 (Large).JPG
Posted By: AndyF

Re: 2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 08/20/17 03:07 AM

Here it was with driver back in the day.

This picture was taken in 2010 so I'm not 100% sure what changes we made to the car after that. We were in the process of changing the front suspension design around then so some weight could've moved around.

Attached picture DSC_4332 (Large).JPG
Posted By: AndyF

Re: 2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 08/20/17 03:14 AM

Okay, found this picture that was taken at the same time. So this shows the wheels and tires that were on the car when we weighed it.

I looked thru my photos and it appears that this weigh in was BEFORE we installed the 427 so that could account for the weight difference. The 427 engine has the super heavy race block so it was heavier than the 360 block that was in there before.

Attached picture DSC_4334 (Large).JPG
Posted By: ScottSmith_Harms

Re: 2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 09/08/17 08:00 PM

I can attest to the fact that Tim's old car could hang with a viper, I drove it at Spokane Raceway on track day and was right on the heels of a GenIII Viper for several laps, we were not allowed to pass but I think I could have given him a run in some sections of the track. Viper coupe was stock with track tires and an amateur, but pretty good driver, Valiant had those same wheels as Andy's pic with street legal (but mostly slick) rubber.
Posted By: Consulier

Re: 2002 Dodge Viper racecar vs 1973 Plymouth Duster pro touring - 09/09/17 02:18 PM

Wade's review is good because it's the same driver in each car. Comparing anything against another car with a different, particularly unknown, driver is not a good comparison.

There is a video online of me at Sears Point a couple years ago lapping and passing some Porsches, Vettes, a GTR and a McLaren. I was driving a Chevy SS with an automatic out of the press pool. You can see how much the driver can skew the perception of speed and car ability.
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