VIPERAM said:
Hey, no dis intended here, but did you read this article? I did and I took away two things. One, the guy who drove the truck/wrote the article is obviously not a regular at the dragstrip. Who goes through the water box with street tires? Anyone? Buhler? Further, even if you don't go through the water box, who burns "$50 of Italian rubber" off their tires in a burnout on streets? Clearly he is a novice driver and not a lot of faith can be placed in his driving skills. Can't speak to the truck that he drove, but I can talk to driving a SRT-10 . . . I actually have one that I drive. I've NEVER missed a gear in mine and I've stretched its legs a few times on the street. It is by far the easiest shifting manual transmission I've ever driven, and my 66 Mustang three-speed was pretty easy!
The second point I took away wasn't that he was disappointed at all with the truck. In fact, his last sentence he asks if he can come back the next day to do it again. His point as I read it was that the truck was so overpowered as to be excessive. His actual word choice was "decadent". His tone was, "Really. Who needs this MUCH power?"
In his first run, he admits not revving up enough for the launch and in the second he revved too high. He was obviously learning by trial and error like everyone else will. Finally, he admitted that even he could've had the truck in the mid-thirteens recognizing for himself that he wasn't that great a driver or experienced at the track.
The only thing he implied disppointment about in the whole article seemed to be difficulty in parking because of the size. Well, that would certainly turn me off to buying a 500 hp muscle truck . . .
Quotes from the same article.
These ar his first immpressions.
In the cozened quarters of La La Land, the SRT-10 couldn't be more politically incorrect if it wore a white hood and was named the Dodge Imperial Wizard. It's huge. It's big-fat-fiance obnoxious. It's got more vulgar bulges than a Chippendales show. It burns gas like a fuel depot fire and tires like a Port-au-Prince roadblock.
With so much torque straining at the flywheel just off throttle, clutch management is an issue.
The throw of the pedals, however, is considerable, as is the pedal spacing.
Well, on the street the SRT-10 is lumpy, jumpy and hard to park.
However, the thing weighs 2 1/2 tons and is big as a barn, so it's not exactly agile in tight corners. Yes, you can easily throttle-steer it — that is, break loose the rear tires to rotate the truck as it goes around a corner — but all that mass makes it rather unhandy. Who wants to power-slide into opposing traffic?
No, the SRT-10 has an innate desire to go straight. And that's why I'm at the drag strip.
You would think that a vehicle engineered to set a world speed record would be right at home at the L.A. County Raceway. Not so. The very things that make the SRT-10 a contender on the high banks of an oval track make it a little iffy on the drag strip.
The demons under the hood are howling. At the moment I see the last amber light on the tree, I slip my foot off the clutch and then — the truck bogs down. Damn! The back wheels chug on the sticky asphalt, killing the revs. The SRT-10 staggers away from the line and it takes until the 330-foot mark for the truck to come to a boil again. This is ugly.
But the SRT-10 is finding its feet now. I pull away. At about 6,000 rpm, I jam the Hurst shifter into third — and miss. The shift linkage is bunged up. I have no choice but to back out of the throttle and let the Hemi go by me. I cross the quarter-mile line at 15.22 seconds and 82 mph. Pitiful.
To make matters worse, I miss third gear again. It's official. This Hurst linkage stinks. It's like playing pin the tail on the transmission.
But I decide to accept today's verdict of ignominious mediocrity.
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No dis inted here also. Where were their any positives except getting attention and it having power. He didn't like the ride, handling, shifter or the clutch and pedal spacing. Far more dis-likes than likes. This falls into what I have been saying. As for him getting into the 13's. Maybe...If your driving in the water with radials, how good and much does he know?
I'd like to see drivers go out and show that the SRT's are capable of running better than the Gen 2 L's. It then gives Ford a better incentive to give us L owners more in the Gen 3. I hope Ford doesn't get the High speed record back with a current L.
Just to do a little better isn't worth my $$$.
This guy can relate to the owner of the SRT in the video. Much similarity between what he had problems with and what many had seen in the video between the L and the SRT.
He had been driving the truck a week. Video owner had his two weeks. Sure he could do a little better after a month.
The point here is articles like this and the video may turn people off to going to the track with their SRT truck. It being not so user friendly to drive. Some being intimidated by some of the attributes of the truck makes for a "not so fun experience."
Who wants to take the chance of emberassing themselves at the track with it being hyped as a low 13 sec truck by a good driver and be in fear of making a 14sec run....Then have people shouting they can do better!
I hope to see more SRT's out at the tracks. I don't think there will be many.
