Fresh performance tires are crucial for keeping Vipers safe and predictable. We upgrade our Viper with Forgeline’s Monoblock VX1-6 wheels wrapped in new Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires.
As we demonstrated in Part 3 – Baseline Track Testing, the Viper is actually quite tame and predictable to drive on new tires. In fact, it behaves a lot like a big Miata or S2000 but with torque and no ABS. Our Viper came with a set of three-piece Forgeline GA3R-6 motorsports wheel and a set of Gen-3 Viper-spec (C1) Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires. These are lightyears better than the original 17-inch wheels and ancient tires that the car originally had, but they were overdue for a replacement.
Project Viper GTS was the first car to receive Forgeline’s forged monoblock VX1-6 wheel, which was adapted from the 5-lug VX1.
The Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire is a big technological improvement over the older Pilot Sport PS2.
It felt like Christmas day unpacking the new wheels from Forgeline.
The Forgeline VX1-6 wheel is a fully-forged one-piece monoblock wheel that utilizes computer-simulated FEA design and manufacturing technology similar to their GA1R and GS1R racing wheels. This ensures a wheel that is lightweight, exceptionally strong, and stiff.
I’ve been a fan of Forgeline for many years now, and have won many professional races with their wheels. What makes Forgeline credible to me personally is not just that they actively supply wheels to professional race teams worldwide, which is the best proving grounds for pushing designs to the limit, but they understand and market the importance of wheel stiffness.
As I talked about in the article Does Wheel Stiffness Affect Performance? -wheels can be made too light, flimsy, and greatly hurt the performance of a car because of it. Unfortunately, some big-name companies chase the easy sale of designing the lightest wheel possible, at the cost of performance and durability. Forgeline uses their motorsport experience to make the best performing wheel possible that will help you win a race, which will never be the lightest wheel design. Knowing where to strengthen and stiffen a wheel to improve performance is where their motorsport experience comes in.
9 comments
gorgeous wheels and tires. not sure if i missed it being mentioned in the article, but why didn’t you go with the PS4? I love the michelin feel when they are new, but they age and crack SO fast, even in a garaged car in Los Angeles. They dry rot and plasticize within 5 years easily. I know its recommended to get new tires every 6 years or whatever, but its a bit dramatic with Michelin from the sets I’ve interacted with.
The PS4S was not available in the Viper size at the time of the install. The previous “C1” Viper compound was well over 5 years old and did not have dry rot issues, neither have a lot of the PS2 or PSS tires that i’ve personally used.
Damn, so much tread left on that old tire. Do you even drive this car?
It’s not always the wear but the age of the tire that matters. The tires were old and needed replacing; plus the tread was down to the wear marks and the outer shoulders were worn completely; close to cords, and would not last much longer on track.
Yeah, because we know what happens when a Viper get a blowout at high speed…
Hey, great DIY writeup. Thanks. Are you going to continue on that project any further?
So much left 😉 brake distribution, steering cooler, track testing … what about a carbon drive shaft and other cool stuff to bring that thing back into competition to today’s cars?!
Hey! I’ve just finished reading all the 16 parts of your Viper story and I must say I’m really impressed with the quality of material (all the measurements before-after and etc). Keep it up! Can’t wait to read the next parts.
Thank you for the kind words!
I just bought a 2002 RT/10, and I have greatly enjoyed these articles, especially with how you reference all years of the 2nd gen cars, so the information is very relevant to me. I also have a set of VX1’s on my car. The previous owner set it up for track use, which I won’t be doing regularly myself. I look forward to seeing how you upgrade the brakes! Will you invest in headers or any additional work to the motor? I would love to upgrade my cam to get that lumpy 708 idle.