Originally Posted by: KoolIROCZ1967 
Thanks for participating and hope to have some more photo comps if some of you guys are interested ;] Let me know your thoughts
These photocomps are pretty much my only reason to take pics, so I'm all for continuing 'em. : )
Originally Posted by: HackFragMent 
You're welcome! It's funny because I originally wanted to ask if the photos were shot at Indy, as it certainly looked like it. That curiosity has been satiated.
: ) I believe Camino, Infineon, and Suzuka are the only other tracks that have a sunset/sunrise option. But like I mentioned, I love Indy's skybox so I use it the most. I got some nice shots of the Venom GT on Infineon though, there's a nice spot at the top of the turn 4 hill where you can get a really clean background. The lighting can help things look really realistic too.


Another at Infineon...

Quote:Another great use of Indy, I've discovered, is in finding a place far off from track, as if you were an onlooker standing at the walls, and then zooming in as far as you can to get the car as large as you want in the photo; between the backgrounds and the way the aperture affects the environment, and the balance of sunlight, you can get some VERY realistic looking photos. If you haven't tried this technique, or anything similar, give it a shot--you might be surprised at the results! It works very nicely on Lagunza Seca and Suzuka as well.
I took this at Indy while zoomed in...

And this one zoomed out...

You can make both zoom levels look good, you've just gotta mess around with stuff.
And I actually took some shots of the 2000 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R Foxbody II (got enough designations there Ford?!) on Laguna Seca yesterday...
Story time! I was hotlapping with a stock '92 Honda NSX (b-class), and it ran a 1:39.7. Thinking that wasn't anything special, I grabbed a Shelby GT500 to "easily" beat it... Nope, ran a 1:40.7... '10 Camaro SS? Nope, 1:40.5... C4 Corvette? Nope, 1:40.4... I had driven every single stock b-class American car (aside from the Cobra R) and none of them could beat the NSX. The two closest to beating it were the C4 Corvette and '10 Camaro SS; the C4 would destroy the NSX around turns but lose too much ground down the straights, and the Camaro would match the NSX around the track until just after the corkscrew, at which point the NSX couldn't be caught. It was down to the Fox II, and if that didn't do it that'd be it, no b-class American car could touch an NSX... 6 laps later, 1:37.5! The Fox II did it! It's another one of my all-time favorite cars (I was actually considering using it for this month's comp instead of the Viper), so that made the victory that much more special. I did a burnout that lasted about 10 minutes to celebrate...


Quote:You had me chuckling here too... the wife and I were discussing the very same model, but see, she has a thing for the '96's body and curves and whatnot. We ended up deciding that if money ever became no object, we could pick up a 99 GTS from salvage (assuming motor and drivetrain are okay, and I'm an automotive technician so I know what I'm looking for), and just swap everything into the 96.
If you ever start on that project be sure to message me with updates, it sounds like one heck of an amazing project car! ; )
Quote:And as far as impracticality, you might be surprised. I used to work for a shop owned by, and neighbor to, a large Dodge dealership. I've sat in 'em, seen 'em up close, and even worked on them (LOVE the car, but God save you if ever you have to tune one up...), and I must say that for what it is, you can do far worse in regards to impracticality.
Unfortunately I've only seen two Vipers in my entire life (one '99 GTS ACR in red, and one 3rd-gen SRT-10 in black) and they were both driving the opposite direction as me, so I couldn't go and check 'em out. Basically, I have no real world hands-on experience with them. My sister actually saw a black 5th-gen Viper GTS in a parade last month (lead by a C7 Z06 in Laguna Blue), but I wasn't there... :'(
Anyways... Yeah, I don't have personal experience with 'em so I just have to go off of the opinions of others. I was always told the Viper is brutal for daily driving, so I just figured that's how it was. Glad to hear that's not completely true. : )
Quote:As am I. It'd be nice to see one of those in person. Mmmmmm..... And Yeah, I'll bet my money (paychecks, even) that it's quicker than the C7 and Z07, considering what Chrysler has been up to lately (if you've read any details about the design, engineering, and manufacturing process of the Hellcat Challenger and Charger, particularly the motor, you should know what I mean). I have always given some credit to Chevy in the respect that they've always been able to almost do what Dodge can with two fewer cylinders, but at the end of the day, almost winning isn't winning. And with what I've been reading, I'm thinking that the gap in performance between the Viper and it's competitors me be slight enough at this point to drive the actual competition more towards driver skill than vehicle performance alone. Only time will tell us though (damn my impatience, lol...).
Well, around Seca, the '13 Corvette ZR1 beat the '10 Viper ACR, and when you consider the stupid amount of downforce the ACR produces and it still lost... Then the 5th-gen GTS was a full two seconds slower than that same ZR1, so SRT had to go back and add an aerokit (among other mods) to make the T/A which beat the ZR1 by a mere 8 hundredths of a second. The Corvette has almost always been quicker and faster than the Viper at everything, then Dodge has to go and do something fancy to keep up. Once they do those modifications though, it's always a close race with the Viper typically winning by a small margin. It's fun though, because one never completely dominates the other, it'll always be a close battle.
But lap times aren't everything... What really matters is that they force each other to improve, and that means a better end product for the consumer. On top of that I view them as brothers instead of rivals, so while the fanboys are cursing each other out I'm rooting for the Viper
and the Vette. It makes things so much more enjoyable. : )
Quote:And being that you are such a fan of the car (and I assume Dodge as well), check out the Challenger Drag Pack available from Chrysler. 200mph top speed, 0-60 in 3.5, 700 Hp and 660 lb-ft torque... and you have to sign some paperwork legally binding you from driving it on public roads of any kind; it's sold off the showroom floor as a drag car--A FULLY BLOWN, READY TO GO, 9 SECOND CAR, WITH SLICKS!!!!!! And it's supposed to be faster than the Hellcats!!! It's beyond words, Yakov! You've got to check it out!
Yeah, I've seen it, thing's a freaking beast! I really wish they'd put wheelie bars on it though (I have a feeling that it doesn't because of class regulations), the fact that it does wheelstands every time it launches is usually what will end up costing it the race to a Cobra Jet or a Copo. Still, it's such a badass dragster that it's hard to fault it for anything!
BTW, be sure to check out my friend and fellow BTM member, DevoGT sometime. He does replicas of the Drag Pak, Cobra Jet, and Copo Camaro (among many, many others) and they're the highest quality replicas you'll find. Plus they come with excellent drag tunes so you can go straight into racing them. All of his latest stuff he sells exclusively through the auction house, but he's still got lots awesome paints in his storefront.
Originally Posted by: KoolIROCZ1967 
RESULTS
1st - Yakov Alfa - 200 Million

YAY!!! The first time I won a photocomp I had used a pic of my #1 favorite car, the '97 Diablo SV, and the second time I win a photcomp I use my #2 favorite car, the '13 Viper. I guess people like my taste in cars. Lol
Thanks Kool, and congrats to everyone else that participated this month! Everyone had excellent pics! : )