[ViperM3R6]

Looking to buy a blue gts and curious of any pros and cons of getting a 97 or a 96. Anything to watch out for or reasons not buy a 96...design issues, etc.?

thanks for any input.

 

[Minivan Man]

They're both fine. 96.5s and 97 both have some things that one should fine-tune before tracking.

 

[Gtsboy]

96 may be worth more cash in the long term being the first of the run, I went with a late 97 to try and get a better "sorted" car a few thousand into the build of GTS.

Remember this was a new plant at the time as well in 96. New model in a new plant.

Weatherstripping along the door sill is 1 piece in 97, 2 in 96, rear strip was dropped in 97 as they couldn't line up the stripes correctly from the fascia below it. Typical DCX move, just drop the stripes thru the plate, haha.

97 rim is forged not cast, and has more polish than 96. Oil pan gasket issues seem to hit 97 more than 96. As well as rear main seal I believe is more of a 97 problem than 96.

Very similar car obviously, spiltting hairs to omit one over the other unless your a track rat, then 97 rims are the ticket. (running change in early year, some 97's are cast still).

good luck

 

[ExtinctWS6]

Nice cars. That would be the one I would get.

 

[Marv S]

97 had intake gasket change and will breakdown and leak air. If the 97 has been maintained it will have had the updated i.m. gaskets installed.

 

[viper spray]

97s are much faster and worth alot more, oh yea , they look way better!

 

[ClownShoe]

You will get more chicks in a 97......By far !!

 

[tito]

The 96' is older than the 97.
































Im sorry, i could not help myself. its late, i want food. Bye.

 

[pauls]

First year of the GTS and Indy Pace Car will so dividend down the road.

 

[ViperM3R6]

Thanks for the input. Doesn't seem to be any major cons either way.

Going to broaden my search to include both years as it seems the biggest draw back to a 96 is you don't get the chicks and it is 1 year older than a 97.

 

[Super Squirrel]

everybody has such good reasons here...and they're all taken up so I'll add my own reason..

96 backwards is 69...

97 backwards is well...not 69.


Other than that, what everyone else said.

 

[brett]

I had a '97 and it was faster than any of the other '96's. I don't remember running against any other '97's though. It just may have been THAT car, but out of the box stock it was running 12.0's at 122mph. That's fast.

 

[Motor City MadMan]

OK, I have a '96 GTS and GTSboy up there has a '97. I kid him about his stripes not going all the way through in the back, but if I had a choice I'd pick up a '97. For some reason that model year put out some really strong engines which made for a fast car. Maybe they got the bugs out, tweaked it a little to run faster, I dunno. But then due to emissions standards I think they had to tweak it down a bit for Vipers after '97 or so. GTSboy and I both have almost exactly the same rwhp and torque now, but I have a lot more mods than him. What does that say. The 97's were strong dude.

 

[socalrebell]

Yup no doubt, '97 was the strongest year :nod:



.

 

[Kid97GTS]

Yup no doubt, '97 was the strongest year :nod:



.

I concur.

 

[Toby]

the one thing I really thought was cool about my 96 GTS was it was considered a Indy 500 Pace car. Sounds silly but I totally went nuts for Vipers when I went to the time trials/race back in 96 and saw those beautiful blue and whites up close.

 

[Chuck 97 GTS]

Yup no doubt, '97 was the strongest year :nod:

:stupid:

 

[Rich Detert]

Yup no doubt, '97 was the strongest year :nod:

:stupid:

:stupid:

The forged wheels on the 97's are a major plus IMO. :nod:

 

[Jack B]

Qualify the wheels, most of the early 97's had the same cast wheels.