New to me Diablo Roadster

The first sentence should have negated anything perceived from that comment...

 

"I'm the proud owner of a 1997.5 Roadster"

Thanks guys. The car is an icon. Here are a my twin turbos.

I need a photo of the Diablo between the two. The Viper is for sale!! Great awesome car but I have to get rid of something.

BTW, I drove a Diablo only once a few years ago and it felt plenty fast to me even having driven a G, 430, Ford GT.

 

The difference wasn't dramatic night and day like say a new C6 versus an MG.

 

People will drive a 308 and make the comments like in the OP, because for a car that is truly relatively slow in comparison to what's out there, it's still fun.

 

Now a late generation Viper or FGT will feel even faster than a Ferrari Enzo probably because of the torque delivery.

 

 

i do not know what kind of daily drivers you have but 99% of people on my roadster (rwd now and just a bit modified) are still impressed by its performances.

i am sure a modded Viper or Ford GT are much much quicker but, while i can understand a 308, 328, jalpa could be considered really slow today, a good diablo is quite fast still today.

 

Thanks guys. The car is an icon. Here are a my twin turbos.

 

OMG I LOVE THE FGT !!!!!! I almost bought one and still kick myself that I did not, they appreciated so quickly.

 

 

 

Viper is a torque monster but styling not so much, I have a few friends that own them and although impressive power the styling just does nothing for me, I did like the ACR though, it looked like death coming down the road with that massive tail.

all normal, battery tender are a must on these cars....the battery can last over 7 years and change them is a bit of a problem at home given location

Ever since I burned up 2 red tops with battery tenders I've moved to full battery disconnects on most cars. Are there any electronics on the Diablo that would be sensitive fully disconnecting then reconnecting the battery?

I have enjoyed putting about 1000 miles on my car in the last few weeks. Told you I'm gonna hit 100km. Its a joy to drive. V12 with the top off is heavenly. As I have said in another post the old V12's are quirky and I occasionally get a L CEL. Car runs flawless. I just got me a scanner and my codes are

 

P1403 Catalyst Temp. Sensor with low signal less than 200 deg C. (cyl 1/6)

P1407 Catalyst Temp. Sensor with low signal less than 200 deg C. (cyl 7/12)

 

Coolant temps stay between 80-90 at all times even with long drives in 90+ degree Alabama temps. I'll drive it one day and get the check engine light....then come back the next day and drive it and no light at all.

 

Any suggestions or just chalk it up to the quirkiness of the motors?

The codes say that the catalytic converter temperature is too cold. That would have to be a fault in the wiring, or maybe someone has modified the exhaust and removed them!

 

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to Diablo ownership.... enjoy it!

The codes say that the catalytic converter temperature is too cold. That would have to be a fault in the wiring, or maybe someone has modified the exhaust and removed them!

 

Thats it. Cats are gone. It has quicksilver exhaust with tubi tips. Thanks!!!! That also would make sense that the CEL doesn't come on until I've been driving a while and also why they are gone the next drive.

Chip, you're one of the more helpful dudes around, so it's no surprise how you see it. Helpfulness is your default setting.

 

We've seen plenty of threads where the low-post guy comes on here and wants to talk about how awesome his car collection is or how awesome his "other" car is at the expense of the Diablo...and even if he just spent the money on a Diablo, wants to talk about how it's a turd because that'll make him feel unique. That kind of guy sells the car in a year anyway. I don't care what people think of their cars, and I don't care if the Diablo is slow by today's standards. I'm not the one with a chip on my shoulder.

 

So I'll say it again, that last statement from nautoncall is 9 times out of 10, the tip of the iceberg for a guy with a bone to pick about some irrelvant bullshit or some drawn out alternate agenda to feel bigger. After me having said something negative, of course nautoncall will fly straight and not go down that path, but it still looks like an argue-now or argue-later scenario. The only difference between me and nautoncall is that I've seen it a thousand times in the Diablo community, like any other common theme of "how much did you pay for it." "how fast have you had it," and "what do you do for a living..." Of course I would want everyone to enjoy their cars, but I don't have any tolerance to spare for alternate agendas.

 

Too old of a post to warrant a response. Ignore.

Too old of a post to warrant a response. Ignore.

 

Can I ask what was the purpose of your reply? The thread is ongoing with me asking about codes. Falconspirit gave me the logical answer. Not sure what was too old to warrant a response...so why answer anything.

I don't think that was directed at you or your original post. I said my peace and wouldn't change anything about what I said, but I let it go when it became clear that you weren't going to Diablo-bash for the love of other cars. I'm thrilled that you would like to talk about your Diablo and sort through issues.

 

BTW, I drove a Diablo only once a few years ago and it felt plenty fast to me even having driven a G, 430, Ford GT.

 

The difference wasn't dramatic night and day like say a new C6 versus an MG.

In relative terms, I'd say the new C7 is a good heart-of-the-envelope marker for how fast a Diablo feels (some Diablos slightly slower, some slightly faster). They're right in the same ballpark from what I've seen. The only learning point being that it took over twenty years to get mass produced cars close to what the Italians were fielding in 1991 for ~$240k.

Continuing my questions on my car....I have seen some cars listed as 1997s that are roadsters but have a few different details like the gauges and the passenger airbag. My car manufactured 6/97 has the passenger air bag. The photos below are of a car I saw with manufacture date 6/96 with a "pull bar" . Is this a European car and not American? Just trying to gain more knowlege. Thanks everyone.

 

From what I can gather, your car is a "97.5" model (and judging by the June build date, right on the cusp) which had airbags. All '91-'97 MY cars have the non-airbag wheel and pull up bar.

So when was the firs USA car roadsters vs the European Roadsters? Just wondering. Thanks.

I believe MY '97 for both, which means a non-airbag Roadster is very rare, especially in NA.

Slow...fast who cares.

 

The fact is....it was my best groceries getter eva! lol

 

....and my 97.5 VT Roadster was wayyy more reliable than my gf lol

 

 

Slow...fast who cares.

 

The fact is....it was my best groceries getter eva! lol

 

....and my 97.5 VT Roadster was wayyy more reliable than my gf lol

 

 

 

Just saw this. Now thats funny. Put about 100 miles on her today!! Love the sound of that V12!!!

 

 

Congratulations on the car. It looks fantastic.

 

In regards to the slow comment, to be fair, a 97.5 roadster is probably the slowest Diablo you can buy. And comparing the car to a modified FGT and Viper, it will certainly seem slow. That being said, a good running RWD or 6.0 Diablo can still run with most stock cars today.

 

I know the new C7 was mentioned as a benchmark. Lyinfapper and I raced a friend with his new C7 and on a roll..say 50Mph+ we could pull away from him pretty easily. Ofcourse the C7 Plastic mess-06 will win.

Congratulations on the car. It looks fantastic.

 

In regards to the slow comment, to be fair, a 97.5 roadster is probably the slowest Diablo you can buy. And comparing the car to a modified FGT and Viper, it will certainly seem slow. That being said, a good running RWD or 6.0 Diablo can still run with most stock cars today.

 

I know the new C7 was mentioned as a benchmark. Lyinfapper and I raced a friend with his new C7 and on a roll..say 50Mph+ we could pull away from him pretty easily. Ofcourse the C7 Plastic mess-06 will win.

 

From my experience a diablo roadster is not much slower than a 2WD or SV: stock Vs stock

i do not think there are so big differences in all diablo performances beside GT and Jota.

 

i removed AWD from my 97 roadster (17" wheels, no airbags car...so pretty light), put SS sport muffler and test pipes. i think is now faster than my stock 2WD diablo

From my experience a diablo roadster is not much slower than a 2WD or SV: stock Vs stock

i do not think there are so big differences in all diablo performances beside GT and Jota.

 

i removed AWD from my 97 roadster (17" wheels, no airbags car...so pretty light), put SS sport muffler and test pipes. i think is now faster than my stock 2WD diablo

 

Because Catalytic converters kill power on the Diablo, not to mention you lose about 100lbs by removing the muffler.

Because Catalytic converters kill power on the Diablo, not to mention you lose about 100lbs by removing the muffler.

 

Not to mention the VT system, get rid of the Boat anchor Muffler, install hyflow cats, axle delete the front, remove VT all together, you're hitting close to 200lbs weight removal as well as making the beast come alive again with proper breathing.

Because Catalytic converters kill power on the Diablo, not to mention you lose about 100lbs by removing the muffler.

 

yes, but even stock the 2wd and SV are really close

 

with simple awd remove, VT and roadster are also more or less same performance

 

the VT eats power and is heavy: all diablos should be rwd imo and with rwd they are all very close performance

 

with the exception of Jota, GT and of course racers (SVR and GTR): these really are quicker than the rest

 

many think the 6.0 is faster while an early 2wd can beat it in accelaration