Get a load of this Viper fans!

VIPER GTSR 91

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/automobiles/autoreviews/05dodge-viper.html?_r=1&hp

Around the Block | Dodge Viper SRT-10

Last Gasp for Dodge’s Asp

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SERPENTINE To the end, the Dodge Viper has worn its crude, rude personality as a badge of honor.

By JOHN PEARLEY HUFFMAN

Published: December 3, 2010





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The Viper wears its vices as virtues.


WHAT IS IT? Two-seat supercar.
HOW MUCH? Base $92,705 including $1,700 gas-guzzler tax. (Dual graphite painted stripes are $3,425 more.) Neither traction nor stability controls are offered.
IS IT FAST? It is seriously, wickedly, shockingly quick. If yours won’t get from 0 to 60 m.p.h. in less than four seconds, there’s something wrong with it.
IS IT THIRSTY? The E.P.A. rating is 13 m.p.g. in town, 22 on the highway. But if you use the throttle as intended, those numbers will dive into the single digits.
ALTERNATIVES Skydiving, bear baiting and cage fighting.
THE Dodge Viper coupe rattles, is impossible to enter or exit gracefully, has side-exiting exhaust pipes that burn if you brush against them and comes with chintzy interior trim — much of which feels as if it’s about to break off in your hand.
The shifter for the 6-speed manual transmission is so stiff it feels as if it should be towed into gear by a team of oxen, the huge tires tram disconcertingly over pavement imperfections and the ride is stiff enough to shatter the most supple coccyx.
Of course there’s no real room for cargo, the outward visibility is crummy and the driver and passenger sit in what amount to uncomfortably narrow channels gouged out between the thick center tunnel and the tall, wide door sills.
But the Viper wears all those vices as virtues. After 19 years, it remains the most uncompromised production supercar ever built by a major manufacturer.
It’s ferocious where Ferraris are sophisticated. Raw in all the ways that Porsches are refined. And it’s as demanding as the Corvette is coddling.
This car is indifferent to its driver and his survival. You either take the Viper on its own terms or it will kill you. If you’re enough of a driver to drive it hard, it’s an exhilarating near-death experience.
The Viper’s V-10 engine, based on the architecture of an old Chrysler V-8, features a throwback valve train with a single in-block camshaft and 20 pushrods to operate the 20 overhead valves. But by dint of its enormous 8.4-liter displacement it delivers 600 horsepower at 6,100 r.p.m. and, more impressive, a cranium-compressing 560 pound-feet of torque at 5,000 r.p.m.
Even at idle this engine rocks on its mounts with menacing muscle; blip the throttle and the whole chassis seems to twist.
Launching a Viper takes some subtlety since so much power can overwhelm the rear tires even though they’re huge P345/30ZR19 Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 radials — about as close to racing rubber as original-equipment tires can be.
Once the car is moving, it seems almost to compress around you. With so much power available, the Viper seems to squirm over the tires at every gear change.
According to Insideline.com, the SRT-10 will catapult to 60 m.p.h. in just 3.9 seconds and thunder through the quarter-mile in 11.7 seconds at just over 127 m.p.h. The driver will be lucky to take a breath during the trip.
On the road the Viper delivers the sensation of infinite grip. There isn’t much steering feel from the Michelin tires in the front (P275/35ZR8), but the car reacts with a suddenness and determination that’s startling. But the grip isn’t infinite and the Viper’s rear end will break free suddenly when its limits have been exceeded. At that moment you need the reflexes of a Foyt, Andretti or Senna to recover.
After 19 model years, Dodge built its final Viper in July — a 2010 model, virtually indistinguishable from the ’09 — then idled the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit.
But Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of Fiat, which controls Chrysler, has promised that an all-new Viper will make its debut in 2012 with a distinct platform and engine not shared with any other Chrysler or Fiat — though a sprinkling of Ferrari fairy dust would be appreciated.
The only question is whether Chrysler will dare to once again make such a raw-nerved, ******** and glorious monster.
 
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v10enomous

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19 years and nothing else really compares... As they say the Car Gods were smiling when they sketched the Viper.
 

eucharistos

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some good press these days

the ad guys are finally pushing their halo

It’s ferocious where Ferraris are sophisticated. Raw in all the ways that Porsches are refined. And it’s as demanding as the Corvette is coddling.

This car is indifferent to its driver and his survival. You either take the Viper on its own terms or it will kill you. If you’re enough of a driver to drive it hard, it’s an exhilarating near-death experience.

thanks for the post
 

jcaspar1

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But Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of Fiat, which controls Chrysler, has promised that an all-new Viper will make its debut in 2012 with a distinct platform and engine not shared with any other Chrysler or Fiat — though a sprinkling of Ferrari fairy dust would be appreciated.

Not by me!
 

Chuck 98 RT/10

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But the grip isn’t infinite and the Viper’s rear end will break free suddenly when its limits have been exceeded. At that moment you need the reflexes of a Foyt, Andretti or Senna to recover.
Not after mandatory TC in 2012. Everybody will be able to act like they're Foyt, Andretti and Senna.

The only question is whether Chrysler will dare to once again make such a raw-nerved, ******** and glorious monster.
They can't. The government won't let them.
 

Roffey

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Nice read, indeed.....

Not to misdirect this thread -

Hey NSviper - took a bike trip to your neck of the woods about 10yrs ago......Is the 'Lick-A-Chick' restaurant still in existence?!! :naughty:
Just HAD to stop and take a pic - got it stashed away somewhere, will post it whenever I run across it!:D
 

slysnake

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My guess is that the author has never even seen a Viper. EVERYTHING he wrote is just a re-hash of past articles and prejudices. Some things are almost direct quotes from early Gen1 reviews and Top Gear episodes.
 

crazyspeed

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My guess is that the author has never even seen a Viper. EVERYTHING he wrote is just a re-hash of past articles and prejudices. Some things are almost direct quotes from early Gen1 reviews and Top Gear episodes.

Good post...these are my thoughts also
 

crazyspeed

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"..come with chinzy interior trim- much of which feels like it's about to snap off in you hand"

Which parts are wanting to snap off???! :confused::dunno:
 

Chuck 98 RT/10

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Is the mandatory TC just saying the car has to have it, but it can be "push button" disabled? Or is it mandatory on all the time?

Comes on when you start the car from what I hear. Gotta turn it off every time, that is until the government forces it to be on all the time. Which will probably be by 2020.
 
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