Dodge Viper

The Dodge Viper is a two-seater sports car, the most powerful production car made by Dodge.

The car was developed as a modern AC Cobra and also has a certain amount of muscle car heritage in its distinctive aggressive styling. The basic shape was displayed as a concept car in early 1989 and the first prototype was tested in December 1989. The first car was first offered for sale in January 1992 as the RT/10 Roadster.

The RT/10 has an aluminium V10, 7990 cc engine developed by Lotus from a Dodge V8. The engine produces 400 bhp (300 kW) and 664 Nm of torque and consumes fuel at a rate of 21 miles per US gallon when driven sedately. The body is a tubular steel frame with resin transfer molding (RTM) fiberglass panels. Unusually for modern performance cars it has a classic layout with a front mounted engine driving the rear wheels; it is also heavy with a curb weight of 1,488 kg and lacks many modern driver aids such as traction or stability control. Despite these characteristics, in straight line performance it can complete a quarter mile in 12.9 seconds and had a maximum speed of 264 km/h.

Later models increased engine power; the 1999 GTS had a 450 bhp (340 kW) engine, which could complete the quarter mile 0.7 seconds faster and increased top speed by 35 km/h or so. A number of third party firms have modified the car to boost performance. Hennessey Motorsports sells a Viper with a 650 bhp (485 kW) engine at a bit more than double the Dodge list price.

Dodge raced a version of the Viper in the FIA GT-2 Manufacturers World Championship, where they won the Overall Series in 1997.

The Dodge Viper underwent a model change in 2003, courtesy of Chrysler's Performance Vehicle Operations (PVO) group. The new Viper SRT-10 (Sport Racing Technology, Chrysler's new name for high powered sports variants of its cars) was heavily restyled and the engine has been retuned to produce 500 hp (375 kW) and 500 ft.lb (680 Nm) of torque. It is available only as a convertible. A special Competition Coupe that is not street-legal is available from Dodge.

In the first six years of production almost 10,000 Vipers were sold. Vipers are sold in Europe as Chryslers, although they will be sold as Dodges in Germany in 2004.

See also: Dodge Car list, Carroll Shelby