2013 SRT Viper
The American King of the Nurburgring – the Dodge Viper – went out of production in 2010, but now it’s back as the 2013 SRT Viper and has debuted at this week’s New York Auto Show.
The new Viper is lighter and more powerful than its predecessor and has gone properly upmarket with input from Chrysler’s new best friends – the Fiat Group and their supercar makers Ferrari and Maserati.
Under the bonnet (perhaps we should call it the hood in this context) lies the 8.4 litre, naturally aspirated V10 with 631bhp and 600lb/ft of torque. That’s enough to make small planets fall out of orbit and in the SRT Viper it means we can expect some stunning performance figures, with bhp per tonne up there with cars like the Veyron. But Chrysler aren’t telling us how quick the new Viper is – yet.
All that power is fed to the rear wheels through a six-speed Tremec TR6060 manual ‘box with a short shift, revised ratios and new final drive which will allow the Viper a higher top speed.
Under the skin the Viper gets plenty of tweaks on the chassis front with a big X-Brace under the bonnet to help rigidity improve by a massive 50 per cent over the old viper. There’s stability and traction control (both of which can be switched off) and a set of thumping great tyres – 355 up front, 295 out back.
From a European perspective perhaps the biggest let-down in the old Viper was the interior, which always seemed a bit low rent. But it looks like the Viper has had a bit of input from Italy with the seats courtesy of Ferrari’s supplier and an overall design that looks far more premium than plastic. Even with a TFT cluster from the Dodge Dart.
The new Viper will be offered in two guises, standard and GTS. Both look the same but the Viper GTS will get extra goodies like posher alloys and extra leather but will also get two-mode active suspension and more toys.
We have no idea on price, performance or whether Chrysler will be bring the 2013 SRT Viper to the UK and Europe. But we’ll update when we do know.
2013 SRT Viper Photo Gallery
[nggallery id=1021 template=customlinks]
(44 photos – click any thumbnail for full gallery)
Hyperezil says
Looks like front end inspiration from Ferrari and rear and inspiration from Maserati.
Wonder if it goes through corners without going backwards?