Dodge Viper - new Nurburgring record
Viper Club of America has revealed that the Dodge Viper has set a new – so far unverified – record at the Nurburgring of 7:12 ‘and change’.
Back in 2008, the Dodge Viper ACR went to the Nurburgring and proved that cars built in the former Colonies really can go round bends, even bends at the ‘Green Hell’ of the Nurburgring.
Not only could the Dodge Viper go round bends, but it made a pretty good fist of blasting down the straights too, culminating in a record-breaking lap of 7:22.1.
But since 2008 things have moved on, with even a Lexus LFA posting a ‘Ring time of 7:14.64, so the SRT has returned to the Nordschleife to set about squeezing a bit more out of the Viper. But there was just one problem – the Viper is no longer in production.
That little issue was resolved by acquiring a pair of unsold 2010 Viper from Tomball Dodge and getting Viper specialists Mintgen Motorsport – based on the doorstep of the Nurburgring – to do some fettling ahead of a blat.
The result was a lap time of 7:12 and ‘Change’. Apparently we’ll get to know what the ‘change’ is once the record has been made official, but even if the ‘change’ is .99, that makes the Dodge Viper a chunk quicker than the LFA a few weeks ago.
All this information comes courtesy of the Viper Club of America, which claims the Dodge Viper has set a new production car record round the ‘Ring with this time.
Which seems a bit odd. By our reckoning, the time of 7:12 only puts them in fourth place, leapfrogging the LFA but still behind a pair of Radicals and a Gumpert. In fact, as you can see from the table below, a chunk behind the Radicals. The same Radicals that are so much a production car they actually drove from the UK to the Nurburgring on public roads to set their record.
Maybe the man from the Viper CLub means the Viper set a new record for cars from the former Colonies?
Nurburgring Nordschleife Production car Top 10 lap times
- Radical SR8 LM 6:48
- Radical SR8 6:55
- Gumpert Apollo Sport 7:11.57
- Lexus LFA Nurburgring Edition 7:14.64
- Donkervoort D8 RS 7:14.64
- Porsch 911 GT2 RS 7:18
- Donkervoort D8 RS 7:18.1
- Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 7:19.63
- Dodge Viper ACR 7:22.1
- Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06 7:22.18
nurburgringexplorer says
I agree and disagree. You only have to look underneath a Viper to see its pretty old fashioned stuff compared to the modern techno tearaways such as the Lexus so why not let an old war horse have its claim to fame, if only for a short while.
soldi says
What does ‘fettling’ by a race specialist mean? And doesn’t that negate the claim? After all, these should be done with cars straight out of the production box to qualify, not fettled by a race specialist…..
I’m sorry chaps, but this claim is not credible.
CarsUK says
We think much the same; where do you draw the line unless you use a completely stock car?