|
|
|
 A
Dodge Viper is one of those cars that demands
attention, even when it's sitting still. Its squat
stance, broad fenders, huge tires and short rear
deck scream that this is a machine built solely for
speed. More so than the Viper's chief American
competitor, Chevrolet's Corvette, which, though a
speed demon in its own right, feels like a
civilized sedan when compared to the Viper. It has
been six years Chrysler Corp. made the former show
car Viper available to mortals with deep bank
accounts. List prices started at $52,000, but
escalated quickly. It was awesome then -- a
two-seat roadster with an 8-liter V-10 engine that
produced 400 horsepower.
There were almost
no concessions to everyday convenience. Air
conditioning was added at the last minute, but
early models had side curtains, not roll-up
windows. The fabric top was strictly an
emergency-only item not really meant for extended
road use. The side exhaust pipes built up such heat
under the door sills that Chrysler added a warning
plate to keep Viper drivers and passengers from
resting bare skin on the sills as they got in and
out. Yet such inconveniences and perils were OK,
because once the go-pedal was depressed, the Viper
shouted its reason for being -- unadulterated
performance. Gobs of acceleration, a top speed in
excess of 180 mph, brakes that could handle such
velocity, meaty tires and a suspension that could
stick to corners like Krazy Glue.
 So
what's happened to the Viper since? Unbelievably,
it's gotten faster. And now you can get Viper venom
in several varieties. It's also more expensive. The
most noticeable visual change to the Viper was the
addition four years ago of the Viper GTS coupe,
which joins the RT/10 roadster. The coupe is one of
the most aggressive-looking sports cars on the
planet and is, in my opinion, far more attractive
than the roadster. It's also far more usable in
everyday road conditions than the roadster because
it is a hardtop. Although the roadster now has
power side windows, its foldable top is still a
pain to use. Chrysler has four times redesigned the
top, which fits over the cockpit between the front
windshield and the roll-bar/rear window.
It's still Mickey
Mouse, and if you're not careful to latch and screw
it down in all the right places, it can pop loose
at freeway speeds, as it did during a recent week's
test of an RT/10. Only a quick grab by the driver
kept it from being gone with the wind. If you're
going to own a Viper roadster, figure you'll just
leave the top at home. Under their bodies, the
Viper coupe and roadster are much the same --
filled with brutish horsepower.
 Horsepower
from the V-10 is up to 450 at 5,200 rpm, while
torque -- the force that's behind all that
horsepower, is a mind-bending 490 foot-pounds at
3,700 rpm. All of that mega-oomph is managed by a
six-speed manual gearbox, the only Viper
transmission available. Straight-line acceleration
is race-car fast: 0-to-60 mph in 4.1 seconds, a
half-second faster than the original Viper. Various
car magazines working on huge test tracks have seen
190 mph in a Viper coupe. Handling is also race-car
quality, though the Viper feels more like a
sledgehammer than a rapier when negotiating fast
turns. It gets the job done thanks to ultra-wide
18-inch wheels and tires that work well with the
four-wheel independent suspension. All that power
also gives a driver plenty of flexibility to get
the Viper around turns by modulating the gas pedal.
Power-on understeer is the most popular way to
throw a Viper through a fast turn. The brakes are
up to the tasks demanded of a car this fast. The
13-inch vented discs stop the Viper like it was
dropped into wet sand.
There are
trade-offs for all of this automotive equivalent of
testosterone. It's an everyday driving experience
that's not the most comfortable. The Viper cockpit
is hot because of the routing of the exhaust pipes.
Although Chrysler moved the Viper pipes from the
side to the back several years ago -- they actually
sound better when run to the back -- the pipes
still run under the door sills. That makes for
careful in-and-out maneuvers, and a cockpit that's
never cool without the air conditioning running.
Although the driver and passenger seats are
comfortable, there's not a lot of interior space,
and storage is so limited that carrying anything
more than a wallet is problematic.
Add to that a
ride that picks up every road ripple, and you have
a vehicle that's a blast when the throttle is
cracked open, but can quickly get tiresome for
trips that last more than an hour or so. That would
be fatal to most cars, but the Viper succeeds
because, at a base price of more than $65,000, most
Vipers find homes in multiple-car garages. Owners
tend to use them as weekend toys, and in that role
the Viper is an absolute champ.
|
|
|
Vehicle
Type:
|
front-engine,
rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger
|
|
Base
Price:
|
$68,225
|
|
Engine
Type:
|
8.0-liter,
V10
|
|
Power
(SAE net):
|
400-hp
|
|
Transmission:
|
6-speed
manual
|
|
Wheelbase:
|
96.2
inches
|
|
Length:
|
-
|
|
Curb
Weight:
|
3,383
pounds
|
|
EPA
fuel economy, city driving:
|
11
city, 20 hwy
|
|
|
|
