Tuesday 21st July 2015

New Dodge Viper ACR launched

Six-speed manual, 645hp and "nearly 1 ton of peak downforce" - say hello to the new American Club Racer

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America does not do half-baked track specials. If they're building a car for circuit, it's going to dominate the circuit. Possibly destroy it. See the Camaro Z/28 with 305-section tyres at each corner (!), the Mustang GT350R and its carbon fibre wheels (from Australia) and the Corvette Z06, which wades into this 650hp as the middle ranking performance Corvette. Bring on the ZR-1...

Feeling lucky punk?

Now there's a new Viper ACR, replacing the car that set that phenomenal 7:12 lap at the Nordschleife back in 2010. How to go faster than that car? More. More everything.

Power from the 8.4-litre V10 is up to 645hp with 600lb ft also, with 25lbs (11kg) "shaved from the fully dressed engine" compared to before. Top speed is down significantly from a standard Viper's 206mph to 177mph. There isn't a 0-60mph time because nobody's been tough enough to launch it yet. Maybe.

More important numbers are associated with the ACR's downforce. The 1,776mm-wide, adjustable wing contributes to over 1,101lbs (499kg) of downforce at 150mph and 1,533lbs (695kg) at top speed. The 'Extreme Aero Package' with even more wings and louvres and dive planes (you want the Extreme Aero Package, right?) takes those numbers to '1,200lbs (544kg)+' and '1,700lbs (771kg)+' respectively.

Brakes are Brembo carbon ceramics, 390mm at the front and 360mm at the back with the largest brake pads ever on a Viper. Tyres are bespoke to the car also, Kumho Ecsta V720s that are "1.5 seconds faster than off-road only race tires [sic]." They're 295/25/19 at the front and 355/30/19 (!) behind.

Does straights, braking and corners very fast

Suspension? Bilstein adjustable coilovers, three inches (we'll defer to Imperial measures) of ride height adjustment, another 1.4 degrees of negative camber over a regular Viper and double the spring stiffness too. Serious car. Serious performance too, with up to 1.5g of cornering force claimed.

The interior has plenty of Alcantara - is it really a fast car without it? - manually adjustable seats and only three speakers. Inside it sounds like there's not much to worry about other than the clutch pedal, the gear stick and which of the five settings (including full off) for the ESC.

Having been announced earlier this year (somehow it was missed then), the ACR is now being unleashed on the US media. Brave move... Production starts soon with sales beginning in the third quarter of this year. Price? $122,490, or £78,600 at today's exchange rate. That's just not fair.

[k-ink]

Id love one in black

[P4ROT]

So I guess bigger is better.

[Clivey]

Proper engine, proper gearbox, massive want. The European manufacturers could learn something.

[E65Ross]

Clivey said:

Proper engine, proper gearbox, massive want. The European manufacturers could learn something.

I suspect they're more interested in selling a larger number of cars to make more profit. I wonder if the likes of Porsche will sell more cars in this price range than this will sell. If so, I suspect they aren't too worried about learning a great deal from it.

[Boydie88]

Are there any Gen Vs on the road in the UK? It's criminal it hasn't been a monumental success for them. Absolutely not suitable for many of our B roads, but what a car.

One day I will own a Viper.

(How long until the first mong bemoans the power:engine size?)

Edited by Boydie88 on Tuesday 21st July 11:00

[Ali_T]

Boydie88 said:

(How long until the first mong bemoans the power:engine size?)

Oh, very soon. Probably about the same time as the "great for straight roads" brigade land and we've already had the "it's ludicrously cheap" comment in the main article, which is the RRP before individual state taxes.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Last of the dynosaurs. Very few people choose to keep one as a pet.

[Chris Stott]

295/25 front tyres

That rear wing

Brilliant.

[skyrover]

At least the yanks still know how to build a proper car

[British Beef]

Absolutely love these things, the only thing that has let them down (apart fromt he size and LWD only for UK roads) is a slightly disappointing noise compared with its US cousin the Z06, having heard both from inside and outside I prefer the V8s bark.

NA large capacity engine, RWD & Manual gearbox - a seriously endangered species, almost extinct in Europe.

[Fartgalen]

It'll have a stty plastic US style interior too. That one's not cropped up yet

[HD Adam]

Ali_T said:

Boydie88 said:

(How long until the first mong bemoans the power:engine size?)

Oh, very soon. Probably about the same time as the "great for straight roads" brigade land and we've already had the "it's ludicrously cheap" comment in the main article, which is the RRP before individual state taxes.

Don't forget to mention the leaf springs, interior made from recycled Tic_Tac boxes and the fact that its not as quick as a 335D (unmapped)

[Baryonyx]

Never thought we'd see the Americans showing Europe how performance cars should be done.

[Richair]

Baryonyx said:

Never thought we'd see the Americans showing Europe how performance cars should be done.

The tuners and racers of America have almost always shown us how it's done, with the possible exception to top-flight endurance racing, but only recently have the manufactures really started to have a go at building proper 'off-the-peg' type racers like this.

What a machine! So say you could have this for around £100k (rough guess imported, track only) vs. a European track/race special offering such a radical, Lotus et.al. I think the Viper makes a very tempting alternative; the running costs are likely to be higher, but I feel this would be a bit more exciting [reads bonkers] car as an overall package. Although personally I'd probably save myself £50k and would buy an ex-Carrera Cup car...

[SonicShadow]

Fartgalen said:

It'll have a stty plastic US style interior too. That one's not cropped up yet

Oh no, the interior plastics are not that great on this 8.4L V10 track monster! That's just going to ruin the experience of trouncing everything with a number plate at a track day.

[Nhoj66]

Just reading 8.4-litre V10 is enough to make me chuckle, and that's before reading about the extra added madness! I'm never going to own one, but just glad things like this still exist.

[SturdyHSV]

Love Vipers, the madder and more dangerous the better.

Probably the closest thing to the Darracq currently in production

[unsprung]

Fartgalen said:

It'll have a stty plastic US style interior too. That one's not cropped up yet

It's a requirement, you know, that none of the interior design people are allowed to have 20/20 vision. Or wear their eyeglasses. They have a tradition to uphold!

[exceed]

How... Do... I... Get... One... In... The... UK?!!?!?

Nevermind I'll figure it out!!

[Goofnik]

As an America, do note the reality of seeing one of these is approaching zero. You'll see a gaggle of 911 GT3 RSs before you even see one of these. Dozens of GT3s before seeing one of these. I've done track days throughout most of the US, and I've only seen two Viper ACRs in person. Yet if you go to a place like VIR it's seemingly infested with 911 GT3s (and Corvette Z06s).