Of Vipers and Chargers: PH Blog

Further stereotype busting from our American cousins - the boss of SRT used to drive MX-5s!

If the new Corvette Stingray demonstrates the Americans might have a more sophisticated and nuanced view on what makes a proper driver's car than some European rivals what about the SRT Viper? Surely this monster is the last bastion of the stereotypical dumb American approach to performance, 8.4-litre 640hp V10 and all?

Well, what do you know, but when I sat down to interview Russ Ruedisueli of SRT at the New York Motor show I found myself chatting with another switched-on car nut who races Formula Ford in his spare time and, when quizzed about his road car history, immediately brings up MX-5s.

470hp, $40,000 and very, very purple

Yes, the boss of SRT - home of purple Challengers and V10 Vipers - is an MX-5 man. I didn't see that one coming either.

But it stands to reason when you learn a little more about SRT, which in America is being groomed into a homegrown AMG or BMW M, not just a supplier of bodykits and big wheels for diesel 300Cs as it is here.

"Most of us are racers or performance guys and the mentality is kind of 'that Charger is really cool but if it was MY Charger...'" says Russ. "There's a lot of interesting stuff out in the parking lot too. Most everything's been rubbed on or changed in some way."

And that purple SRT Challenger on the stand, the one that offers 470hp for a smidge under $40,000? Even Russ has to offer a polite shrug here. "It's still a pretty outrageous car in the States," he admits. "There's still a niche of folks who want that and we want to be able to provide that ... it keeps people happy."

You'll probably be needing quite a lot of that

He's a lot happier talking about racing, though, and how that experience has been channelled into the new Viper. "I'm maybe a little old school but I believe the link between racing and road cars is really important," he says. He offers examples, like the X-brace above the engine on the new Viper, a carry-over from the ACR-X. And he's excited about the return to Le Mans too. "One of the great things about an endurance race is that you know the flat-sixes of the Porsches, the V8s, the Ferraris and you can tell with your eyes closed what's going by," he beams. "This will be my first trip to Le Mans too and I'm really excited."

Viper customers sound like an interesting bunch too. "It's a very, very specific customer that wants a Viper," he says. "We find over 50 per cent of them use them on the track and it's a little different from other exotics in that way. We have customers that have multiple Vipers - we have one couple in Texas who have 56 Vipers - and people don't tend to get rid of their cars, they just buy another one!"

Viper TA is fastest production car at Laguna Seca

And if the Viper's steel spaceframe chassis seems a little old school in comparison with others there's a simple reason for that too. "We like that because we know our customers do stuff like crash them and it's easy to repair!" he says, while pointing out the construction also includes carbon fibre and superformed aluminium panelwork.

At double the price of a Corvette the Viper has bigger shoes to fill and is a more direct - if very different in spirit - rival to cars like the 911 GT3. Which is why the SRT guys are so proud that the bright orange Time Attack car on display at New York has recently taken the production car lap record at Laguna Seca, claiming it back off the Corvette ZR1. The time - 1:33.6 - is three tenths faster than the previous best by a Viper in 2009 and explains why 33 in the bright orange of the show car will be built.

Yes, the Viper is still an unreconstructed brute. But it's no simpleton. And with racers like Russ running the show it's pleasing to bust the myth that American cars are just about straight lines and quarter miles.

Dan

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Denver09

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