Thursday 26th June 2014

Dodge Viper ACR: Spotted

When the press release mentions the Dottingher Hohe you know it's something serious!

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The Lexus LFA Nurburgring. The Porsche 911 GT2 RS. The Ferrari Enzo. The Corvette ZR1. All cars that are slower around the Nordschleife than the Dodge Viper ACR. Amazing.

Seller using his car as intended!

With a time of 7min 12.13sec, the ACR ranks in the very upper echelons of supercar 'ring lap times. Indeed it at already set a 7min 22sec in 2008, putting it ahead of a Pagani Zonda F Clubsport and Nissan GT-R. A series of revisions for 2010 included a shorter fifth gear (for the Dottingher Hohe, naturally) with a short shifter plus downforce tweaks 'which allowed greater speeds through the high speed turns such as Schwedenkreuz'. That's from Chrysler's press release, in case there was any doubt.

Unfortunately this car is one of the pre-2010 cars so you'll only be capable of 7min 22sec. But as an alternative track car there's something intriguing about it. That or a personal muscle car fascination. The dampers are adjustable for compression and rebound, and you can tweak the ride height too. You can even play around with the aero thanks to a rear wing with seven settings.There's the impression the Viper (because you could still call it that then) wouldn't make things too easy for you on a track though. One imagines it's a rather hefty car to hustle and there's that pre short-shift manual to contend with also. You want a challenge? The Dodge is only too willing.

Looks like it's been travelling too

But the Nurburgring is not the be all and end all of course. Apart from if you're making a hot hatch apparently. However, with its range of adjustable components surely the Viper could be adapted to all circuits and be rather good at those too. It would certainly cause a stir in the paddock, and will certainly stand out amongst the GT3s.

Ah yes, that Porsche. £60,000 buys a very nice 997.1 GT3, albeit one with more miles than the Viper and 185hp less. As bang for buck goes, the Dodge must be almost without equal. It's probably unequalled on fuel economy too...

It won't suit all tastes, the ACR, but that's the point. It's brazen, bolshy and unapologetic. It exists solely to go very quickly around race circuits. If that's your thing and some of the usual suspects don't apply, this could be a very worthy alternative.

See the 7:12 'ring lap here.

Just don't do this when you're there, OK?

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DODGE VIPER ACR
Engine: 8,406cc V10
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive,
Power (hp): 608@N/A rpm
Torque (lb ft): 562@N/A rpm
MPG: Not many
CO2: Ha, good one
First registered: 2009
Recorded mileage: 11,000
Price new: Many dollars
Yours for: £60,000

See the original advert here.

[soad]

I'll take mine in Blue with the white stripes, please.

[pSyCoSiS]

Savage beast!

[theJT]

I will never, ever get tired of the whole "Stick an absurdly large engine up the front then hang on for dear life" school of car design.

[Boydie88]

Been for sale for a while now. Would definitely be the first purchase of my '£100k garage'.

[scubadude]

Its hard not to love the Viper, obscene engine, Proper stick shift, loud lazy rpm and unbelievable speed.

At 7:12 it almost makes a mockery of Porsche, Mclaren etc who are only one fluffed corner per lap faster but are like F22's compared to the Vipers WW2 warbird approach.

I particularly like how the transmission tunnel is about a Foot wide with an apologetic single cup holder in the centre... I'd imagine it would keep your coffee warm though!

[Gixer]

Love the ACR, if this had come up when I was looking for my current car....

A couple of years back I was travelling back down the M1 with Dave in his ACR. It was very wet and I enjoyed following him in the adjacent lane as you could see the aero working as the spray was ducted around the car.

[Dr-Bob]

Beautiful car ... The ACR is a race car for the road...

[Sampaio]

This is probably the only american car I would ever even consider buying. The Corvette is a decent alternative to the european sports cars, but it's just that - decent. The Viper is unique and self-justifiable. Much like a TVR...

[JDMDrifter]

Love this thing! People who say American cars are naff need to watch the lap.

[Jigsjigz]

Saw one on ebay for 45grand i believe it was... omg i wanted it so bad... 1 of the best track cars ever.

[ViperDave]

A very rare car in the uk. As far as the Viper Owners Association knows, this is one of only two ACR's in the UK, and sorry soad, the other one is blue without stripes and staying in my garage for the time being, you welcome to make me an offer on my 97 Gen2 Blue and white though, probably just above half the price of this ACR will do it.

[ecain63]

Looks really similar to my mates ex US race series car. He imported it from the US a couple of years or so ago and got it UK road legal. The flames from the side exits are immense.

Pic of us off to LM 2013.

Eddie

[joe_90]

The gear stick has a life of its own..

[Boydie88]

ecain63 said:

Looks really similar to my mates ex US race series car. He imported it from the US a couple of years or so ago and got it UK road legal. The flames from the side exits are immense.

Pic of us off to LM 2013.

Eddie

It's a different generation? But that does look spectacular.

ViperDave, your display pic is porn. If I were to have walked past driveway as a child I'd have fainted. Is it an illusion or is the ACR substantially wider than the GTS?