SRT Viper GTS | Spotted
With no sign of a new one on the horizon, this remains the latest - and maybe greatest - Viper there's ever been
While we’re losing sports cars left right and centre to noise and emissions rules, Americans are still living the combustion dream. Chevrolet’s C8 Corvette can now be had in a variety of flavours (long-forbidden right-hand drive models included), the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse is just around the corner and Cadillac has well and truly joined the performance party with the CT5-V Blackwing. Plus there’s also no shortage of tuning specialists who’ll gladly dial up the power to stupefying levels - just look at what Hennessey has done with its new supercharged H700 Corvette.
What our first cousins across the pond don't have, however, is a new Viper. One of the most recognisable American performance cars hasn’t been updated in over a decade, and though the US is well served on the sports and muscle car front, there’s really no replacement for 8.4 litres of displacement. Production of the most recent Viper officially ceased in 2017, though Dodge reported last month that it sold not one, but two brand-new Vipers in 2023. Given that it’s owned by Stellantis - which is busy turning everything electric, including the Challenger - there is probably little interest in reviving a car with a ginormous ten-cylinder engine. Unless it too gains a battery.
But that’s fine because the last Viper was widely considered one of the best. Launched in 2013 as the SRT Viper to differentiate it from the civvy stuff Dodge produces, the sports car had been heavily overhauled for its third generation in a bid to iron out the model’s lairier attributes (namely a spiteful rear end) and embellish the perceived quality. Stability, cruise and climate controls all made their Viper debut on the third-gen model, while the interior was vastly upgraded over the woefully plasticy cabins of old with hand-stitched leather seats and a sat nav screen. After two generations of unhinged lunatics, the Viper looked to have finally been tamed.
But this was still a proper Viper at heart. Up front once again was an 8.4-litre naturally aspirated V10 with 649hp and 600lb ft of torque, the latter available from just 4,950rpm. It would hit 60mph in 3.5 seconds and could crack 206mph, partly thanks to a reworked Tremec six-speed manual with a shorter final drive for greater urgency. The exhausts still exited at the sides, as a proper Viper should, and even on this more ‘sophisticated’ model, they could allegedly set your trousers on fire - quite literally - if you didn’t give them a wide enough berth.
Two versions were available at launch, the standard Viper and the car we have here: the Viper GTS. Power remained the same, though Bilstein dampers were thrown into the mix with 10 per cent firmer springs. There was also a lot more carbon fibre, which could be found on the bonnet (sorry, hood), roof and boot, as well as swanky Sabelt sports seats and a suite of tech upgrades including a surround sound audio system. So if it’s a Viper you’re after, make sure it’s a GTS.
Not that you have much choice; this appears to be the only one for sale in the country, so good thing it’s in a great spec: red paint, tan leather seats and all the GTS upgrades. It’s barely been used, too, having covered just 22,000km (or 13,670 miles), most of which were likely driven during its time in Dubai. The one-owner car was then imported to the UK in 2021, so all the import duties and cost of registering look to have been sorted. All that’s left is to pay the £109,950 asking price. Of course, you could wait and see if Dodge has another Viper up in the works, but there’s no sign of one arriving in the short-to-mid term. And even if it does get a reboot, odds are it’ll have a battery where ten cylinders once sat. For now, and perhaps forever, this is the Viper at its peak.
SPECIFICATION | SRT VIPER GTS
Engine: 8,382cc V10
Transmission: six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 649@6,200rpm
Torque (lb ft): 600@4,950rpm
MPG: 15 (EPA)
CO2: Lots
Year registered: 2013
Recorded mileage: 13,670
Price new: $115,000 (US)
Yours for: £109,950.
I can understand the appeal for some, but I'd put my £100k+ to say a GT4 or M2CS and keep the change 
Panel gap.
Panel gap.
Panel gap.
Panel gap.
I don't accept build quality like that when spending that much.
I don't think that's an unreasonable position, however I can see a tedious pile on brewing, so I'll leave the thread
Forums | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff