Dodge Viper GTS-R

The Dodge Viper GTS-R at a glance

Chrysler approved a works racing programme in 1995, while Dodge was preparing the Viper GTS coupé. The race car was shown at the Pebble Beach Concours that year. Oreca, a racing team based in France, built and ran the cars, Reynard Motorsport made the basic chassis and many parts, and the Canadian team Canaska/Southwind ran the first North American effort. In Europe the cars raced as Chryslers, because Dodge was not sold there. The brand's road cars are listed in the Dodge catalogue, and its story is told in the history of Dodge.

Engine and gearbox: an 8.0-litre V10 just under the limit

The engine is the Viper's overhead-valve V10, enlarged to 7,998 cc so that it stayed just under the 8,000 cc limit of the rules. Changes from the road engine were modest: new intakes and reinforcements for endurance racing. Depending on the year, the series and the air restrictors, it produced 450–570 kW (600–770 hp) and 725–988 Nm. Power went to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox, a BorgWarner T56 or a Tremec. The side exhausts run under the doors, as on the road car.

One team took a different route: from 1998 to 2002 the Zakspeed squad from Germany raced a car with a 6.2-litre V8 developed from the Viper's engine family.

Chassis, body and dimensions

The GTS-R uses a steel spaceframe chassis and keeps much of the Viper GTS body. The race car adds a large rear wing, a rear diffuser, a front splitter, vents in the bonnet and intakes in the roof and rear wings. The old 1cars text credits Reynard engineer Paul Brown with the chassis design.

By our calculation, at its peak rating the car carried only about 2 kg per kW, a ratio that few road cars of the time could match. To see how modern road cars compare, browse our ranking of the most powerful coupés.

Racing record: Le Mans, Daytona and FIA GT

The first season was a learning year. At the 1996 Daytona 24 Hours the Canaska/Southwind car finished 29th, and at Le Mans that June three of the four Vipers finished, the best in tenth place. From 1997 the car began to win. Oreca took the FIA GT Championship GT2 team and driver titles in October 1997, and the Viper won the series again in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002.

The 2000 Daytona win stands out: a GT car beat the prototypes, finishing narrowly ahead of the factory Corvettes. Over its career the GTS-R started 445 races and won 162, with 213 podiums, 117 pole positions and dozens of championships for constructors and drivers. Even Alain Prost raced one, in the French GT championship of 2005.

The 2000 GTS-R concept and the GT2 Champion Edition

After the 1997 titles Dodge offered a road-going GT2 Champion Edition through its main Viper dealers. It was planned as a run of 100 cars with a large rear wing, front dive planes, a splitter and side sills. Inside and out it added BBS wheels, GTS-R badges, Oreca five-point racing belts and a numbered plaque on the dashboard.

In 2000 Dodge also showed a Viper GTS-R concept car. According to the old 1cars text, it was designed by Osamu Shikado, with a large rear wing, a roof intake and a big diffuser. Its cabin had air conditioning, adjustable pedals and a premium audio system. Its styling pointed the way to the second-generation road Viper.

The SRT Viper GTS-R of 2012–2014

The name returned in 2012, when SRT Motorsports brought the new SRT Viper GTS-R to the American Le Mans Series, at the same time as the new road car. Its road-going sister, the SRT Viper GTS, used an 8.4-litre V10 with 477 kW (640 hp); our ranking of the fastest coupés shows where such road cars stand today. In 2014 the race car won the GTLM class of the United SportsCar Championship, after which factory support ended. The GT3-R version was homologated for customer racing in FIA GT3 from 2013. The track-focused road car of the same era is covered on our Viper ACR page.

Rivals: how the GTS-R compared

Compared with the turbocharged Porsche 911 GT2, the Viper relied on sheer displacement and torque, which made it simple and durable over 24 hours. Its later rival in the GTS class was the Corvette C5-R, which it beat at Daytona in 2000 and which took over as the class benchmark after Chrysler withdrew.