Dodge Viper

Dodge Viper at a glance

History: a modern Cobra from Chrysler

The idea came from Chrysler executive Bob Lutz, who asked designer Tom Gale for a modern version of the Shelby Cobra. Work started at Chrysler's Advanced Design Studios in late 1988, and the concept car appeared at Detroit's North American International Auto Show in 1989. In March 1989 chief engineer Roy Sjoberg formed "Team Viper" with 85 engineers.

Lamborghini, then owned by Chrysler, cast a prototype aluminium engine block in May 1989, and the V10 was ready in February 1990. Lee Iacocca approved production in May 1990; the project needed about US$70 million. Carroll Shelby drove a pre-production car as pace car of the 1991 Indianapolis 500, journalists drove it in November 1991 and retail sales started in January 1992. The companies behind it are covered in our Dodge brand story and our Chrysler Corporation history.

Generations and specifications

From the first RT/10 to the 2015 car, output rose by 183 kW, or about 61 percent, while displacement grew by only 392 cc. Torque went up by 183 Nm, about 29 percent. The layout never changed: a long bonnet over a front-mid-mounted V10, two seats and drive to the rear wheels through a manual gearbox. Our power converter turns these figures into PS.

The first car was deliberately basic. It had no anti-lock brakes, no traction control and no airbags, and there were no exterior door handles or key cylinders. The roof was canvas with zip-out vinyl windows, and air conditioning became an option only for 1994–95. The RT/10 weighed 1,490 kg, reached 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds and 160 km/h in 9.2 seconds, and covered the quarter mile in 12.6 seconds. Wikipedia DE gives its top speed as 264 km/h.

SR II: the GTS coupé, airbags and the first ACR

The second generation added the GTS coupé for 1996. It had 336 kW (450 hp), and airbags, air conditioning and electric windows came as standard. The side exhausts of the roadster moved to twin pipes at the rear, and aluminium parts saved 27 kg. Second-generation airbags followed in 1998 and anti-lock brakes in 2001.

Two editions marked the racing success of the coupé. The GT2 Champion Edition of 1998 was limited to 100 cars with 343 kW (460 hp) and cost US$85,200; autoevolution dates the first one to July 1998. The ACR name started on the 1999 GTS, again with 343 kW. By the end of 1998 Chrysler had sold 8,468 Vipers worldwide, 1,802 of them coupés, according to Wikipedia DE.

ZB I and ZB II: SRT-10 and the 8.4-litre V10

The SRT-10 roadster of the 2003 model year was a new design with an 8.3-litre engine of 373 kW (500 hp) and 712 Nm, and it was about 36 kg lighter than the car it replaced. The SRT-10 coupé, revealed in Detroit in 2005, added 380 kW (510 hp) and 725 Nm from 2006. A Mamba edition of 200 cars cost about US$3,000 extra in 2004.

For 2008 the V10 grew to 8.4 litres. It produced 447 kW (600 hp) and 759 Nm, a Tremec TR6060 gearbox replaced the T56, and a new electrical system arrived with a 180-amp alternator. Wikipedia DE quotes 3.7 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h and 326 km/h. The ZB II ACR lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 7 minutes 12.13 seconds on 14 September 2011, the sixth-fastest street-legal time then. The track-only ACR-X of 2010 cost US$110,000, about €83,000 at the exchange rate of that year. Germany registered 188 Vipers from 2002 to 2010, and the last ZB II, finished in gold, left the line on 1 July 2010.

VX I: the last Viper, 2013–2017

After a two-year pause the fifth generation arrived for the 2013 model year, at first badged as the SRT Viper. The 8.4-litre V10 now made 477 kW (640 hp) and 813 Nm, rising to 481 kW (645 hp) from 2015. The body used carbon fibre and aluminium with a drag coefficient of 0.364. For the first time a Viper had electronic stability control, traction control and four-channel anti-lock brakes. Wikipedia EN gives a 0–100 km/h time of 3.5 seconds and 332 km/h; Wikipedia DE gives 330 km/h.

Sales were weak. Chrysler cut production by a third in October 2013, stopped the line for more than two months in April 2014 and reduced the price of unsold 2014 cars by US$15,000. About 760 were sold in 2014. The last and fastest track version, the 2016–2017 ACR, has its own Viper ACR page; an ACR with the Extreme Aero package ran 7 minutes 1.67 seconds at the Nürburgring in October 2015, an unofficial time.

In July 2017 FCA said it would shut the Conner Avenue plant. Wikipedia EN dates the closure to 31 August 2017 and Wikipedia DE gives 17 August 2017 as the last day of production. Fiat Chrysler first pointed to poor sales, while Wikipedia EN adds that the car could not meet FMVSS 226, the US rule that requires side-curtain airbags.

Racing record

A privately entered RT/10 finished 12th overall at Le Mans in 1994. The factory-backed GTS-R then took the GTS class at Le Mans three times, from 1998 to 2000, and took an outright win at the 2000 Daytona 24 Hours; its story is on our Viper GTS-R page. Wikipedia counts 445 races, 162 wins and 47 championships for the GTS-R, and 62 championships for Vipers of all kinds. The fifth generation won the GTLM drivers' and teams' titles of the 2014 United SportsCar Championship with Kuno Wittmer.

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