Viper gets a dose of angry pills

Dodge's Viper is getting long in the tooth, but its maker has injected a fresh dose of venom via a new pumped up version that makes even Chevrolet's brawny Corvette Z06 look a bit weak-kneed.

Reinforcing its stars-and-stripes origins, this is the SRT10 American Club Racer, a beefed-up, stripped-out Viper that has the muscle (at least on paper), to all but flatten raging bulls, prancing horses and the like.

Due to be unveiled at the imminent Los Angeles motor show, it isn't merely a one-off show car as it's due to begin rolling out of Dodge's Conner Avenue Assembly plant in Detroit from June next year.

First things first: the massive V10 engine's induction system has been breathed upon to up-rate its already gargantuan power/torque figures. The result is outputs of 447kW at 6100rpm and a whopping 759Nm at 5000rpm.

In terms of on-paper grunt, this puts it in the same ballpark as the Lamborghini Murcielago (471kW/660Nm), Ferrari 599 GTB (456kW/608Nm) and Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG (380kW/720Nm).

However, in contrast to these exalted rivals, the Viper SRT10 ACR will cost under $100,000 in the US, which suggests it'll start as favourite in any bang-for-buck contests staged after its launch.

In case you're wondering about the SRT acronym, it stands for Street and Racing Technology, which is Dodge's go-faster division.

In addition to tweaking the engine, the SRT mob also worked on a crash-diet program, chassis upgrades and a host of aero mods to endow it with greater high-speed downforce.

You don't need to look too hard to spot the ultra-low front splitter and ironing-board-mimicking seven-way adjustable rear wing. In case you're inclined for a bit of track-attack action, there's an extra pair of winglets that can be stuck on to its face to increase front-end downforce by a third.

The weight-slashing program has resulted in a reduction of 7kg of unsprung mass at each corner, thanks Sidewinder alloy wheels, Stoptech 355mm brake discs, Brembo calipers and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tyres. The brutal Viper rides on adjustable KW Suspension dampers and a stiffer front anti-roll bar.

Overall, the SRT10 ACR is already 18kg lighter than the garden-variety model, but hardcore dudes can opt to have their car minus a stereo, engine insulation, boot carpeting and onboard tyre compressor to slash another 18kg and reduce kerb eight to 1533kg.

None of this has any relevance for Australia. Chrysler brought 30 cars into the country for conversion to right hand drive not long after the Viper was introduced in the USA in the early 1990s, but that was where it all stopped. The company deemed it unrealistic to build Vipers for consumption by right-hand drive countries and apparently maintains the same position today.

That said, there's always the prospect of the odd grey import lobbing in. Could be just the thing for the Targa Tasmania...

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