By Rod Zervakos
You know those cartoons with the hairy little caveman carrying around that huge bumpy club whacking the snot out of just about anything that gets in his way? Well, when I strapped myself into the all new 510 horse power Dodge Viper SRT 10 and hit the gas, the caveman in me took over!
Back in early 1992 Dodge unleashed the Viper RT/10 to a public drooling with anticipation and they haven’t looked back since. From its inception to the current day, the Dodge Viper has been based on one thing and one thing only: raw performance.
This can be a good thing and it can be a not so good thing. In my two days behind the wheel of our come-and-get-me-red Viper, I realized that the once carefree and low maintenance driver I was in my youth had been replaced by an older, more demanding and more crotchety one today. Back then my daily driver was a 600+ horse power tunnel rammed, big cammed, big block 1970 Chevelle with a ground pounding exhaust and all. The heat inside the car was obnoxious, the noise was insane and the true drivability was a joke. But boy did I look cool! And yes, it screamed.
Fast-forward to the current day. There I am sitting at a stop light, car rumbling underneath me, shaking and growling, just waiting to explode off the line in all its unbridled fury. Have I magically transported back to my big block Chevelle days? Nope, I am sitting in a new for 2007, 510 horse power Dodge Viper. The nostalgia sets in and the smiles begin.
For those of you who have never had the privilege of piloting a vehicle with this kind of raw thrust, you don't know what you’re missing! Acceleration is merely a thought process in this car. If you have the rocks to bury the loud pedal from a stand still you’ll be catapulted forward as if the hand of God had just given you a nasty swat from behind. When the car launches the struggle for grip begins, and for a moment the big beast entertains with an impromptu dance from side to side.
Fortunately, the Viper, equipped with some of the largest factory meats out there, 345/30/19s in back, ultimately prevails in the battle for traction and continues its assault on the horizon. As your body is pushed firmly in the tightly bolstered racing seat you feel your lungs being compressed and the air slowly escaping your body. Before you can even think about taking a much needed breath, you realize that the 6000 rpm redline is approaching in a blur. You frantically grab the gear shifter and slam it into second, starting the whole process all over again. If you have what it takes to go through five of the gears that way you will soon be within a whisker of the joining 200 mph club. WOW!
Now that you are going a bazillion miles per hour you are inevitably going to have to turn, stop, or do both. Fortunately the Viper can handle just about anything you throw at it. Lateral grip is monstrous and the stopping power is truly world class. If you wear dentures you’d better use extra strength glue because you can stand this bad boy on its nose.
Raw performance, as I mentioned, is great, but in this case it comes with a price. In Dodge’s determined quest to grind every last bit of performance out of the Viper, it neglected to throw in even the slightest bit of civility. The cockpits in these cars are notorious for delivering an experience on par with sitting inside of a blast furnace. The cabin heat generated by the big V10 is excessive, especially in regions where temperatures reach the triple digits, like Phoenix, Arizona, where I live. The other main gripe I have with the Viper is the ride quality. I know this thing can pull nearly a full G on the skid pad but so can the new ZO6, and the Vette doesn't punish you for it. After driving the Viper for a couple hours on local roads I felt like I was in dire need of a full shiatsu massage.
In my opinion, the Viper is a purpose built, one dimensional vehicle. It runs like Speedy Gonzales on amphetamines and looks good while doing it, but there are cars out there that do it as well without the sacrifice. Now, factor in the price and there is only one vehicle that trumps the Big V and that's the Big Z; the new ZO6 Corvette. Until Dodge adds some refinement to the Viper, the Vette’s reign atop the king of the best-bang-for-the-supercar-buck hill is not in jeopardy.
The long and the short of it is that in my early twenties I didn't mind putting up with the interior heat or the loud exhaust or rough edges. And while my Chevelle didn't offer the all around performance of the Viper, it didn’t cost almost ninety grand either! I feel that the Viper is the kind of car that you buy if you have pockets deep enough to accidentally misplace $100k and not even know it.
The Viper is the high school bully in the supercar classroom. It subscribes to the theory of speaking loudly and carrying a big stick. The fun factor is off the charts with this beast but unfortunately, as a daily driver, it's, well, a beast.
