The Dodge Viper Is the Last of the Truly Insane Sports Cars - Wired
The Viper launched in 1991. The current base model, which makes 645 horsepower, is more technologically advanced than its predecessors. For the price of a Porsche 911 , you get a car that is a hundred times flashier and a hundred times less practical. 4-liter (512 cubic-inch) V-10 sounds like a ‘roided-up truck engine because it’s not far off one. The manual gearbox—there has never been a Viper automatic, and hallelujah for that—can be difficult, and first gear will take you north of 60 mph. The car didn’t even get electronic stability control until the government decreed it, in 2012. Vintage-car collector and Shelby Cobra authority Colin Comer bought two first-generation Vipers new. “The car performed like a Cobra, and it didn’t have crap you didn’t need. But it was also horribly uncomfortable and smelled like a melting plastic factory when it got hot. I lost the convertible top on mine at 100 mph on the first day. But for all the shortcomings, the car was a magnificent beast. The car’s roof blew off. And he still liked it. The modern Viper, though much improved, remains an acquired taste. The car looks like a cross between a woman’s leg and a cruise missile. At idle, the engine sounds like a garbage truck consuming a Honda. Source: www.wired.com
