Even five years after its launch, the previous-generation Dodge Viper ACR is still one of the fastest production cars around a track, with only the all-wheel-drive Nissan GT-R NISMO and Porsche 918 Spyder managing to upset the car’s 7:12.13 Nürburgring lap time, set in 2011. Now there’s a new American Club Racer, based on the fifth-generation Viper, and in addition to packing more power and loads more downforce the car is also filled with serious tech upgrades.
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Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis outlines many of the upgrades in this official video, and—crucially—he reiterates Dodge’s promise that the new Viper ACR will be the fastest road-going Viper the men and women at the car’s Conner Avenue Assembly Plant have built yet. How fast is it? Dodge isn’t saying yet as the car’s still being benchmarked at test tracks all around the world, but hopefully we find out soon.
There’s no extra power in the new Viper ACR, which means the car’s 8.4-liter V-10 churns out the same 645 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque as the other Viper models, with drive sent rearward via a six-speed manual gearbox. Instead, the engineers focused on honing the aerodynamics, brakes and tires. For example, the car produces up to 2,000 lbs of downforce and is capable of sustaining more than 1.5 g on high-speed turns.
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The new Viper ACR goes on sale this fall, as a 2016 model. Key rivals include the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Nissan GT-R NISMO and Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Regardless of which of these track specials post the quickest times, the real winners will be those lucky enough to park any one of them in their garage.
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