DETROIT, Michigan - Dodge and SRT’s most dangerous snake yet – the 2016 Viper ACR – has been unleashed in the United States
Decribed as the fastest-yet street-legal Viper track car, the new ACR (American Club Racer) still packs a venomous punch under its bonnet – its iconic, hand-built 8.4-litre V10 delivering 480kW/814Nm – but, Dodge says, the low-slung sport car's real bite is now due to significantly upgraded suspension and aerodynamic bits.
More speed comes thanks to clever weight-saving tweaks, an uprated carbon ceramic braking system with six-piston callipers from Brembo and specifically designed high-performance tyres from Kumho.
ACTIVE AERO
The ACR’s Extreme Aero package includes a huge adjustable dual-element rear wing 1876mm wide. The big wing has unique end-plates and a gurney lip to produce maximum downforce while minimizing straight-line drag.
It also includes a carbon-fibre diffuser at the rear, a unique SRT bonnet with removable louvres, a detachable extension for the splitter and four dive planes in front.
All these elements combine to produce close to one ton of downforce at the Viper’s top speed of 285km/h – the highest aerodynamic downforce of any production car, according to Dodge.
Its unique race-tuned suspension has double-adjustable coil-over Bilstein racing shocks with 10 settings and the huge ultra low-profile Kumho Ecsta tyres (295/25/19 front and 355/30/19 rear) can deliver laps times 1.5se faster than normal race tyres, according to Dodge.
The combo of suspension, aero and ACR-specific tyres delivers cornering forces of up to 1.5 g through high-speed turns while its ABS and five-mode ESC system (with Full-on, Sport, Track, Rain and Full-off modes) have been tuned to take into account the extra grip offered by the extreme aerodynamic and tyre package.
RACING CAR WITH NUMBER PLATES
Tim Kuniskis, president and CEO of Dodge and SRT in North America said: "The Viper has always been more of a street-legal race car than a track-capable street car Our goal is to arm our enthusiasts with the ultimate Viper track car to dominate road courses around the world.”
Designed to take on the latest Chev Corvette Z06 production of the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR, which is hand-built at the Conner Avenue assembly plant in Detroit, will begin in September 2015.
25-MILLION CUSTOM TRIMMINGS
Customers have literally millions of build combinations to create a one-of-a-kind Snake but, being left-hand drive, it will not be officially available in South Africa.
With 8000 exterior colour options, 24 000 custom stripe colours, 11 wheel options, 16 interior trims, seven aero packages, three brake packages and four suspension options there are more than 25-million ways for a buyer to customise a Viper…
WINGING IT: Dodge says the active aero wing on the back of the Viper provides maximum downforce and minimises straight line drag. We just think it looks cool. Image: Supplied