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The Dodge Viper has always been one of those cars known for being a bit Unruly, a bit skittish and mad.
From it's debut in the 90s it was a post car from the USA.
It had a long nose, glorious curves and a V-10 engine.
They were savage, uncultured and wonderful.
The Viper was America's super car perfectly suited to it's environment.
And that's always bothered me because it meant that were rest sites on Britain shore and I'd always wanted to experience one.
To here it, to look at it, to just be around it.
And why wouldn't I?
Yeah, it probably wouldn't be as dynamically brilliant as some of the stuff you get from Germany but V10.
Big, big V10.
Anyway, now it's 2016 and I'm with the latest and most hardcore Viper ever make.
This is the Dodge Viper ACR.
This is, according to Dodge, the antithesis of the Sledgehammer Vipers of old.
It's aero features help provide 1,700 pounds of downforce.
There are adjustable dampers, carbon breaks, a massive functional splitter, removable vents on the winds to aid pressure release.
It's all functional, it's all there for a reason.
And that reason.
Is speed.
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Yeah.
Power comes from an 8.4 liter naturally aspirated v10.
It produces 645 horsepower and 600 pound feet.
That's a lot.
That's a lot of power.
Naught to 60 takes 3.3 seconds, which is kind of pogony territory.
But seriously, it's top speed is 177 miles an hour.
The reason for that is comparatively Go for 600 horsepower imagine a few of you are saying because that's how the internet works.
It's because this thing is covered in aero.
Dodge didn't just want it to take on the 911 GT3RS, it wanted to beat it.
With a [UNKNOWN] In the aerodynamic [???] As such, there's a five stage stability control system so you can learn your car step-by-step.
You can adjust the car's height so you can drive it around town without risk of damaging any expensive stitches, and you can remove the chin spoiler if you need to.
There's less sound than even a normal Viper.
Manual seat adjustment and three speakers for the stereo.
So you can listen to music, but not actually hear it.
The carpets are extra thin to save weight so don't go expecting to run your toes through them as one would a Rolls Royce.
No, no, no, no, you see, this is a functional car and it's function is to go around to every race track, take on every other car And take every record it possibly can, something it's been doing all over America.
It's a seriously fast car.
It's quite hardcore then, but also likes to be old school.
It's got a six-speed manual gearbox and its power goes through the rear wheels only.
And that V10?
Not a turbo in sight.
And even with said engine which must weigh more than the moon, the whole car is just shy of a ton and a half.
So I'll level with you.
I've wanted to drive a Viper ever since I kept crashing them on Gran Turismo 2. And now, I've got a Viper ACR, the most hardcore, fastest mega Viper ever.
Here's the skinny.
This thing It's violent.
It isn't a road car, somehow it is.
It's road-legal but it really shouldn't be driven on the road.
It's insane.
The noise you get, it's not a beautiful cacophony of howling V8, it's just V10 noise.
Because it's [INAUDIBLE] the sound and you hear every little things [INAUDIBLE] dust in the background [INAUDIBLE] You hear it, you feel it, you can feel this car screaming going, faster, faster!
It's an affront to your senses, every single sense.
It's got so much grip [INAUDIBLE] the faster you go the better it works.
Now the track we're on, the GingerMan Raceway It's quite tricky, a couple of quick bits, but not too many.
So you gotta be quite brave or what you do is you find yourself going into these corners, thinking, that's a bit quick.
Okay, well I can push it a little harder on the exit, I can push it a little harder.
I could push it a little harder.
And you find yourself going around corners at 70 miles an hour, where the run before, you did 50.
Whoo.
It just keeps gripping.
It loves to grip.
The steering is beautifully done.
It's not too heavy.
It's not too soft.
You do have to work for it, though.
It's a very, very rewarding car.
Because when you hook it up just right, when you feel it going.
And when you feel you're getting close to what it can really do rather than just **** footing around it, it's immense.
It's absolutely immense.
However, while I love the manual gear box because manual gear box's are great.
It's a big old box.
To take all that talk you gotta word with it.
Going up the gear it's find, coming down is a bit of an effort.
It's a lot of an effort.
The throttle response is instant.
There ain't no Placement for displacement.
[LAUGH] It hasn't been a monster with me, but I'll be honest with you internet.
I am [SOUND] terrified of this thing.
I'll take it as quick as I dare, but good God.
Full power, It goes really fast.
We leave the corner at 90 mph.
We get down the straight and there's a lot of power.
So much, 120, then you step on the brakes and you stop.
This is car up to a million.
It's the most Most intense drive I've ever had.
I'm not sure I like it that much.
It's a life changing experience frankly.
It's intense, it's insane, It's better than you, it's better than me, you need to be a racing driver to really appreciate it.
But my God, I hate it for that but man, I love it for it too.
Woo.
But how does it actually stack up next to its European counterparts?
How would it fair against say, a Porsche 911 GT3RS in a drag race?
Well for that we'd need Ron with us.
And luckily enough, we do.
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Truth be told, we run this drag race a few times, and even against the might of that PDK gearbox, many were too close to call.
Dodge wanted to be able to take on the best Europe could throw at it and they succeeded.
So let's get straight into the Viper ACR as a thing.
The stereo is awful, the air conditioning is so ineffective it may as well not be here.
You can't see out of the back or really the wing mirrors, because The enormous wing is in the way.
This chin spoiler means a speed bump is a definite no-no.
Though you can remove it, it is an enormous pain in the backside.
You can also raise the right height if you'd like to, but again it's a pain.
So most people probably keep them like this in super look at me, I've got an amazing car spec.
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On the road, then, it is awful, terrible, uncomfortable, unpleasant.
Unlike anything you'd really want on the street.
On the track, however, it is simply phenomenal.
Mind bending stuff.
It's brilliant.
The control, the feel.
It's hefty.
You have to work for it.
But.
When you do and when you get it right, it's spectacular.
So it's both terrible and brilliant.
So terribly brilliant is that stupid thing.
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