Dodge Viper ACR // $100,915 (as tested) // Lap Time 1:45.4
From the moment you crank its big V-10, it's obvious that the ordinary Dodge Viper was intended for the track. First, the locomotive-sized Viper is notoriously intimidating and difficult to drive quickly on the street, whereas racetracks seem to give it room to breathe. Second, Vipers are loud and flamboyant; spank one hard on your local two-lanes, and you may as well have "Arrest Me" painted across your forehead. And third, every new Viper comes standard with threaded bosses for the installation of five-point harnesses. Call it kismet.
On that note, the $99,265 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR comes across as little more than logical evolution. From a window-sticker point of view, the ACR isn't much; the acronym stands for American Club Racer, but those words don't show up on the car's invoice. All you get is the "Competition Group" option and an $11,475 charge added to your bill.
That substantial chunk of change doesn't buy you any extra shove - for cost reasons, the ACR's engineers left the Viper's 8.4-liter, 600-hp V-10 alone - but it does net you a host of other worthwhile improvements. Functional aerodynamic add-ons like a monstrous rear wing, nose-mounted dive planes, and a front splitter (producing, Dodge claims, a cumulative 1000 pounds of downforce) are paired with a highly tweaked suspension, lightweight forged-aluminum wheels, sticky tires, and uprated brakes. Compared with the ordinary Viper, the ACR's suspension is extraordinarily adjustable; ride height, compression damping, and rebound damping are all easily modified to suit track conditions or driver preference. Wing and splitter angle can also be changed.
Happily, all of that adjustability actually makes a difference in the way the Viper handles. Like a good racing car, the ACR's predictability and chassis balance change drastically in concert with its chassis and wing settings. The car's performance is largely dependent on the skill of the person making the adjustment, but if you get everything dialed in right, magic happens.
Glance at our track numbers, and you'll see that the ACR lapped Spring Mountain 2.5 seconds faster than the twice-as-expensive 911. (Both cars wear similar Michelin Pilot Sport Cup rubber, so the speed difference can't be credited to tire compound alone.) The Porsche is more stable under braking, offers up more rear traction at low speeds, and communicates far more evidence of its dynamic state to the driver, but the Dodge has the upper hand almost everywhere else. Startlingly so, in fact. Where the 911 dances and slithers and slides, the Viper simply Velcroes its way across the track, segueing into mild, controllable oversteer at the limit. If the GT2 requires a delicate, well-trained hand to go quickly, the ACR asks only that you not be a complete bonehead with the throttle.
That, then, is the Dodge's greatest strength - it's much, much easier to wring out than the Porsche, albeit slightly more dramatic. High-speed grip is simply astonishing - all that aero gear actually works, and adjusting it noticeably changes the understeer/oversteer balance above 70 mph. The ACR has that spooky, compressed, triple-digit footing that comes with aerodynamic downforce, and you can cram the big Dodge into long, sweeping corners at seemingly impossible speeds. The total package is thunderingly potent. "The Viper is like bringing a bazooka to the bowling alley," says Noordeloos. "No one else has a chance."
There are negatives, of course. If you're not careful, it's all too easy to hurry your inputs and fall behind the ACR in slower corners, because the long wheelbase and the slow steering do you no favors in tight confines. The Viper's shift linkage, steering feel, ride quality, and ergonomics are positively tractorlike when compared with those of the 911. And the Porsche is far more communicative, far less abusive, and far more fun to drive around town at modest speeds. But these are all small complaints. The bottom line is that the Viper is a sheep in wolf's clothing: ferociously capable and intimidating at first, but far easier to control - and far faster - than you might suspect. ...next page >>