Officially, there are no 2007 Dodge Vipers—the 520-hp 2006 Viper was the last of the third-generation sports cars. Dodge decided to simply build enough ’06s to satisfy most of their gotta-have-one-now customers, and have the rest wait for the third-gen ’08s to start production. Boy, is it worth the wait. The new car is still all Viper—unmistakable from a block away and packing enough torque to tow a battleship. It’s got the same no-compromises, no-holds-barred sports car attitude that smells like leather and testosterone even before you open the door.
The biggest news for ’08 is, of course, the new engine, which packs a full 600 hp. No exotic tricks here: a small displacement increase to 8.4 liters, a freer-flowing exhaust, CNC-machined combustion chambers and matched ports, camshaft timing changes, a dozen other small changes, and you’ve got the magic number—600. The torque peak is a few hundred rpm higher in the rev range, but there is so much torque that it hardly ever seems necessary to downshift for normal traffic maneuvers. Sixth gear pulls hard, even just above idle. The engine is built on a new aluminum-alloy block, and actually shares little in the way of components with the previous version. Displacement-on-demand (shutting down one bank of cylinders) and that variable camshaft timing improves fuel economy and lowers emissions, too.
There’s a new type of limited-slip differential to put all those ponies on the ground (see picture at right, bottom). Rather than a pure friction clutch or a viscous coupling, the new unit uses a small viscous-coupling-type plate to power a multiplate clutch pack. It locks up gradually, but very rapidly and progressively. And it certainly helps the Viper’s rear wheels stay behind the front ones when you push the right-most pedal down beyond an inch or so in First gear.
Viper interiors have always been cramped and uncomfortable—not to mention hot. That was mostly due to a large-diameter exhaust crossover pipe that went right behind the seats. But it’s been eliminated, and the interior is much cooler now. The doorsills still get hot, but not hot enough to force you to wear long pants just to avoid burning your legs. One side benefit is an exhaust note that’s not really any louder, but still much more pleasant. Now the neighbors will know it’s your Viper going down the street—and not mistake it for the UPS van. We had a chance to spend a day driving a new Viper, which included several hours of track time at Virginia International Raceway. Top speeds easily exceeded 155 mph on VIR’s long front straight. Maybe even more compelling than the awesome acceleration and flexibility of the powerplant was the ability of the brakes to repeatedly haul this relatively heavy car down from race speeds lap after lap. It’s the worst-case scenario for a brake engineer—hot laps without any cool-down, followed by a 5-minute hot soak while a new driver belts in at the pit road, followed by more hot laps. Many very capable and expensive cars can’t handle this, but the Viper had no problems. Prices haven’t been released, but we’re told they will be pretty close to ’06. —Mike Allen
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