DODGE VIPER ACR: THE BEST AMERICAN TRACK CAR

The term Racecar for the road has become too generic. It’s being used for almost every supercar nowadays. But there are very few cars which are worthy of that title. The Dodge Viper ACR is one of those few cars. Launched in 1991, it was launched without a roof and had no Air conditioning, not even freaking door handles!!!! That’s Insane. Lamborghini was owned by Chrysler at that time. And during the designing Phase of the Viper, Lamborghini helped with the production of a new V10 engine for the car. Later on, AC and roof were added to the Viper as it became Mandatory for Cars to have it. The car when it was launched made a healthy 400 Hp and 630 Nm. Over the Years,various iterations of the viper were launched. It was one of the fastest cars around the track. Performance increments were inevitable. But moreover, it got a Rear wing, racing stripes, better suspension, and more creature comforts. The Viper got a brief hiatus for 2007 and from 2010-2013. Around the same time, Ford and Chevy started offering their Cars with Track Packs, namely the Mustang and the Camaro, to rival the Viper. But the Viper was still miles the best American Track Car. With the launch of the 2nd iteration of the Viper, Dodge introduced the ACR package. It stood for American Club Racing and featured lighter components, suspension tweaks, and an overall increased Performance. It was even more focused on the Track. The Viper had a taste of Le Mans as well. In 1996, the Viper participated in Le Mans, out of the four cars that participated, 2 finished the race which is not that bad for a car that was participating for the first time. Later on, the Racing versions of the improved by a mile which led to the winning of the 2006 Australian GT championship. The Viper from the year of its launch has been a True Driver’s car. It came with a 6 speed Manual till the end of its Production in 2016. Unlike other Cars, the Viper features a Twin side exhaust Layout. The most extreme form of the Viper was launched back in 2016. It had an 8.4 Litre naturally aspirated V10 with 645 Horses and 600 Pound ft. of torque. All these Bonkers numbers result in a 0 to 60 timing of 3.3 seconds. To give you all a reminder, that’s the same as a Pagani Huayra. It has a huge fixed rear wing in the Back that measurers 1776 mm. It generates over 1700 pounds of Downforce!!! That’s the Racecar level of Downforce in a car that has AC, infotainment system, and seat adjustments. The footprint of the Car is as huge as Goliath himself. Front tires measure at 295 and the rear are a massive 355. The Car isn’t very huge as it perceived in pictures. It’s a relatively small lightweight car with exceptional capabilities. Due to the small size, the wheelbase is short which makes the car so agile around corners. The top speed of the ACR is 176 Mph, which is quite less as compared to the amount of Horsepower it has. The “not so high” top speed is limited by that huge wing in the back. One of the things about the Viper that surprises me a lot is, the speed at which you can enter a corner can be high. In most of the Cars, you have to hit on the brakes hard while entering a corner. That’s not the case in viper. The Viper ACR can make exotic Italian cars a run for their money. The Dodge Viper ACR is around 3-4 seconds faster than a Ferrari 488 GTB around the same Track, which justifies the fact that more power doesn’t always mean Faster. This car might be one of the very Last cars that make the driver scared while driving it. It commands attention and respect. Shifting gears is hard, the ride is not that comfortable, AC doesn’t seem to be working, and the infotainment system is coupled with three speakers and you won’t be able to hear anything. But that’s what it is, this car is not meant to do all those things. It was created to destroy Lap records on any track and to give a solid competition to cars 3 times its price. The ACR went to destroy 13 production car lap records around the world. It’s one of those cars that aren’t made anymore. In future we might expect a new Viper, let’s see if it hits the production line again. That’s it for this time Guys Chao