The Viper began as a cartoonish showcar inspired by the legendary 1960s Shelby Cobra. Bob Lutz, then at Chrysler, decided to actually produce the thing in a bold attempt to return some luster to the Dodge brand. While I personally doubt that having a Viper in the showroom leads people to purchase a Stratus, and weak Stratus sales support said doubt, the car did buy Chrysler some useful press attention and likely made Chrysler's employees prouder of their company. For 2003 Chrysler thoroughly redesigned the Viper, toning down the cartoonish styling but making substantial improvements on a technical level. In short, they made it more of a real car.

I like to drive cars when they are new. But a Viper is out of my range--I tend to test cars I or a close relative might conceivably buy--so I never even made the attempt to test drive this $85,000 toy. So now I find myself reviewing the car nearly three years into its run, following some seat time at an "SRT Track Experience." This "experience" as far as the Viper was concerned included a few fast laps around a combination high-speed oval / road course, some slower laps through an autocross course, and some extremely speedy miles in the passenger seat with a pro doing the driving. For more details on this event, see my Dodge Magnum SRT8 review.

Another reason I've never driven a Viper is it's just not my sort of car. With a huge V10, its primary appeal is brute acceleration, while I'm more of an agile handling sort of guy. Perhaps the 2003 revisions helped?

Styling

Mixed feelings here. I like the second-generation car's tighter proportions, with a longer wheelbase and shorter overhangs. I also like the truly open top--no crossbar overhead. But much of the over-the-top flavor that initially attracted people (if not necessarily myself) to the car has been lost. The current styling, though still clearly that of a Viper, is relatively generic.

Inside more of the original's flavor has been retained. Surfaces are hard and generally unadorned, clearly conveying that this is a high-powered, hard-core, minimalist sports car, not some luxo-cruiser.

Accommodations

You must twist and turn a bit to get into the Viper. The seats are heavily bolstered, the door sills are wide (and hot--the exhaust runs through them), and the door openings are on the small side, especially with the top up (it was only down for the pro-driven laps).

Normally I'd say you should be young and flexible to get in and out of the car. But one of the people attending the event was a woman in her sixties (at a minimum). Turns out she has owns two Vipers, a 2000 with 80-plus-thousand miles on it and a 2004 with about 35,000 miles. She put all of those miles on the cars herself by perpetually touring the country in them. With roughly ten-to-twelve carats on her hands, ears, and neck. And heels on her feet. Always. I was so shocked I neglected to ask how she possibly fits enough in the smallish trunk. Heck, I'm still in shock.

I personally like the very heavily bolstered driver's seat. Those of broader-than-average build won't be so happy. Beyond the seat, a tall, wide center console and tall bodywork make for a fairly cramped cockpit. Typical of a sports car, but less expected in one this big. The seat does travel backwards more than in smaller sports cars, so those long of leg will be happier here.

You might have thought this review's title referred to the Viper's performance. Actually, it refers to the physical experience of sitting in the car. I mildly burned my left calf on the door sill at least once while getting into the Viper, and continued to cook once in the car. I've never driven a car where so much heat from the exhaust made its way into the passenger compartment. Since gasoline engines always produce more heat than torque, more power equals more heat in need of dissipation. But a C6 Corvette is nearly as powerful, and I don't recall this issue in that car.

Owners at the event informed me that the design of the exhaust system plays a large role. It seems many people opt for an aftermarket system. The stock one has a crossover pipe running beneath your legs, which isn't especially helpful for you or the car's transmission. Aftermarket systems often eliminate this crossover.

On the Track

Cars always feel less quick on the track than on public roads. So the Viper must feel enormously powerful on the latter, as it literally thundered down the track. Five hundred horsepower in a 3400-pound car will do that.

Before the Viper, the most powerful cars I'd driven were the 400-horse C6 Corvette and 390-horse Mustang SVT. In those cars I had little time to enjoy the brute acceleration because the redline in the first couple of gears approached so quickly. I didn't have this issue so much in the Viper. I suppose this might be because the huge engine doesn't rev as easily. But gearing likely deserves the bulk of the credit and/or blame. First is good for nearly sixty, second for nearly ninety, and third for nearly 120. (We were permitted to drive the cars into the 120s.) In top gear the engine turns under 1200 RPM at sixty.

Sadly, the exhaust note in nothing special. Perhaps it's because ten cylinders don't sound as sweet as eight, or the side pipes. The sound out of these pipes never sounds especially rich, and flooring the go pedal mostly elicits a very loud WHOOSH. Think ratted-out old van attempting a passing maneuver on the highway, just far louder and far quicker.

Shift quality falls between that of the C5 and C6 Corvette. The tall lever has the high-effort, somewhat crunchy feel typical of stick-shifted, big-engined American iron. Passable, but hardly endearing. At least the large ball atop the lever fits the hand better than the relatively square knob in a C5. The clutch is moderately heavy, no surprise there.

The Viper's handling recalls that of the Corvettes past. Lean in corners is nearly non-existent, and the wide sticky tires deliver tremendous grip--more than a full g according to published tests. With 525 foot-pounds of torque on tap, oversteer can be easily induced with the throttle. Yet unlike in the torque-free Honda S2000 such oversteer never popped up unexpectedly. You won't get it unless you go looking for it. If anything the car tends towards mild understeer, with a generally balanced feel.

"Balanced" is not the same as "light on its feet." The steering is firm and quick. But, like a Corvette, only more so, the Viper feels large, heavy, and more than a little crude. The steering lacks a tight on-center feel and lacks the precision of that in the best sports cars. The fingertips and seat of the pants communicate--this is no Lexus, not by a long shot--but the messages they send somehow lack the sort of detail necessary to make me feel at one with a car. Add it all up, and the Viper is not an intuitive car to drive quickly.

Most people at the SRT track event felt far more confident driving the 425-horsepower Magnum. Toss in the big wagon's stability control, a feature not available on the Viper, and the group driving the Magnums regularly caught up to that driving the Vipers on the oval/road course. My entire last lap in the Magnum was hobbled by a pack of relatively slow-moving Vipers.

The track's pavement was generally smooth, so I was not able to evaluate the Viper's ride quality. I would not expect much here. If you want a smooth (but not quiet) ride with your brute power, get a Corvette.

If, on the other hand, you want to feel like you're driving a race car, the Viper could well be your car. Especially when traveling 160 next to the pro driver with the top down the Viper felt and sounded much like I suspect a true race car does. Lots of noise, lots of little quivers here and there. The driver's hands were constantly making small steering corrections. It was like a NASCAR in-car cam. Just live, and with the top down. Some high performance cars feel like they're traveling half their actual speed. Not this one. Going 160, the Viper feels like it's going, well, at least 161.

Last Words

In the end, my Viper experience contained few surprises. While the Corvette gets slicker and slicker, the Viper combines a similar big-car feel with all of the brutish character of Corvette's past, only even more of it. Plus lots of heat.

Frankly, the biggest surprise at the event was the older woman who has been driving a pair of these about 30,000 miles a year. In heels. I should also toss in that she lives (when at home) in Louisiana. Man oh man it must be hot inside a Viper down there in the summer. Maybe this is why she travels so much?

More power to her--in case 950 horses aren't enough.

To learn more about my reliability research and sign up to participate in it, or to perform thorough, up-to-date new car price comparisons on most cars (but not the Viper), visit www.truedelta.com. A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.

My reviews of related cars:
Chevrolet Corvette
Dodge Magnum SRT8
Ford Mustang SVT Cobra
Amount Paid (US$): 85000
Model Year: 2005