Roll the red carpet for the undeniably king of speed in the under-$100K supercar segment – Dodge Viper.
The 2008 Dodge Viper is one of the fastest production cars around the globe. The V10’s astonishing pistons thump around with enough energy to shake the entire car, and its exhaust pops and bangs like a rusty Tommy gun. Even without traction control, the massive rear tires make fast starts easier than you might think. To note, first gear is good for 62 mph and so powerful and unrelenting is the car’s acceleration that keeping it pinned will generate coupe to 200 mph.
What Edmunds.com says:
The unquestioned king of speed in the under-$100K supercar segment, the tightly focused and admittedly primitive 2008 Dodge Viper makes no apologies for its lack of key luxury and safety features.
So you think the modification is limited to tailgate caps? Oh c’mon.
After a year of silence, the Viper returns for 2008 brandishing a more powerful V10 engine, more aggressive hood styling, available 2-tone cockpit accents and new colors that include "Snakeskin Green."
2008 Dodge Viper SRT10 Specs:
Braking, ride, and handling
14-inch brake rotors are gripped by Brembo 44/40 dual opposing piston calipers in the front and by Brembo 42/38 dual opposing calipers in the rear. Anti-lock braking (ABS) prevents lockup during hard braking. This system results in a benchmark braking performance of 60-to-0 mph in less than 100 feet.
The ride and handling of the 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10 is defined by a race-bred, fully independent, four-wheel suspension featuring lightweight, high-performance aluminum control arms and knuckles, damped by lightweight coil-over shock absorbers. SRT engineers retained the tried-and-true Dana M44-4 rear axle and outfitted it with a new GKN Visco-Lok speed-sensing limited-slip differential for improved traction.
The Dodge Viper SRT10 rides on polished, forged aluminum, 18 x 10-inch front and 19 x 13-inch rear wheels now available in three styles: the five-spoke, the H-spoke and the all-new Razor wheel with five U-shaped spokes. The wheels are clad in Michelin® Pilot® Sport PS2 tires. The four-groove tread-design tires provide maximum grip, reduced road noise and superior handling in both wet and dry conditions.
Safety and security technologies
* Adjustable Pedals
* Advanced Multistage Front Air Bags with Occupant Classification System (OCS): Inflates with a force appropriate to the severity of the impact. The OCS measures the conditions for activation or deactivation of the passenger side front air bag based upon the weight of the occupant
* Anti-lock Brake System (ABS)
* BeltAlert: Periodically activates a chime and illuminates an icon in the instrument cluster to remind the driver and front passenger to buckle up if a vehicle is driven without the driver being properly belted
* Center High-mounted Stop Lamp (CHMSL): The shelf-mounted center high mounted stop lamp uses light emitting diodes (LEDs) for longer life
* Constant Force Retractors (CFR): Distribute force or load exerted on a seat belt, and then gradually release the seat belt webbing in a controlled manner
* Crumple Zones: Designed to compress during an accident to absorb energy, decreasing transfer of that energy to the occupants
* Energy-absorbing Steering Column: The manual-adjust steering column uses two hydroformed coaxial tubes that can move relative to each other to allow the column to move forward for enhanced energy absorption during a crash. The power-adjust steering column employs a calibrated bending element that deforms during column stroke for optimal energy management
* Interior Head-impact Protection: Interior pillars above the beltline and instrument panel – including areas around windshield and rear window headers, roof and side rail structures, and shoulder-belt turning loops – specifically designed to limit head-impact force
* Knee Bolsters: The lower instrument panel and the glove-box door are designed to properly position the occupant, enabling the air bags to work effectively
* Remote Keyless Entry (RKE)
* Tire-pressure Monitoring (TPM): Pressure-sensor modules within the valve stems of all four wheels send continuous radio-frequency signals to a receiver, and the system informs occupants when the pressure is too low
Styling and bodies
The new 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10 will arrive in North America this summer with four new interior color combinations, and a new wheel design. Buyers can now choose the bezel finishes on the center instrument panel and console.
Eight exterior colors will be introduced throughout the model year. The five new colors include Venom Red, Snakeskin Green, Viper Violet, Viper Orange and Bright Blue. Racing stripes continue to be an option with 6 dual painted stripe colors: white, black, silver, graphite, blue and red.
* The 2008 Viper SRT10 will be hand-built at the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit.