Pro driver Aaron Bambach gets the Winding Road POV treatment as he runs the Viper ACR around the Champion Motor Speedway at M1 Concourse (Detroit).
Last year when Dodge formally announced the new Viper ACR – the most track-focused street legal version of the manufacturer’s sports car – expectations were high. But could it complete with this new crop of seven-figure, nearly 1000 horsepower hypercars from Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche, especially since SRT engineers had chosen leave the 645 horsepower V10 and six-speed manual gearbox alone?
Ride along with us as Viper engineer Chris Winkler shows us what the newest hardcore track version of Dodge’s sports car is capable of on a hot lap around Big Willow.
When we drove the 2014 SRT Viper TA last year we loved the brutality of the Viper’s V10, the tenacious grip that the massive footprint offered, and the car’s ability to lap all day without missing a beat. But we also left wondering whether the TA was a bit of a mixed message in terms of a package – the competition-ready seats and track-cailber firmness of the suspension tuning gave the car many of the attributes and sensations of legitimate track car – both good and bad – but the car also made plenty of concessions to comfort and convenience as well, leaving us to wonder if there wasn’t some performance left on the table for the sake of daily driving sanity.