How’s this to brighten up a grey morning? It’s the new Dodge Viper ACR Concept revealed at the SEMA Motor Show and it comes packed with more bite and less bulk. To put the immense significance of the Viper ACR, the previous model held the production lap record around the Nurburgring of 7 minutes and 12 seconds only to be beaten by the 2015 Nismo GTR and more recently, the Porsche 918.
Think of the ACR then, as the 911 GT3 equivalent of the Viper. Of course it won’t have the same razor sharp precision as the Porsche. But with the same 8.4-litre V10 engine capable of 645bhp and 813NM of torque, it should have more than enough grunt to make it a constant sight in the rear view of GT3 drivers on the straight bits of any track. To reign in all that power are giant carbon ceramic brakes with Brembo callipers.
The follow up to the Green Hell conqueror seems to have been conceptualised from the same mould as its predecessor. It’s lighter than the current Viper and comes with more racy bits for extra downforce. Oh and it also a large black stripe running down the middle of it and a smaller red one to the side of that, just because it can. Little known fact about stripes, they’re key for faster lap times.
To reduce weight the interior has sacrificed creature comforts such as a radio, carpets, and sound proofing. Carbon fibre has also been extensively used inside and out. More so on the exterior. As well as a carbon front splitter and carbon winglets, there’s also a massive carbon rear wing. The sheer size of that spoiler is enough to create downforce on gravity itself. It may be functional but let’s not kid ourselves here, there’s only one reason why it has a spoiler as big as that – for show. It is undoubtedly one of the coolest spoilers fitted to a production car.
Well, sort of production car. This thinly veiled “concept car” hints at a possible follow up to the ACR. Fingers crossed it gets the green light. While it may not have the delicacy of surgeon but it has more than enough going for it to give the likes of the Nismo GTR, Porsche GT3, and Ferrari 458 Speciale a thing or two to worry about. That wing, those stripes, and the excessive bonnet vents alone are enough to make anything shake at the knee. That’s before you get to the monsterous V10. What a beast!
