Dodge Viper could live on in own race series [Video]

Could build more ACR-Xs

Ralph Gilles, the President and CEO of Dodge, has revealed details about the proposed Viper Cup Racing Series.

Speaking at the Gingerman Raceway in Michigan, Gilles discussed how the Series would "let the car really shine and show what it's capable of." It would enable the car to compete without restrictions, because as Gilles notes, "...in most races that the Viper participates in, it's actually restricted because it makes too much power."

While Chrysler's not supporting the series, as of yet, the company is feeling things out. Gilles stated "The interest is surprising us all and we're taking a lot of that data and debating inside the company what we should do with the brand."

Interestingly enough, Gilles said the Viper ACR-X has been sold out, but Chrysler "has the ability to make another batch and there's quite a bit of interest in that batch." Could the second batch become the official car of the Viper Cup Series? Possibly.

Source: Chrysler

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GRAVE

One of the greatest US cars ever, its more exciting than ZR1, really hope Chrysler continues making the Viper

June 8, 2010 4:51 pm

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joelynn

He goes on about how much he loves the Viper and how important it is for the brand- so why is it being phased out??

June 8, 2010 5:21 pm

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mohaon

i think this car is only good on a straight line, first corner and you're out.

June 8, 2010 7:17 pm

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Turbo91

Cannot handle. Only straight line speed. Porsche is faster then the fastest viper once again, america needs to create better handling cars. Corvette is also only good in straight lines

June 8, 2010 8:27 pm

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2 replies

Joe_Limon

lol http://www.fastestlaps.com/car4737bc8924cc2.html Lap times say otherwise.

June 8, 2010 9:23 pm

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THEBENCHMARK

My favorite part was when Turbo showed up and opened his mouth, and nothing but crap came out. Go back to licking windows.

June 9, 2010 12:57 pm

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DrPlacebo

well if the car's selling point is its huge V10 and you penalize that power on track, but aren't able to shed the weight of that engine, nor design a smaller powerplant to have lesser penalty with the possibility of shifting the balance of weight back to even it out, of course the track performance will suffer. In any of the races i've managed to watch both the corvette and viper have done fair damage to the field. I don't see why y'all feel compelled to dog the car.

June 8, 2010 9:03 pm

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autoficianado

They dog the car because it's American...no other reason. The Viper is a supersports car that can hold it's own with exotics costing 2 or 3 times as much. The Forum is called World Car Fan but if it's not European they will trash a car quickly irrespective of it's ability. I think the comments should be fairly based on facts and performance/handling of each car not just trash talking because you personally don't like the brand...

June 8, 2010 10:10 pm

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997-GT500-STI

The viper is a good car for its purpose. How many other cars have an 8.4L engine? I drove my friends Venom 1000 (twin turbo) and the car is just too stupid ?no traction at any speed. People hate it cuz unless you?re a good driver, you?d be handing off a tree in no time. If you don?t like the ride, stick to your self driving, gismo operated fanboy cars. The car is drivers car and not made for wussies?

June 9, 2010 12:17 am

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Douglas6250

No matter how you think of the Viper, it would still remain as a legacy. I'm not a particular Viper fan, but I can feel the spirit and the whole concept of this car, being the first and possibly the only working "budget supercar". I believe it went out of production mainly because of the environmental impact of this thing, having an engine bigger than those on the bus. Anyway, I will miss this car because there really isn't other similar cars on the planet, not even the Corvette.

June 9, 2010 12:47 am

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1 reply

997-GT500-STI

By the way, I am implying that the car is bad ass in case you didn?t get me?. Too stupid=in a good way?..

June 9, 2010 7:29 am

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Prancing Horse

Please put this dinosaur out of its misery and stop kidding yourself that this is anywhere near a supercar or legend,LOL.

June 9, 2010 3:34 am

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vilivo

Look, I have never been a great fan of American cars, mostly due to being technological dinosaurs.HOWEVER, have a look at the annual le mans, see this and the vette destroy Aston martin, Porsche, etc. because in their class, they can use all the car's power. The viper is a car that screams "look at me!!!" in a way that only lambos/ferraris/zondas can surpass, carries a stubborn "no substitute for CI" attitude, and is as temperamental as my wife- for that alone, it deserves to be a legend of its time, forget its race track victories, and ring times, those will constantly be bettered by the next gen of supercars, again and again, as its been since the internal combustion engine. A legend the way the AC cobra is.Then again, thats just what I think.

June 9, 2010 10:42 am

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1 reply

THEBENCHMARK

Well put.

June 12, 2010 8:58 am

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