Dodge's 2016 Viper Acr: Expensive, But Worth Every Penny

By Author: Linda Bryant
Total Articles: 9
Comment this article

If your idea of fun driving is to cruise down the highway at moderate speeds with an automatic transmission making all your gear selections, the 2016 Dodge Viper American Club Racer isn’t for you.

However, if you love sheer terrifying horsepower, club racing, and the ability to make your opponents cry like children as you obliterate them from the asphalt, the new Viper ACR may be your car if you’ve got the cash — $122,490 worth.

The Viper doesn’t pretend to be a racer while sporting all the electronic gadgetry that makes most drivers drool. It has a radio with three speakers, some carpet, and Dodge’s infotainment system—but the carpet is lightweight, the seats are manual, and you won’t find backup cameras or automatic wipers.

What you will find is an 8.4 liter V-10 engine cranking out 645 horsepower and 600 lb.ft. of torque, pushing the Viper ACR to a top speed of just under 180 mph. But this isn’t just a car that can go fast; the Dodge engineers have tailored this vehicle specifically for club racing, and it shows. The company went with a traditional six-speed manual gearbox, Brembo Carbon ...
... Ceramic Matrix brakes with 390-millimeter (15.4-inch) two-piece front rotors and 360-millimeter (14.2-inch) two-piece rear rotors, and even detachable front brake ducts for improved cooling.

To make this car stick to the track, Dodge slapped Kumho Ecsta V720 high-performance tires on it, with 295/25/19 tires on the front, mounted on wider 11-inch wide wheels and 355/30/19 rear tires. According to Dodge, these new tires with a unique tread pattern turn in lap times 1.5 seconds better than off-road only race tires. They also added Brilstein racing shocks designed specifically for the Viper that provide independent 10-way rebound and compression adjust-ability, and a suspension package that lets drivers adjust ride height by up to 3 inches.

Combined with the available Extreme Aero package, the Viper ACR is capable of sustaining up to 1.5 Gs in turns and generates nearly a full ton of down-force at top speed. With a massive rear wing and rear carbon fiber diffuser, four dive planes, and a SRT hood with removable louvers, it produces three times the down-force of its cousin, the Viper with the Time Attack 2.0 package.

Of course, with a vehicle like this, customization is key — and Dodge has that covered as well. The “1 of 1” Viper program allows owners to put together more than 25 million build combinations. Hand-built at Dodge’s Conner Avenue plant in Detroit, there are 8,000 exterior color options, 24,000 custom stripe colors, 11 wheel options and 16 interior trims to choose from, along with seven aero packages, three brake packages and four suspension options.

For those who still appreciate the feel of a barely leashed rocket that’s actually street-legal, the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR will go on sale in the third quarter of 2015.

Coon Rapids near Minneapolis, MN is a full-service Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep & RAM dealer that has a wide selection of new & used cars, trucks and SUVs for sale at competitive prices. If you are searching for auto dealers using the keywords Jeep dealers in Minneapolis or Dodge dealers in Minneapolis, visit our dealership today!