Skip to main content

Back to the Future's Best Scenes

The Baddest Viper Yet Meets the ZR1 on the Dyno




Few cars adhere to their ancestry more securely than the 2013 SRT Viper GTS. Here's a voluptuous rear-wheel-drive sports car offered exclusively with a manual gearbox that relies on sheer galactic-grade, normally aspirated cubic inches to deliver its thrust. The stars and stripes practically erupt out of its side pipes. Oh, and — side pipes!

Last go-round, Chrysler called this sports car "SRT10." Now it wants you to say its manufacturer is SRT, which is as likely to catch favor as The Rock's attempts to be called Dwayne. It's a freakin' Viper, and that's that.

Because what it needed was more power, Chrysler upped this latest Viper's output to 640 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque as measured at the engine's flywheel. We headed down to MD Automotive's Dynojet chassis dyno to glean more insights on the reptile's power delivery as measured at the wheels.
The Viper's 8.4-liter pushrod V10 power plant is a leviathan, its sheer acreage dictating the packaging of nearly everything else about the car. There are still just two valves per cylinder, but what this engine lacks in valve curtain area it makes up for with enormity. Yet the V10 is not entirely devoid of innovation, sporting an elaborate multipiece camshaft that allows independent adjustment of exhaust and intake valve events.
Our best premium fuel here in Southern California is lowly 91 octane. Normally this would be cause for some mild concern when it comes to a 600-hp engine. It is, however, likely that the Viper's big, understressed mill is less octane-sensitive than more highly strung ones. Here's what we measured on the chassis dyno:
2013 SRT Viper GTS

Torque rises progressively between 2,000 and 5,000 rpm, reaching a maximum of 528 lb-ft at a relatively lofty 5,100 rpm. It noses over just as gradually, reaching its peak 558 hp just before the abrupt 6,400-rpm fuel cut. Big cubes mean lots of air no matter what the tach shows. More than 400 lb-ft is available at any revs above 2,200 rpm. Mat the gas right off idle and it's already producing north of 300 lb-ft of torque. Crazy, right?
2012 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
Incredibly, the Viper is not the torquiest production car we've ever tested. In addition to a few luxury sedans, the Viper gets pipped by the 638-hp 2012 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 that we happened to run on the dyno that same day. Have a look:
2013 SRT Viper GTS
This is one of those cases where peak numbers definitely don't tell the whole story. Sure, the 'Vette squeaked out a few more ponies at the peak. But look at the difference in torque through the midrange — the ZR1's supercharged 6.2-liter V8 simply puts down a whole lot more of it than the Viper's aspro V10. At 3,600 rpm the ZR1 is belting out 85 lb-ft more than the Viper. Though the Viper enjoys 2.2 liters more displacement, it just can't ingest as much air as the ZR1's blower heaves through its valves.
2013 SRT Viper GTS
With the windows down, the side pipes assault your eardrums with the V10's off-kilter, dueling-five-cylinder percussive pummeling. It's never been a pretty sound, but in this newest guise it doesn't remind you quite so much of brown delivery trucks. Want thrills? Relish the Viper'sabsurdly potent acceleration.
2012 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
The ZR1 is no less vocal. Once its exhausts flap open midway through the rev range, the plastic fantastic's audio track wakes the hell up. In the confined space of the dyno room, the bellow grows downright ear-splitting.
2013 SRT Viper GTS
Easter egg: As the Viper's tach starts to approach the rev limiter, the whole gauge gradually glows brighter and brighter red while the car's cartoon snake face emerges in the center. Yeah, it's goofy and over the top. This is a car with an 8.4-liter V10. You expected restraint?
2013 SRT Viper GTS
2012 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
2013 SRT Viper GTS
2012 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
2013 SRT Viper GTS
2012 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
text and images : www.edmunds.com


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cute girl drifting in rally car unfastened

【中継】日産モータースポーツファンイベント

World’s Best EV Crossover? Volvo EX30 Vs EVERY Rival

The All-New 2019 BMW X5 Sports Activity Vehicle.

Here we go again.This time official Today, BMW launches the all-new 4th generation 2019 BMW X5 Sports Activity Vehicle with two variants, the X5 xDrive 40i and the X5 xDrive 50i. Since its introduction almost 20 years ago, the BMW X5 has been built exclusively in Spartanburg, SC. To date, more than 2.2 million X5’s have been sold worldwide, one third of those sales being in the U.S. The all-new 2019 BMW X5 will again be built at BMW Plant Spartanburg, SC. This center of competence for BMW X models also handles production of the BMW X3, BMW X4, BMW X6 and will soon add the BMW X7. New design language exudes confidence and authority. A wheelbase that is 1.6 inches longer than its predecessor’s, a 1.1 inches increase in vehicle length, an extra 2.6 inches of width and a 1.0 inches increase in height give the all-new 2019 BMW X5 both a muscular appearance and a more generous level of space for passengers and their luggage. The latest X5 retains the hallma

All NEW 2025 Chevrolet Corvette Zora Revealed! First Look Will Shock YOU!

Lee Greenwood - God Bless The U.S.A.

GM's Missed Opportunity: Buick Conceives a Gorgeous Two-Seater, Mid-Engi...

Teaser: Opulent Velocity | Cadillac Concept

Artura Spider: All the Exhilarating Details

Labels

Show more