The Viper will reach 60mph in 4.6sec, despite the need for a gearchange; dismiss 100mph in 10.7sec; and by the time you are a kilometre up the track, 23.1sec after setting off, the Viper will be doing over 140mph with two gears to go.
There’s only one production car we have tested that’s capable of staying with the Viper – Ferrari’s titan, the 512TR. Indeed, up to the legal limit the Chrysler is the swifter, recording a 30-70mph time of 3.7sec, unprecedented in the history of our production car road tests. All out the Viper peaked at 168mph. The Ferrari costs £124,755, the Chrysler about £55,000. More incredible still is that all-out acceleration is one of the Viper’s weaker cards. Choose in-gear acceleration as a more real world measure and the Ferrari is destroyed.
With those monstrous rear tyres, grip was one commodity the Viper was never likely to lack, but it’s still a car that requires learning. Remarkably, though, the Viper feels not only taut and supple, but also quite softly suspended; yet it corners with almost no discernible roll.