Is The Dodge Viper Coming Back With A V8 Under The Bonnet?
You can’t help but love the Dodge Viper. Its recipe is simple, bonkers and effective: stick a huge naturally-aspirated V10 up front, send its power to the rear wheels via a manual gearbox and keep it light-ish. How can you argue with that?
However, not enough people made the transition from admiring to actually laying down their hard-earned for a Viper, and amid poor sales in 2017, Dodge pulled the plug. So the Viper is down, it seems, but not out: Car and Driver is reporting that the genre-blending coupe is making a comeback for 2021.
The format, to begin with at least, sounds quite familiar. It’ll utilise a spaceframe platform, and have a long bonnet with the engine mounted just behond the front axle. But there’s one rather large departure from the Viper norm: there may not be a V10.
The C&D report claims that Chrysler is cooking up an all-new V8 to replace the ancient iron-block Hemi engine. The publication is merely “guessing” that this V8 will be used as the Viper’s first powerplant, but that would make sense: it seems unlikely that the US firm would develop an all-new V10 just for this car.
We’re getting into pure speculation now, but the report reckons the starting point would be around 550bhp, with a supercharged 700bhp+ version - “essentially a second-gen Hellcat engine” joining later.
What do you think of the idea of a V8 Viper?
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
V8,v10, v6, eletric, I don’t care.
As long as the viper is back, I’ll be happy!
#NotMyViper
EnglandIsMyCity what do you think?
Might want to fix that url lmao
No. Just please no. As a huge fan of the viper a v10 wouldn’t do it justice. Not because if power but because of feel, the heart and soul that a N/A v10 has. It cant be replaced with a SC V8 no matter hiw much power ut makes
V8?
Nice.
Well, if you want an american sportscar with a V8. It’s already there. It’s called Corvette. So not only Viper will lose part of it’s character, but it also might lose some of it’s potential buyers.
No V10 in the new Viper, what is wrong with FCA.
No V10, No Viper. Imagine Chevrolet telling you that because the ford gt v6 worked they choose to build a v6 turbo corvette
I’m sad that the V10 is going (right now there is only one V10 left in production for road cars), but this could give the ZR1 a serious run for its money. More competition means in the long-run, both cars improve.