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
I always thought the V10 engine of obnoxious size defined the viper. The both growling and howling sound too. I’m a very much european and european thinking engineering student, but i’ve always loved the viper for what it was. I wouldn’t want it to become yet another american V8…
I knew they would go to a V8
Im not even mad.
MIND BLOWN
It’s not a Viper if it doesn’t have a V10.
Viper with no signature Viper howl?? No
Buy it V10 swap done
As long as it’s completely insane while driving.
hemiiiiiiii
VolkswagenBoy
How about a 6.5 liter HEMI V10 with an electric motor at each rear wheel? P
No, that would make the viper too heavy
Imo, the V10 is what made the Viper unique from all of the other American cars. But if its just a option then it should do okay just like their other models offering V6 in place of V8 but it should have the option for a AT for the new Viper to be profitable at least.
how about a wankel?
Nothing could be further from the viper’s character. Look at its torque curve. Why do you think it has 355s in the rear