The New Dodge Viper ACR Is The Ultimate 'Murican Street Legal Road Racer

The Viper isn’t exactly a shrinking violet, but Dodge has turned the volume up way past 11 with this (barely) street legal track version. The ACR gets completely overhauled suspension and aerodynamics, and just about everything performance-oriented has been uprated for improved lap times. Except the engine. That’s still ‘just’ the handbuilt 646bhp, 600lb ft V10.

The new ACR’s target was to improve in three key areas: aerodynamics, chassis and tyres. On the aero front, speccing the Extreme Aero package results in a car with “the highest aerodynamic downforce of any production car”, which Dodge claims equates to nearly one tonne of downforce at its 177mph top speed.

So what does ticking that box get you? For starters, that mahoosive because racecar dual element rear wing, which will no doubt make your rear-view mirror redundant. It has a unique lip, end-plates, and sits taller and further rearwards, contributing to the fact it produces three times the downforce of the Time Attack model. Other new aero addendum contributing to that figure include a rear carbonfibre diffuser, SRT bonnet with removable louvres, detachable extension for the front splitter and four dive planes.

The rear diffuser has removable strakes, which are designed to rub against the track surface at high speeds to increase straight line stabiliy, while the removable bonnet louvres reduce air pressure in the front wheel wells to provide additional downforce. Yeah, there’s some serious technology on display here.

On the suspension side of things, aluminium-bodied, double-adjustable coilover Bilstein race shocks feature, which have been specifically designed for the Viper ACR. Overall, the suspension package allows for more than three inches of ride height adjustment, and is more than twice as stiff as the Viper TA. The ACR gets 1.4 degrees more negative camber than the entry SRT model, helping it to sustain higher cornering loads of 1.5 g.

The tyres are Kumho Ecsta V720 track day items, with unique tread patterns that Dodge claims provide lap time gains even over track-only rubber. Behind the 19-inch alloy wheels sit new Brembo Carbon Ceramic Matrix brakes, which bleed faster while also weighing less than the parts they replace.

While the handcrafted V10 engine is largely untouched, ACR-specific exhaust tips have been fitted to the side-mounted exhaust pipes to provide reduced back pressure. Despite its remit of ripping chunks out of lap times, the Viper resists the urge to go auto, instead keeping the Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual. Purists rejoice.

The standard Viper is already a handful, but this thing moves the game on into hardcore territory. So. Much. Want.