Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Viper TA track-special unveiled to avenge loss to ZR1

Gallery:
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/srt-v...photo-5745430/

Ready for round two? Friend of Autoblog and Motor Trend personality Jonny Lieberman has helped SRT whip the covers off the new Viper TA (which stands for Time Attack, apparently) by putting professional racecar driver Randy Pobst behind the wheel and pointing him at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with cameras in tow.

What those cameras captured includes plenty of footage of a Crusher Orange SRT Viper TA running amok at The Corkscrew and generally bludgeoning the race track into submission. Updates to the Viper package for TA duty include bigger brakes from Brembo, a Carbon Fiber Aero Package that includes a massive rear wing and a Track Package that boasts better wheels and Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires.

Weight savings are found via a new carbon fiber X-brace underhood along with badges that have been replaced with stickers (seriously). Perhaps most importantly, the TA comes equipped with the two-mode remote reservoir shocks seen on the more expensive GTS. While the GTS offers Street and Track modes, the TA goes a step further with Smooth and Rough settings – no Street mode here.

The result? According to Motor Trend, the TA is the fastest Viper it's ever tested, reaching 60 miles per hour in 3.3 seconds and a quarter-mile ET of 11.3 seconds at 129.3 mph. But is the TA good enough to beat the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, the car that beat the Viper the last time MT put them together at Laguna Seca?


http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/18/v...e-loss-to-zr1/

IS350jet

I seriously hope ZR1 wins. The Viper is simply the fastest piece of crap on earth.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

care to elaborate why you feel that way? The new Viper is miles ahead of what it replaces.

IS350jet

To be honest, I really shouldn't have said that because I've not seen the new Viper. The last Viper I was in, however, reminded me of my friends' 1969 Datsun 510, which is to mean, way beyond el cheapo. The Hyundai Excel had a more refined interior in 1986.
Engineering dollars for the Viper clearly went into performance and it seemed not a single penny was spent on quality or refinement. Again, I've not seen the new one but........it *is* a Dodge.

srt4me

I understand where you're coming from, but the same could be said for the Acura NSX, people drool over that car, when the interior is no better than a Honda Civic, or Acura Integra.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Fair enough, history does play a huge part in automakers. But I do also believe things can change. That said, the interior has been improved tremendously.



VS

cino

iTrader: (1)

Old Corvette interior isn't far off from being cheap.

patgilm

Different strokes for different folks. Some people get the allure of the Viper some people don't and that is okay. The older Viper was a raw sports car that was a street legal bare bones no technonanny race car and it did very well at that and looked good doing it. This new Viper is supposed to be much more refined and cater to a broader audience but still have some of the rawness that allows the driver to drive the car instead of the car drive the driver.

ISFPOWER

iTrader: (20)

viper had to step up the interior because even "rawness", no one will pay that much money these days when there are other "raw" cars with nicer interior. but im really liking this new model, it has nice interior, nice exterior, nice engine...basically everything nice besides the dodge branding.

the old GTS viper is the only car ive been in which i can see the fuel gauge needle go down while idling. lol. still a beauty exterior wise till this day but that interior, the plastic garbage bin material interior...

patgilm

Agreed, they had to step up the interior but as long as the car performs, some will accept a so so interior like the Gen III and IV, not so much the Gen II considering it was 10+ years ago and had neon quality interior. Vipers had historically performed as well as many high priced exotics and it was a decent bang for the buck for the performance. Heck, my next car will likely be a GTR and you could say who the heck would pay $100k for a car that has the looks of a $50k car and clunky tranny. Well apparently a lot of people solely because the car performs.