DETROIT — Snake lovers, rejoice: Dodge on Friday confirmed it will make a 2016 Viper ACR and it will be the fastest Viper on the track when it goes on sale this fall.
Dodge chief Tim Kuniskis unveiled the Viper ACR Friday morning during an event and tour of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ plant that hand-builds the powerful sports car.
The decision to bring back the ACR is one of several actions Kuniskis has taken over the past several months to generate renewed interest in the Viper. The automaker dropped the entry level price of the Viper by $15,000 last year, launched a new website that allows Viper customers to custom order their own Viper and opened the plant to a tour for the media Friday for the first time in several years.
ACR is a performance trim level of the Viper that denotes that it is track ready. ACR is short for American Club Racer.
“This is the fastest street-legal, track car we’ve ever built — bar none,” Kuniskis said. The top speed of the Viper ACR is 177 mph, which is technically less than the Dodge SRT Viper at 204 mph. But Dodge officials say the aerodynamics and highest downforce to date, combined with more powerful brakes, allow the car to complete a lap on the track faster than any other Viper.
The 2016 Viper has an 8.4-liter V-10 gasoline engine rated at 645 horsepower — up by 5 — and 600 pound feet of torque. While the new ACR has more horsepower and torque than the model that preceded it, Kuniskis said most of its improved performance comes from the attention to aerodynamcis and the 2,000 pounds of downforce created by its huge rear wing and front splitter.
The former Chrysler introduced the first Viper ACR for the 1999 model year and the last super snake was discontinued after the 2010 model year.
But speculation of the ACR’s return has been rampant since last fall when Dodge showed a Viper ACR concept at the SEMA specialty equipment show.
The current Viper returned to the market in 2012 after a short hiatus but sales have been erratic.
“Since we repositioned the car, our sales have been up about 40 percent,” Kuniskis said.
He said pricing for the Viper ACR will be released in the coming weeks.
There has been a surge of performance car news as the economy improves and consumers are more inclined to treat themselves. Ford has said it will introduce more than 12 new performance vehicles by 2020 including the 2016 Shelby GT350R that also is a street-legal but track-ready sports car. Like the Viper ACR, the GT350R strips away extra weight with the option to remove amenities such as a stereo or air conditioning.
Ford also has the GT super car coming next year with a carbon fiber body and promises of at least 600 horsepower.
General Motors is working on the Chevrolet C8 Corvette that enthusiast publications say is “Zora,” a mid-engined GT-fighter thought to be coming for the 2017 model year.
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