The Dodge Viper could return again in a few years
#1
The Dodge Viper could return again in a few years
CD says we should expect the same front-mid-engine layout and rear-wheel drive tucked into a new spaceframe. That engine will lose two cylinders, with Chrysler's next-gen, aluminum-block V8 Hemi slotting into the engine bay. The previous Viper's V10 had grown to 8.4 liters and 640 horsepower by the time it drove into the sunset. CD guesses the coming Viper will start with a naturally-aspirated version of the Hemi V8 working up around 550 horsepower. Healthy doses of aluminum and carbon fiber would restrain the car's weight, on top of the weight loss from swapping an iron V10 for an aluminum V8.
SRT could tart up the horsepower with a few performance trims, before a supercharged V8 with 700-plus horsepower arrives at some point after launch. The mag also suspects the initial offering will be a convertible, the hardtop appearing "a few years after launch," which could coincide with the more powerful engine. A row-your-own shifter will sit between the seats.
Now that the Connor Avenue Assembly Plant's been repurposed as a display center, CD guesses Dodge might tap an outside supplier to build the Viper. A likely candidate would be Michigan-based Prefix Corp, which built a fifth-gen Viper Targa and Medusa Viper convertible. The mag's best potential timeline toys with some kind of Viper tribute at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show to celebrate the original 1989 concept, and a production version at the end of 2020 as a 2021 model.
The goss over at Allpar forums presents a slightly different picture, first and foremost that the new vehicle won't be called "Viper;" one poster refers to it as the "Not-A-Viper." The Dodge, according Allpar posters, will be a platform twin with both the Maserati Gran Turismo replacement — likely the Alfieri — and a new Alfa Romeo6C/8C sports car. The Dodge-Alfa connection is like stepping back in time: when Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne previewed the fifth-generation Viper in 2010, dealers said the Viper looked like an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione with a Viper face.
Allpar agrees with the V8 intentions, specifying "an as yet unknown GenIV Hemi" for heavy lifting. The forums at 5thGenRam say there are new 6.2-liter Hellcat and 7.0-liter Banshee V8s in development for two coming Ram Rebel trucks. The NA 7.0-liter could make around 520 hp, and the supercharged 6.2-liter is expected to make 707 hp, the 700-plus-hp, "second-gen Hellcat engine" that CD mentions. That brand sharing would be an unintentional nod to the past, the original Viper getting an 8.0-liter V10 that was originally developed for Ramtrucks.
Allpar also predicts a different timeline than CD. The Maserati and Alfa Romeo will come first, the Dodge not to bow until 2022 or 2023.
SRT could tart up the horsepower with a few performance trims, before a supercharged V8 with 700-plus horsepower arrives at some point after launch. The mag also suspects the initial offering will be a convertible, the hardtop appearing "a few years after launch," which could coincide with the more powerful engine. A row-your-own shifter will sit between the seats.
Now that the Connor Avenue Assembly Plant's been repurposed as a display center, CD guesses Dodge might tap an outside supplier to build the Viper. A likely candidate would be Michigan-based Prefix Corp, which built a fifth-gen Viper Targa and Medusa Viper convertible. The mag's best potential timeline toys with some kind of Viper tribute at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show to celebrate the original 1989 concept, and a production version at the end of 2020 as a 2021 model.
The goss over at Allpar forums presents a slightly different picture, first and foremost that the new vehicle won't be called "Viper;" one poster refers to it as the "Not-A-Viper." The Dodge, according Allpar posters, will be a platform twin with both the Maserati Gran Turismo replacement — likely the Alfieri — and a new Alfa Romeo6C/8C sports car. The Dodge-Alfa connection is like stepping back in time: when Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne previewed the fifth-generation Viper in 2010, dealers said the Viper looked like an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione with a Viper face.
Allpar agrees with the V8 intentions, specifying "an as yet unknown GenIV Hemi" for heavy lifting. The forums at 5thGenRam say there are new 6.2-liter Hellcat and 7.0-liter Banshee V8s in development for two coming Ram Rebel trucks. The NA 7.0-liter could make around 520 hp, and the supercharged 6.2-liter is expected to make 707 hp, the 700-plus-hp, "second-gen Hellcat engine" that CD mentions. That brand sharing would be an unintentional nod to the past, the original Viper getting an 8.0-liter V10 that was originally developed for Ramtrucks.
Allpar also predicts a different timeline than CD. The Maserati and Alfa Romeo will come first, the Dodge not to bow until 2022 or 2023.
#3
Lexus Test Driver
They should just stop pouring money into the program and give up on it once and for all. Has not been a successful car, version 1 or 2. The odds version 3 will do any better are slim.
#7
Lexus Test Driver
100years from now a Viper will be at a car show/museum/concourse etc and recognized as one of the great American sports cars.
They have plenty of Jeep/Ram trucks that are money makers for the company.
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#10
I don't think there is a market for the Viper, at least in its original form. You know, loud, uncomfortable, obnoxious, stick shift only, intimidating, caveman simple on the tech front, no driver's aides(they didn't put ABS on the Viper until the government mandated it, same thing with stability control).
New car buyers today want a car that is fun to drive but shuts up and rides nice when they just want to drive home from work. IE stuff like the Corvette, Porsche 911, Dodge Hellcat, all the uber turbo V8 German sedans, etc.
If you make the Viper with an automatic transmission option, V8, put all the techy infotainment features and driver's aides(ie multiple level stability/traction control), make it quieter, more comfortable, more refined, is it still a Viper???
My favorite Viper is still the original RT/10 Roadster version, followed closely by the 1st gen GTS coupe. Those 1st gen cars were so raw and visceral to drive, it was like nothing else back in the early/mid 90's.
New car buyers today want a car that is fun to drive but shuts up and rides nice when they just want to drive home from work. IE stuff like the Corvette, Porsche 911, Dodge Hellcat, all the uber turbo V8 German sedans, etc.
If you make the Viper with an automatic transmission option, V8, put all the techy infotainment features and driver's aides(ie multiple level stability/traction control), make it quieter, more comfortable, more refined, is it still a Viper???
My favorite Viper is still the original RT/10 Roadster version, followed closely by the 1st gen GTS coupe. Those 1st gen cars were so raw and visceral to drive, it was like nothing else back in the early/mid 90's.
#15
^ Count me in the I believe it's possible camp (though I won't hold my breath either), because the work would already be done with future Maserati and Alfa Romeos which a new Viper would be based on, we're talking like 2022/2023 or beyond. I can't really trust Marchionne saying no because he's being ousted next year. Any new CEO could easily green light the project if they saw fit. Key words in the thread title we're Viper COULD return.
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