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Dodge Viper ACR still can't quite capture Nurburgring record

Dodge Viper production ended just a few weeks ago. So in an effort to go out with a bang, a crowdfunded effort sent a pair of new Viper ACRs to the Nurburgring in order to reclaim the production-car lap record. Despite its best efforts, the team failed to top the Lamborghini Huracan Performante's time of 6 minutes and 52 seconds. The Viper's best lap was 7 minutes and 3.45 seconds, leaving a seemingly insurmountable gap between it and the Lamborghini. This past week, the Vipers went out again. Unfortunately the new time of 7:3.23 only shaved a few tenths. Road & Track reports that the hot weather played a major factor into the car's performance. August is hot in Germany, and the northern part of the track had a recorded temperature of 111 degrees. This was killing tires and therefore grip. While Kumho has been kind enough to supply the team with tires, an endless supply of rubber doesn't help if they keep getting cooked. In two hours, the team managed just two hot laps, killing 16 tires in the process. It's not over. A return trip is in the works. The team believes it can slide under the 7 minute mark. Still, it looks like it's going to take some really ideal conditions to make it work. Either way, the Viper ACR is and will remain one of the fastest production cars ever built and something of the likes we'll never see again. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: Road & TrackImage Credit: Dodge Dodge Coupe Performance dodge viper acr

Here are the Challenger SRT Demon's bare-minimum performance numbers

This week's Dodge Challenger SRT Demon teaser video provides what seems like more concrete evidence than any of the others before it. We say it seems that way because the numbers flashed on the screen are likely not showing us everything the car has to offer. So we're looking at these as the minimum performance stats and expecting Dodge to reveal even crazier numbers alongside the car next month. The video also provides some hints at features and modes the car will offer. Let's pick it apart. First off, there's the performance data from the various SRT Performance Pages screens. The 0–60 mph time is 3.0 seconds, which compares well to the "regular" Hellcat's 3.5-second manufacturer claim. Then there are two 0–100 times: 6.08 and 6.8. An eighth-mile time of 6.6 seconds at 125 mph and a quarter-mile time of 0.5 seconds at 129 mph lead us to believe the driver lifted off the throttle in that second eighth-mile and that the car will actually do the quarter in the low 10s. For reference, Dodge claims an 11.2-second quarter for the Hellcat on its street tires and a 10.8 with race slicks. View 7 Photos We also get a cryptic message about the supercharger boost pressure, which suggests it will be higher than the 11.6 psi of the 6.2-liter Hellcat engine. A graph shows it heading up toward 10 psi but the final spike is obscured by a Demon head. Cute. There's a hint at horsepower and torque numbers in a graph on the Dyno page, which shows both peaking around 750. In every shot of this video, the clock is set to 7:57, which we think means it either has that much power or, well, more. We think there's more to it because it appears that part of the graph above the dyno run shown, which would reach to 800 or 850, has been blanked out. A horsepower total of 808 would be a nice complement to the Hellcat's 707, don't you think? We can see from the shift indicator screen that the car will come with or at least offer the eight-speed automatic that's also available in the Hellcat and other Challengers. That's likely to be the best option for drag racing. The Demon's user-defined shift light feature, which lets you choose an optimal shift rpm for each individual gear, also suggests that a six-speed manual will be available. We'll cover the many modes and settings highlighted in this video in a separate post. There's a lot to discuss. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Rare Dodge Shelby Dakota is a very '80s sport truck

The late-great Carroll Shelby built an incredibly successful career of making all sorts of cars faster, more often than not, with a bigger or more potent engine under the hood. The icons are well known—legends like the Shelby Cobra, GT350 Mustang, and the big GT500. But by the 1980s, Shelby was plying his trade over at Chrysler, at the behest of chairman Lee Iacocca, churning out special editions like the Dodge Shelby Charger, zippy CSX, rorty GLHS, and this—the 1989 Shelby Dakota muscle truck. 1,500 of these racy pickups were built for just one year and a whole two-and-a-half decades later they still turn heads. This one especially. The spotless pickup recently turned up for sale online , and its odometer reads a claimed 25,307 miles. So what makes these rarified work trucks special? As with most Shelbys, it starts under the hood. Up until 1989, the standard Dodge Dakota pickups were offered in only four-cylinder and V6 variants. But Dodge (and Shelby) wanted more, so the larger 5.2-liter Magnum V8 from Dodge's full-size pickup was shoehorned into the midsize Dakota, albeit not effortlessly. To fit, Dodge had to swap the V8's belt-driven fan for an electric unit mounted in front of the radiator. That did the trick, as well as earned the V8 a few extra ponies, pushing the special Dakota up to 175 horsepower and 270 lb.-ft. of torque. That performance may sound paltry by today's standards, but in 1989 it was seen as quite sporty, and netted a zero to 60 mph dash in 8.5 seconds. A four-speed automatic with lockup torque converter transmitted that power to the rear wheels. Additional Shelby performance goodies included a limited-slip differential, transmission cooler, along with a host of eye-catching body mods, including a unique air dam and bumpers, Shelby floor mats, monogramed seats and door panels, a "CS" steering wheel, 15-spoke hollow alloy wheels, and shouty body graphics. While the Shelby Dakota didn't return for 1990, its V8 legacy did continue, and in 1991 the 5.2-liter eight-cylinder became an option on new Dakotas. Of the 1,500 Shelby Dakota pickups built, 860 were dressed in red while a rarer 640 came adorned in Bright White. This '89 is said to be #245 of those white trucks, sold new to its original (and sole) owner in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, for $15,985 (the Shelby package cost $3,933 in its day). Currently, it's demanding bids north of $10,000 for its low-mileage originality. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party.