1984 Rampage Not Shelby Dodge Charger Or Omni on 2040-cars

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2016 Dodge Viper ACR First Drive [w/video]

The Dodge Viper is not a comfortable car. Livable, yes. The interior is covered in fine materials. But you still climb over a hot door sill to enter the tiny cabin. And the frequency range of the engine's noises seem specifically designed to cause headaches. What happens, then, if you remove all pretense of civility from a Viper and add equipment solely aimed at improving lap times? You would have the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR. In terms of achieving its purpose, this car is a absolute success. In many ways it's also the most honest Viper of the current generation. Prices start at $121,990 (including $2,100 gas-guzzler tax and $1,995 destination), or $32,900 more than the least expensive Viper. In ACR trim, the Viper loses the under-carpet padding, 9 of 12 speakers plus amplifier, carpet and trim from the cargo area, and sound deadening in front of the rear wheel wells. The parts of the interior still covered add healthy amounts of Alcantara or optional carbon fiber. That weight loss is compensated by the addition of go-fast bits like the giant rear wing (or the larger "x-wing" on the Extreme Aero Package), 10-way adjustable Bilstein Motorsports shocks, Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes, a rear diffuser, and a front splitter. Total claimed curb weight is 3,392 pounds in Aero trim (standard ACR trim is 18 pounds lighter), which is within a few stone of the rest of the Viper lineup. The diffuser strakes and leading edge of the splitter are removable, made to be replaced after rubbing on track tarmac and make street driving slightly more practical. Not that you'd want to drive the ACR on the street, with the lack of noise insulation and spring rates twice as stiff as the Viper TA, but it is street-legal. Dodge claims the DOT-approved Kumho Ecsta V720 tires on the ACR allow faster lap times than some race compound tires. Our test was limited to on-track shenanigans at Virginia International Raceway. Which is fitting because we wouldn't have anything good to say about driving the car on the street. The ACR is, essentially, a race car sold in the showroom, although with the Viper's 1 of 1 customization program, your custom build can include as many creature comforts as you like. Lined up in pit lane at VIR, the Viper ACRs for our evaluation blur the air with heat shimmer. All of the test cars have air conditioning, but that shuts off at full throttle with a six-second reset.

Chop the top of your new Dodge Viper for $35,000

We have good news, and we have bad news. First, the good: It's now possible to get a brand-new Dodge Viper roadster, which is nice, considering we're in the dead of summer and many of us like wind-in-the-hair motoring. Now, the bad: This is not a factory option from the automaker, instead coming courtesy of an aftermarket company called Prefix Performance, and that means it's going to cost you some serious coin.
Called Medusa, this drop-top Viper was created without the knowledge or consent of Dodge, but that's probably fine because Prefix works with the automaker already for the final preparation of the American supercar, including paint. According to the company, the current, fifth-gen Viper was built with a convertible version in mind, so no chassis strengthening is required. From the looks of the somewhat grainy photos available, the conversion appears of very high quality.
Want one? Well, that means you're going to need to procure a Viper - Prefix has 10 units ready for transformation as it stands - and that's going to cost at the very least $102,485. Then, you'll need to write a check for an additional $35,000 for Prefix to surgically remove the car's roof. Thing is, for that kind of cash, a prospective owner could buy, among other very nice options, a Viper hardtop and a loaded Miata, or a Corvette Stingray convertible and several pockets full of change. Or, perhaps a new Viper hardtop and a used, first-gen Viper convertible?

How to tune a car right: Part 3, tuning Mopar with OST Dyno

Not long ago, I wrote a story about a pony car tuned with a supercharger. The blower install had been done properly. Then the car's owner bolted on a set of great looking wheels wrapped in good looking but inexpensive rubber. On my first test drive, I couldn't get any of that supercharged sweetness to the ground. It was the perfect ride for parking in a Burger King parking lot on a Friday night. I tooled around on a Sunday drive, shaking my head that someone had spent five figures to get more power the right way, with a clean install, then wiped out the gains so thoroughly that the stock engine would likely have overwhelmed the tires. This got me thinking about the ways people ruin their quest for horsepower, either on the front end by not insisting on a clean install and paying the money for it, or on the back end with supplemental purchases like cheap tires or cheap gas. So I called three tuners, one focused on GM, one on Mopar, one on Ford, to find out what people should know about how to get the best power for their goals, and how to make sure they are able to use all that power. The first interview in this three-part series was with Blake Leonard at Top Speed Cincy in Cincinnati, Ohio, the second with Brandon Alsept at BA Motorsports in Milford, Ohio. This third and last interview is with Micah Doban at OST Dyno in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, a family business with more than 40 years of Mopar expertise specializing in Gen III Hemis, but tuning everything from land-speed cars and drag racers to Jeeps The interview has been edited for clarity and concision. Do people who come to OST generally know what they want? Probably 80% of the people who come in simply want more power with no particular ET goal [ET is a kind of bracket handicapped drag racing – ed.]. WhatÂ’s the best way to start a Mopar tune? The first thing is what people often skip, and that's to find a tuner or a shop. People will throw parts on their cars that the Internet said to, then go to a tuner who does things a different way, and [the tuner is] like ‘No we don't like to use these injectors, we don't like these parts.Â’ You have to find someone familiar with the parts that are on your car or that you're planning to put on your car. So having a goal and then finding a tuner who can help you with that goal is proper way to start. Exactly. And a lot of tuners have their own formula – and when I say tuner I mean someone that also does work to the cars.