The 2016 Dodge Viper ACR Is A Racecar Without Livery

Dodge is making a bold statement with it’s 2016 Dodge Viper ACR (American Club Racer) and it’s telling it’s younger sibling, the Dodge Hellcat and it’s main town rival, the 2016 Chevrolet Corvette that there’s a new sheriff in town and he’s coming in to kick some tail.

Consider this. First Dodge worked with Kumho to create a specific tire just for the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR.  The Kumho Ecsta V720 tire according to Kumho, “is built for speed, and delivers unsurpassed cornering, wet handling and extreme grip.”

This tire JUST hit the market during the first quarter of 2015, so there haven’t been any real reviews on it yet, but to be shod on one of America’s best track cars is always a good thing. These Kumho’s are some of the widest tires on any production vehicle (295/25/19 front, 355/30/19 rear.)  Yes, a 355mm rear tire. It’s huge.

Take a look at the middle tire in this photo. That’s a 355!

Then there’s the aero. At 177 mph, the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR is making over 2,000 lbs of downforce. Needless to say, this car was made to stick. And it’s all adjustable. The Viper ACR has, “massive adjustable dual-element carbon fiber rear wing, rear carbon fiber diffuser, unique SRT hood with removable louvers, detachable extension for the front splitter and additional dive planes.” Oftentime’s car manufacturers don’t even let you adjust the aero on their cars, but on the Viper ACR, you can.

Same thing goes for the race suspension. The Viper ACR has, “10-setting, double-adjustable, coil-over Bilstein racing shocks and unique race alignment delivering up to 3 inches of suspension height adjustment for fine tuning corner weight.”

The engine remains untouched in all its naturally aspirated glory. The hand-built 8.4-liter V-10 engine is good for 645 HP and 600 lbs-ft of torque. That’s all without a supercharger (refer to Hellcat.)

15 inch, two piece rotors courtesy of Brembo reign in all that power.

The Viper is once again reaffirming itself as the Halo car for Dodge. Sure the Charger and Challenger Hellcat might have more power, but can it corner and handle as well as the Viper ACR? Probably not. Respect your elders.