We must save the Viper

"Jesse Shaffer" (7esse) 09/19/2014 at 10:15 • Filed to: None

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Conner Avenue is closed, folks. A few select women and men are using their hands to do any number of things this morning, but they aren't using them to put together Vipers. If I used my hands to put together Vipers last week, and did anything other than that this week, I would be sad. I would be even more sad if on my way to do whatever mundane task my life had become, I happened to be passed by a new Corvette.

Viper sales have slowed since the introduction of the newest SRT model, the first Viper not sold as a Dodge. You see, it doesn't matter who builds the car anymore. It doesn't matter what factory it comes from, who the people were that designed it, or what history or pedigree it carries. All that matters is the marketing, people, and SRT sounds snazzy.1

The Viper concept was supposed to re-orient what the Dodge brand was all about. Jim Julo, Vice President of Dodge motorsports said, "We wanted to come up with something that was so outrageous, so cutting edge, so purpose built that it said we still had a lot of car nuts around here; people with the know-how to put the most outrageous street car ever on the road."

The people at Dodge certainly knew how to be outrageous. In 1968 they took their smallest car (The Dart [see, heritage must mean SOMETHING to you people if not just the ability to recycle]) and stuffed in their biggest engine. They slapped in some plastic for windows, some fiberglass for fenders, added a little Hurst magic and VOILA! The Dodge Hurst Hemi Dart was born, and it was insane. This brings me to my main issue with the current car. The engine.

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Big engine, small car... it sounds perfect. That was 1968. That was a long time ago. The current Viper is configured with 8.4 Liters of displacement. Yeah, you get 640 horsepower. It's still massively inefficient. Edmunds says the newest aluminum V10 iteration of Chrysler's LA series engine comes in at around 15mpg average.

You know about hybrid systems, you know about overhead cams and variable valve timing, you know about direct injection... Viper has none of these. Viper needs to grow up under the hood. Consider smaller displacement, more efficiency, and maybe, just MAYBE - finally convincing the Viper faithful to let go of the V10. Yes, 10 is more than 8, and that gives you a stick to wave at that Chevrolet (as it passes you.) Yes, you love how V10 sounds when you say it out loud. Instead of grasping that number so tightly, look for newer and better things. You don't need ten cylinders, anymore. You just don't. If your company has a bunch of money to waste to develop a car that you have room to lose money on (LFA,) fine. Chrysler is not in this situation.

The Viper is at risk of dying off all together. Chrysler still clearly has a long road ahead of it to become truly successful again, especially in Viper's niche market. Both the Viper and the Challenger come up short in comparison to their competition... let's not even talk about the Challenger.

I think Chrysler needs to really look at this car with a fresh perspective. I think Ralph Gilles needs to take a step back. I'd never heard of a CEO calling out a Motor Trend test driver as a wussy before. Mr Gilles, I'm sorry to say the car just isn't as good as you wanted it to be. You race them, they're fun, I get it. That's not the point. I thought the point is to sell the car to other people. Trying to preserve the voracious nature of the Viper isn't helping it at all. If you want to sell us a car that looks the same as it did twenty years ago, that's just fine by me when it's something that looks like a Viper. I'm not fine with you selling something that acts and works like a twenty year old car. Yes, it finally has traction control and a few other comforts. It's not enough. I know you think that wasting money running around the country with Vipers for test drives will help. It won't. If someone seriously wants a Viper, you think your dealerships aren't going to do anything they can to move the car? I think Viper simply deserves more. If Chrysler isn't willing to make some major changes in modernization, we're going to lose this car to poor sales completely. I don't want that to happen. Unless you bring us a new ME-412...

Viper is a just a car for a poster. I want it to be more than that.

Photo credit - motortrend

Post Script:

1 - This is a re-post of an article from March 27th 2014, before the Viper was re-christened a Dodge.

Dodge - thanks for listening. Now, on to the next part.

PS9 > Jesse Shaffer 09/19/2014 at 10:19

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Put an auto in it.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Jesse Shaffer 09/19/2014 at 10:19

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Viper is not a Viper with out the V10.

RazoE > PS9 09/19/2014 at 10:28

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OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT NOW!!!!

but yeah, I think they're going to, aren't they?

RazoE > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 09/19/2014 at 10:28

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Yup, and that's what's holding it back..=(

It needs a NEW V10, not just a V8 with 2 extra cylinders.

Jesse Shaffer > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 09/19/2014 at 10:33

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Then axe it and give us something else. I'm not a Ford enthusiast, but from my lessons learned with this: http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/that-time-i-pa…

I believe Ford's decision to put a four cylinder in a Mustang is one of the smartest moves since the Toyobaru. There certainly is a replacement for displacement, and Ford is going to build a car that should've been here 20 years ago. The next generation halo car from Dodge is about 13 years past-due. If the Viper faithful won't let go of the V10 - it's better to cut the Viper off while it still has some breath, before it fades away.

It's better to leave than to be replaced.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Jesse Shaffer 09/19/2014 at 10:37

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Uh, Ford had a 4 cylinder in the 1974 Mustang II and it lasted to the end of the Foxbody.

Jesse Shaffer > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 09/19/2014 at 10:39

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It's not 1974.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Jesse Shaffer 09/19/2014 at 10:42

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Yeah, but you said that the 4 cylinder Mustang should've been here 20 years ago, and it was.

Jesse Shaffer > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 09/19/2014 at 10:44

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I get where you're coming from, but OPEC had more control on automotive engineering than the automotive engineers at the time of the car you're referring to. Modern four cylinders are vastly different from those engines... and ultimately, just to be sure - you're comparing a Mustang II to today's Mustang?

crowmolly > Jesse Shaffer 09/19/2014 at 10:52

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You are saying the car should have been here 20 years ago but the technology wasn't there.

I had a good friend who drove a '91 LX 4 cyl and also an '84 SVO for a while. Both were/are nowhere near today's 4 cyls. The SVO was a turbo 4 and that was 30 years ago.

Ford gave it a go. You can't chastise them for not having the proper car to market when that's the best that they could do at the time.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Jesse Shaffer 09/19/2014 at 10:55

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The EPA and NHTSA have more control over automotive engineering than the automotive engineers today. Yes, I am comparing the two.

Jesse Shaffer > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 09/19/2014 at 11:06

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Oh, you've got that right. The NHTSA has alot more control than just the engineering aspect of modern transportation: http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/black-boxes-be…

PS9 > Jesse Shaffer 09/19/2014 at 11:17

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The engine isn't the problem.

Jesse Shaffer > PS9 09/19/2014 at 11:19

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... go on

PS9 > Jesse Shaffer 09/19/2014 at 11:39

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Supercars are creatures of convenience today. It's as true for the lowly 458 italia as it is for the seven figure 918. Can you name one mass-produced supercar made today that doesn't come with an automatic transmission? I can, and it's the only one having trouble getting off dealer's lots. "MAN UP TO THE FUKKIN MANUAL, NOOB" Might fly on an internet message board, but doesn't work too well in a marketplace full of successful people who can take their money elsewhere to someone who will cater better to their tastes.

There's a host of other issues too; The corvette is no longer a step below the viper in terms of performance, Chrysler over-estimated the demand for the Viper and unfortunately built accordingly, and the lackluster review samples sent to magazines didn't help at all, all coupled with the fact that the Viper was never a hot seller to begin with.

As you can see, none of the issues are tied to the engine. A cheaper Viper with a worse engine won't fix them.

Axial > Jesse Shaffer 09/19/2014 at 16:11

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Why not keep the 10 cylinders, drop the displacement, and add turbo? Maybe also add overhead cams?

Also, seriously, change the styling. The Viper of today is all but identical to the Viper of yesteryear.

Jesse Shaffer > PS9 09/20/2014 at 23:25

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A sales manager at a dealership I where I was managing the I.T. department once told me that less than 1% of all new cars have manual transmissions.

I think the manual will stick around - but it's going to become sort of like vinyl. You can get it - if that's what you're in to - but hey, there's just "better" stuff out there now.

I figure companies like Lotus, Caterham, and hopefully Local Motors will keep the old stick-shifts available as an option.

I still don't agree with defining better or worse in regard to an automotive engine in liters and cylinders. Smaller displacement can make more power in a better way.

PS9 > Jesse Shaffer 09/21/2014 at 07:02

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...But from the perspective of people who do buy a viper today, a non-V10 powered viper would be worse. That giant pushrod V10 is a major point of appeal, and getting rid of would immediately devalue the Viper brand. What am I buying for $100k if not that? Even at C7 pricing, it becomes a less convenient Challenger then. You don't even get the benefit of cutting costs by doing that, because a lot of the cost in building the viper comes from hand-assembling a bespoke platform full of parts that are unique to this car and are no where else in Dodge's parts bin.

I have to wonder if there's even room for a Viper at Dodge, now that it's just a subrand of Fiat. It might be the case that Sergio leaves the supercar building to Ferrari and the discount supercar building to Maser if the Viper gets canned.

Jesse Shaffer > PS9 09/21/2014 at 17:55

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That's an interesting point, in regard to Fiat. Since the Viper just doesn't sell, despite so many people appreciating what it is trying to be, this sounds like the most plausible future for the car - given the current state of Chrysler.