Chicago 2009: Record-setting Viper ACR makes an appearance
by Drew Phillips on Feb 12th 2009 at 3:58PM 
Click above for a high-res gallery of the record-breaking Dodge Viper ACR
As Will Ferrell once said, "If you've got it, flaunt it." The boys at SRT are quite proud of the Viper ACR's 7:22.1 run of the Nürburgring, and they have brought the car out to Chicago to let everyone know who sits atop the podium. We would've assumed it was just your everyday Viper ACR except that the team that set the record has signed the carbon fiber rear wing including the driver, SRT engineer Tom Coronel. The record-setting run, which was done back in August, bested the likes of the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (7:22.4), Maserati MC12 (7:24.3), Pagani Zonda F Clubsport (7:24.7) and Ferrari Enzo (7:25.3). We've included a new gallery of the car from the show and embedded the video of the lap after the jump in case you missed it the first time around.
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
tkosoccer03 4:06PM (2/12/2009)
All that down force and only a few tenths quicker than a ZR1 :) What a shame ..
But for real .. awesome car! But you would have to be crazy to buy one, considering it's a track car only!! What's the point?
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BigMcLargeHuge 5:01PM (2/12/2009)
The 7:22-ish time for the ZR1 was verified as being almost certainly made-up. Read through the comments on the link. Get to page 2-3 and you'll see what I mean.
The reference showed up on Wikipedia for about 5 minutes, citing another source. When you went to look at the other source, it cited Wikipedia.
Somebody had fun with us forum-fodder. We all got fooled.
Unless anyone can prove it with a real GM or magazine-released info, I'd say it almost certainly didn't happen, and the ACR is still a solid several seconds faster.
BigMcLargeHuge 5:06PM (2/12/2009)
Sorry, it wasn't Wikipedia, it was some arabic website out of Dubai or something.
Either way, they had 'verifiers' playing round-robin citing source after source, but never actually showing a video, press release, driver interview, nothing.
ABG bit, and we all took it at face value. It didn't happen.
tkosoccer03 5:46PM (2/12/2009)
damn .. i was hoping nobody knew about that ;)
lol .. but in reality, 4 seconds on the ring isn't a whole lot. however, when it comes to bragging rights, it is more than enough.
BigMcLargeHuge 6:38PM (2/12/2009)
I agree, 3-4 seconds is no big deal.
That only matters if you're being paid to win. Which I'm pretty sure none of us are. So buy the car you like.
The only cars that I really think this sucks for are the ones that cost 2-5x as much. :)
philosophico 4:12PM (2/12/2009)
Umm, the ACR is supposed to be a track car that can be driven on the street legally, if it wasnt it would be a regular viper srt-10.
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Michael 4:14PM (2/12/2009)
Eat it, ZR1 fanatics. I know you know it, but people like to forget. The Viper is a real beast of a car.
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tkosoccer03 5:48PM (2/12/2009)
haha! don't even go there. You can't compare a track car to a road car. Comparing the ACR to the ZR1 is like comparing the C6-R to the ACR .. it's stupid. We all know the ACR handles like a dream, but that's what it's built for. The ZR1 was built for handling, speed, and comfort .. it can actually be driven on the road, and is just as supple as a standard C6.
mcampasini 6:36PM (2/12/2009)
this viper had suspension mods and aero adjustments done to it and only beat the vette by 3 10ths. eat that!
mcampasini 6:39PM (2/12/2009)
this viper had suspension mods and areo adjustments and only beat the vette by 3 10ths eat that.
Bryan 7:19PM (2/12/2009)
Viper...Corvette...either way I'm a happy American ;)
Joe K. 4:15PM (2/12/2009)
Saw this in Detroit, It's pretty damn cool to be next to. I laughed when I saw the signed wing with the ring time on it. Plus there's a sticker on the back of it with the 'ring's layout in black. They certainly wanted everyone to know.
Meanwhile my non-enthusiast Dad and brother-in-law go, "whats with the wing?"
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Raven 4:24PM (2/12/2009)
Word. I was was going to mention that it was also at the Detroit auto show.
tkosoccer03 5:50PM (2/12/2009)
I think that's kidna dumb .. I saw it too, and I asked 3 people if they knew what that was. None of them knew.
The truth of the matter is only about 5% of of all people in the US (car enthusiasts) even know what the 'Ring is!! So why brag about something that only 5% of the people will even understand .. pointless .. they should be displaying 0-60, 1/4 mile, lateral G's .. etc.
Other Man 4:25PM (2/12/2009)
I'm sure they could do much better than 7:22 with another run.
Props anyway Dodge, it's not often I get to say that.
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Chris72b9 4:39PM (2/12/2009)
Not often you get to say that lately, I agree. I haven't been the biggest fan of SRT since they took over the Viper, but they've finally rekindled the enthusiasm of the late 90's surrounding the Viper.
And all the fools hanging on ZR1 nuts can hop right off. The ACR isn't even mentioned among you Chevy guys because you know it's the real deal.
Andi Baritchi 4:43PM (2/12/2009)
The 7:22 ZR1 run is a hoax. It is sad that autoblog doesn't double-check their sources.
And Tom Coronel isn't an SRT engineer... he's a hired gun that went out and threw together a so-so lap and then said "hey we beat the ZR1 let's go get a beer" instead of going after the perfect lap.
Kudos to the SRT team for building and selling this kind of badassery.
Cheers,
Andi
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MikeofLA 4:59PM (2/12/2009)
Why no mention of it beating the GT-R in the AB post? That was the topic of All Time for like 3 months. You at least have to mention it.
Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (7:22.4), Maserati MC12 (7:24.3), Pagani Zonda F Clubsport (7:24.7) and Ferrari Enzo (7:25.3)....
Oh wait... the GT-R is at 7:29...
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BigMcLargeHuge 5:05PM (2/12/2009)
The ZR1 ran a 7:26. Check your sources.
Stumpy 5:05PM (2/12/2009)
The only lap times I count are ones done by the Stig.
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