Stock Dodge Viper ACR taken for a ride at Bonneville Salt Flats
Dodge Viper ACR - Click above for high-res gallery
The battle between America's preeminent supercars continues as Inside Line has taken a stock Dodge Viper ACR to the Bonneville Salt Flats to see what it can do. We'd say it did rather well. On the final run of the day, Dodge's ultimate Viper slithered its way to 173 miles per hour on the 10-mile long strip of salt. There's a great story about what it took to reach that terminal velocity, click here to read it.
By way of comparison – and because we know you're all wondering – Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson was able to wring a stock Corvette ZR1's neck to about 176 miles per hour at Bonneville in an episode that aired late last year. Different days with different weather conditions to be sure (update: as pointed out in the comments, the ZR1's figure was achieved with just 1 mile of runway), but it's always fun to stir the pot, right?
It's not just in straight-line acceleration where the two American heavyweights duke it out, with the Viper ACR recording a blistering lap of the Nurburgring in just 7:22.1, which compares rather favorably to the ZR1's 7:26. Strapped to the dyno, the Viper ACR puts down a whopping 546 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque compared to the supercharged ZR1's 549.9 horsepower and 500 lb-ft. Now, when does round 4 begin?
Gallery: First Drive: 2008 Dodge Viper ACR
[Source: Inside Line]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Michael 8:00PM (3/05/2009)
The Viper is such a beast. I'd love to have one.
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KeatMP 12:55AM (3/06/2009)
I would too. It would make for an insane track car.
I saw an ACR Viper here in Dallas and it looks like it doesn't belong on the street with that massive wing.
Bigbuck17 8:06PM (3/05/2009)
Someone needs to take the Ford GT out there.
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Mobius_1 8:27PM (3/05/2009)
Someone needs to take a Bugatti Veyron out there.
Phil Perman 8:33PM (3/05/2009)
I imagine the Bugatti would do very well on the standing mile simply because of its 4 wheel drive. Hell I bet an RS6 could come dangerously close
CarbonBlack 10:17PM (3/05/2009)
"I imagine the Bugatti would do very well on the standing mile simply because of its 4 wheel drive. Hell I bet an RS6 could come dangerously close"
It would be fun to see how much the 4WD would help.
I am sure it would be useful for the first several miles!
beeeblaahhhhh 12:35PM (3/06/2009)
Coming from someone who has driven FGT and many vipers, the FGT will get its ass handed to it by the ACR on the road course. Same goes for the ZR1. The viper and vette are not comparable. The vette is the poor mans sports car. The viper is the poor mans race car. The vette is not an exotic. The viper is. The Vette front was clearly ripped off from the styling of the viper. If you want to argue STFU and realize Bob Lutz, guy from the viper program, went to GM and did the Z06 program and had a hand in the design of the C6. The C6 came long after the SRT-10 so there is no way the viper copied it. Blah blah blah stirring the pot
johncuyle 8:06PM (3/05/2009)
Minor corrections: The ZR1's salt time was over the standing mile, IIRC. Also the 'ring time was 7:22.4, not 7:26.
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BigMcLargeHuge 8:20PM (3/05/2009)
The ZR1 never ran under 7:26. That was a hoax.
johncuyle 11:23PM (3/05/2009)
I can find an autoblog post about the 7:22.4 but no retraction. I can't find any claim it's a hoax on autoblog or anywhere else.
gp900bj 4:07AM (3/06/2009)
Hate to say it John but Autoblog does not constitute a reliable source of information. Blog's are not strictly run or maintained by industry professionals or journalists.
Really anybody can blog, including you and me and we can pretty much report any damned thing we like. You can go back to the article and you'll notice that not a single reference or citation is made to any kind of source for the 7:22.4 claim. Mr. Harley simply thanked some unidentified punter named "Xeyad" for tipping him about the rumor.
It's actually a fairly poor example of Journalism.
The whole 7:22.4 debarcle was started by some unidentified, crafty bandit who posted the supposed lap details on fasteslaps(dot)com and then proceeded to hot link the fraudulent lap details onto several automotive forum threads. By the time fastestlaps realised the lap time was a fraud and removed it (and it's still removed) it had already spread around the world.
Bloggers then went on to do what they do best, reporting the unsupported rumor without ever fact checking it. Turns out that GM has never at any time issued any press release claiming to have run a 7:22.4 lap. At least one magazine editor confirmed that GM has not even been back to the Nurburgring with the ZR1, since setting the 7:26.4 lap.
BigMcLargeHuge 8:49AM (3/06/2009)
Who are the fanboys voting this up? I know you'd all like to believe it, but you're all being magnificently gullible.
I can claim the ACR did 7:19 on the 'Ring, and by your logic, if ABG
re-posts it, it must be true?
GP has it exactly right. To summarize:
Some blogger had fun with us and got away with it. There are 0 reputable sources still claiming that it ever happened.
Autoblog does not refer to that time any more even in their own post
^ because their face was as red as anyone else's that believed that
hoax as gospel.
Words to remember: Video or press release or it didn't happen.
jon benson 8:59AM (3/06/2009)
The Viper is also obviously wearing Michelin Pilot Sport Cups there, some of the fastest dry weather tyres there are. What does the 'vette run?
Jon
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk
Bucket 2:08PM (3/06/2009)
So I'm not supposed to believe Autoblog, but I AM supposed to believe some guy named "gp900bj" who posts on Autoblog.
BigMcLargeHuge 3:22PM (3/06/2009)
Bucket,
You are supposed to be able to do your own homework and occasionally use deductive reasoning.
Autoblog doesn't believe the claim anymore either. They did their homework, though after the fact.
gp900bj 7:46PM (3/06/2009)
@Bucket
I don't normally give research lessons but let me help you out.
Read the following two Autoblog posts, first one reporting the 7:26 lap time and the second reporting the 7:22 lap time, notice the difference in the reporting language between the two and specifically the lack of reference to anybody in the second:
First the 7:26.4 lap time:
"Tadge J. Juechter, Corvette's chief engineer, announced this morning that Jim Mero, GM's development engineer, drove the ZR1 around the Nurburgring in 7:26.4. According to the GMNext blog, the run took place earlier this morning and that conditions were good on the track, with the exception of a strong headwind down the main straight. Mero mentioned that he felt there were a few places where he could have gone faster, although no details were provided about why and where."
The Source for this article is cited as the GMNext website, GM's own blog which printed a full page article written by the corvette's chief engineer himself.
and now the 7:22 lap time:
"Back at the Nürburgring, the hot Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 has just ripped four seconds off its claimed 7:26 lap. The new time, with Jan Magnussen at the wheel, is a claimed 7:22.4 for the full 12.93-mile loop. While the number is pretty bloody fast, it is still .3 seconds off the time earned by the Dodge Viper ACR (ouch, those three tenths really have to hurt!)."
The source for this article is cited as the Motorgears blog which, as it turns out, is using our beloved phantom fastestlaps.com submission as their source.
Don't you believe that something is amiss here? Go back and check for yourself if you don't believe me.
Boosted Up 8:07PM (3/05/2009)
That's a great comparison between the zr1 and ACR, but you missed one important factor. The ACR was run flat out for as long as they wanted (or could stand from reading the article.) The zr1 that T3h Jezza drove was trapped at mile marker 1 I believe. Big difference. Flat out, that zr1 had much, MUCH more in it.
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Kumail 8:06PM (3/05/2009)
They should tape up the sides of the hood and the bottom part of their grill so that the salt doesn't mess up their engine.
Yes this is a reference to a TV show, can you guess which? :D
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Under Pressure 8:11PM (3/05/2009)
This wouldn't have been the sorry Challenger SRT8 from the said episode of TG would it?
Do I win a cookie?!
jcar302 8:10PM (3/05/2009)
While i like this car, I just feel like it should get an asterisk next to all it's stats, considering it uses race tires.
Obviously anything with racing tires is going to beat out similar cars without them.
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