For the 47th episode of Motor Trend‘s “Ignition” YouTube series–and last episode of 2012–we’re treated to perhaps the most anticipated car of 2012: the 2013 SRT Viper.
After a two-year hiatus, the Viper returns under the SRT brand for the first time instead of Dodge. It also returns lighter and more powerful–now packing 640 horsepower in its massive 8.4-liter V-1o engine. In the proud tradition of supercars of yore, the Viper is one of those few cars that you feels like it’s trying to kill you. Most cars have softened, become more refined with the times. And, indeed, the Viper has, too. It has stability control for the first time. It also has a markedly better interior than any previous-generation Viper. But that’s more or less to be expected in a car that can come in at more than $140,000, as the specimen tested is.
That’s really the extent of its refinement, though. It’s a brutish car with a track focus and a hunger for gobbling up Porsches and the like. It’s also a car that still takes a driver’s full concentration.
However nicer it is to drive, as presenter Carlos Lago says, it’s still a Viper.
Source: Ignition via YouTube
Most Active