Thread: Dodge Viper ACR Breaks Another Track Record

Dodge seems to be on a mission to shatter track records for street legal cars. Its latest achievement took place this week when Dodge road racer Kuno Wittmer drove a street-legal 2010 Dodge Viper ACR to a record lap of 1:59. 995 at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. Wittmer broke the 2-minute mark for the first time in a production car on the 3. 048-mile Outer Course configuration. The Viper ACR shattered the previous production car lap record of 2:03. 86, held by Jan Magnussen in a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, by close to 4 full seconds.

Its amazing to come to this world-class track and shatter the production car lap record by almost 4 seconds, said Bryan Viger, Head of Dodge Motorsports. We brought our street-legal Viper ACR to see what Kuno could do behind the wheel, and on his second lap hed already gone faster than the single lap record.

Wow, what an awesome supercar! Wittmer, from Montreal, said afterwards. The Viper ACR is such a blast to drive at the limit, and I can honestly say that I didnt leave an inch out there on the track and was barely braking in the corners.

Dodge says this latest achievement joins a growing list of track records for the Dodge Viper ACR. In November 2009, SRT vehicle dynamics engineer Chris Winkler lapped the 2. 238-mile, Laguna Seca raceway in 1:33. 92, beating the previous record by 1. 1 seconds. Dutch driver Tom Coronel set a 7:22. 1 production car record at the 12. 9-mile Nurburgring Nordschleife in August 2008.

On a personal note I have to admit being impressed with the 2010 Viper SRT10 ACR when I drove one briefly last Fall at the Motor Press Guild Track Day at the California Speedway. Sadly I was unable to take it on the track at the time as the brakes were tired after a day of test drives. However, in a brief street drive I was impressed at how much more drivable it was compared to a Viper GTS I drove back in 1997. Frankly that car was a beast to drive on the highway; such that at the time I far preferred racing around in a Dodge Neon R/T than the Viper GTS.

Chryslers SRT engineers are already working on the next generation all-new Viper that is scheduled to be launched late next year, likely as a 2013 Viper. Coincidently, a photo of a development mule using a 2010 Viper was released today showing the stability control system being tested in snowy conditions. Perhaps it will be able to take on the Ferrari FF in the snow?