People always talk about the Viper trying to kill you. And while many gearheads assume this strictly refers to the rear end stepping out, there's also a deeper meaning: once you get behind the wheel, you'll be charmed and might just dedicate your life to buying such a machine. And since the Gen V model has come such a long way in terms of safety and convenience features, you might even get away from the original meaning.
I found out the details above when reviewing the SRT Viper last decade, but the model was sadly retired back in 2017. And while it wouldn't make sense for Fiat Chrysler to give up on the since-1991 badge, we might have some waiting to do before the next incarnation of the model shows up.
Meanwhile, the V10 animal continues to works its magic and one of the recent examples of this comes from vlogger Street Speed 717, which has decided to add a Viper to his garage. And since Mike (this is his real name) spends quite a lot of time engaging in races, the time has come to see his snake duking it out with the go-fast sensation of the year, namely the C8 Chevrolet Corvette.
Both toys came to the velocity battle in mostly stock form (the Viper packs K&N air filters, but that's all), with the racing taking place on the street - please don't use this as an example and keep racing for the drag strip.
Keep in mind that the Viper is not just more muscular than the Corvette (think: 645 vs 495 hp), but also slightly friendlier to the scales. Nevertheless, the manual tranny of the snake is no match for the twin-turbo unit of the Chevy.
It's also worth mentioning that the mid-engined layout of the Corvette Stingray gives this a traction advantage for the standing start. And you'll see this at the 9:03 point of the first clip below (vid on the left).
However, moving over to the second video, you can skip to the 22:09 point for the C8 Corvette vs Gen V Viper stunt featuring a rolling start at 40 mph (the long gearing of the Viper once again brings a disadvantage, but this was agreed upon by the drivers, in an effort of making the fight as fair as possible).
Oh, and you might also wish to check out the action at the 21:05 timestamp - this comes from a different racing stunt that pitted the 2020 Corvette against a 2006 Viper (Gen III).
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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