Witness V10 Madness in Old vs. New Gods Battle: Dodge Viper Takes on Audi R8

Below is a video of two cars locked in a battle that will not be possible forever – you may remember that Dodge’s Viper has been retired already. And we are not vouching for the Audi R8 V10 beyond the current generation, either.

Both are among the best-known models making use of the V10 technology. The old-school American, in its fifth generation (VX I), comes equipped with an all-aluminum 8.4-liter (511.5ci) good for 640 hp and 600 lb. ft (813 Nm) of twist. More than enough for a 0–60 mph (0–96 kph) sprint in 3.5 seconds, on its way to a maximum speed of 208 mph (335 kph). So, good old power achieved through massive displacement.

In the other corner is the European fighter, Audi’s R8 V10 second generation (Type 4S), fitted with a mid-mounted 5.2-liter FSI V10 shared with the Lamborghini Huracan. Its power equates to a total of 533 hp - following the facelift it gained an additional 30 hp.

At first sight the R8 might seem massively underpowered for a drag race – but please do consider the quick-shifting 7-speed S Tronic dual clutch automatic transmission and the quattro all-wheel drive. That means the R8 is just as quick to 60 mph.

So, even in stock form, these two should provide for an entertainingly well-matched battle – but the guys over at the Track Day YouTube channel pitted against each other two modded examples.

The U.S. representative is labeled as a TA 2.0 Viper that was taken to about 700 horsepower. The Euro-enforcer, meanwhile, was blessed with a stage two enhancement and an exhaust modification that took overall power in the vicinity of 670 HP.

By the way, this is the final showdown in a series of videos that aimed to compare front- and mid-engine cars. In case you would like to check up the previous episodes as well, you can find them we embedded them below.