Since the Dodge Viper RT/10 hit the market in 1992, it was an instant shock to the market.  It had been a long time since an American automobile company had released a car offering such brute performance, and with the Chevrolet Corvette gradually growing less potent since the 1970s, the European Supercars had been unchallenged by American companies.  However, the Dodge Viper changed that with its aggressive styling and powerful 400 horsepower V10 engine.  Although only offered as a roadster at first, the Viper would grow in body type offerings with the introduction of the GTS Coupe, and with that coupe the Viper got a new horsepower rating of 450 horsepower; not too bad considering the fact that the original 8.0 liter V10 was designed by Lamborghini by attaching two segments of 5.9 liter Dodge truck engines.  The Viper was uncontested as the highest performance American car, and around the world you would not find a car for less than 100,000 USD to compete with it, impressive considering that the price tag of the GTS Coupe was around 73,000 USD. 

During the first 15 years of the Viper, it underwent more changes, such as changing from the RT/10 and GTS to the SRT-10 Coupe of Roadster, starting with a 8.0L then changing to a 8.3L when the Viper became the first of the SRT vehicles.  However, during that time, the Viper was never challenged as fastest American production car, although it was not without its battles.  The 2003-2004 Ford Mustang Cobra as well as the Chevrolet Corvette C5 Z06 both took their shots, but both fell short.  The first real competitor to the Viper was in 2004, when Ford Motor Company released their Ford GT.  Based on the vintage Ford GT40 race car, the mid engine GT proved to be a worthy adversary to the Viper, but with the price of the Ford GT around 140,000 USD nearly twice the price of the Viper, the GT was not a strong enough opponent.  Over the years, the Viper would make only small changes (Aside from generation shifts) to give the Viper a little flare each year, but if you wanted THE American performance car from the early 90s, all the way into the mid 2000s, you bought a Dodge Viper.  However, it was only a matter of time before someone took a real swipe at the Viper, and in 2006, Chevrolet announced that they would do just that with their new Corvette Z06. 

This new ultra-lightweight Corvette, packed with a 505 horsepower LS7 was the strongest competition that the Viper ever had, and with a price tag around 70,000 USD, the Z06 quickly became being mentioned as the most powerful American performance car. Like a current “shot heard ‘round the world”, the gauntlet had been thrown, and a high performance horsepower war began in the US.  An unexpected drop of the Ford GT left just the Z06 and the Viper to battle, and even a year after the Z06 was introduced, there was no answer from DCX.  There were, however, rumors.  Rumors of the Viper coming back with more horsepower, more torque, and a new physique, and grainy photographs of a masked up Viper were presumed to be the next Viper. More rumors surfaced about what engine the Viper would have.  Would it be a monster Hemi?  Would it retain the signature Viper V10? Would it be a 6.4L or an 8.4L?  Well, with the beginning of the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) and the introduction of the 2008 Dodge Viper, those questions were answered.

While physical changes are kept to a minimum with only some extra clearance and openings added to the hood, the big news is under the hood.  The same V10 has returned, but it now displaces 8.4L, having received a larger cylinder bore. A larger intake manifold and new pair of throttle bodies has been added, combined with the new twin variable valve timing system, higher compression, and high flow exhaust allows this slightly larger engine to make 600 horsepower and 560 lb-ft of torque.  While the new Viper has not been tested to prove it better than the current Z06, based on the marginal differences in performance of the 2006 Viper and the Z06, the added 90 horsepower and 25 lb-ft of torque should allow the Viper to make short work of the Z06, when both in stock form.  It would seem like Dodge’s current entry in this horsepower war would be a strong one, but since the release of the new Z06, there have been spy shots and rumors of an even more powerful Corvette.  Often referred to as the Blue Devil, Corvette SS, or Z07, this car has been completely speculation thus far, although many estimate that it will have around 600 horsepower, by means of what could be a supercharged LS7.  Again, it is all speculation, but it would seem that Dodge has already acknowledged the possible risk of being unseated by the next high end Corvette, and that acknowledgement comes in the form of the just-released Dodge Viper Concept Coupe.

Adorned in a sexy dark on dark skin, and wearing a thin red stripe, the Concept Coupe looks more like the prior Viper Competition Coupe than it does a street legal production model, but it does clue to what SRT is capable of, should the need to arise to have extra horsepower in a hurry.  This Viper Concept has undergone some tuning and performance items such as tubular exhaust headers, high performance cat-back exhaust, functional cold air intake system, and fully adjustable coil over suspension kit, and these modifications allow this snake to strike with the backing of 675 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque.  Along with those performance modifications the Concept Coupe offers a uniquely different look from the SRT-10 Viper thanks to the huge rear wing and front air splitter, both originally used on the Viper SRT-10 Comp Coupe.  While this mean new Viper is stated as being only for the show by the SRT engineers, it shows how little effort it takes to make this new Viper race ready for anything that GM may be planning on rolling out.