600HP 2008 Viper - When In Doubt, Add More Power
There is an old saying in the automotive world that say you should add more power when you don’t know what upgrades to make for the next model year. In the case of the Dodge Viper team, they actually have a very good reason to increase the power of their Viper to 600HP. Ever since Chevy introduced the Z06 Corvette (the car in my header), the Viper has taken a back seat to Chevy’s 198MPH land rocket.
In the classic “bigger is better” way of American thinking, the boys at Dodge extracted 20% more power from the Viper’s motor by making it bigger than it already is. The Viper V10 now displaces a truly massive 8.4 liters. According to Dodge, this is enough to send the snake from 0 to 60 in less than 4 seconds and on to a top speed of 200+ MPH.
To keep the Viper’s long hood from being melted by the heat of the new motor, Dodge has gouged six gaping cooling vents into it. I think it looks pretty cool, especially with the racing strip.
The new Viper will be available this summer as a 2008 model. Expect to pay about $90,000 for this Z06 eater. Unlike the Z06, the 2008 Viper will be available in coupe and roadster versions.
The Viper’s fastest American car status is expected to be short lived. Not be out done by Dr. Z, the boys with the bow tie are planning a 650HP Supercharged Z06 for 2008.
Now I have a dilemma; get a 600HP Viper this summer or a 650HP Z06 in 2008? Decisions, decisions.
- Posted in Cars
- 47 comments what's your take?
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Maybe if you wanted to go in a straight line…and only in a straight line.
Reply to this commentJohn, what do you drive?
Reply to this commentLol Ed. Thats about right - though there is a lot of open road in the states right?!
Still, ain’t touching the Bugatti Veyron for pure unadulterated vehicular insanity! That thing sounds like it runs on the Souls of the Fallen. Howling and demonic!
Matt
Reply to this commentEd - What rock have you been hiding under? The Viper corners as well as accelerate. But that is besides the point. Straight is great!
Reply to this commentI too would be interested to know what you currently drive John, care to divulge?
Reply to this commentI drive a 2003 Acura RSX. My financially reponsible side has so far prevented me from laying down $100,000 for a car. When you think about it, it really is a stupid thing to do. But doing stupid things can be fun.
Reply to this commentDid they make the scalloping on the sides a little less severe with this model?
Does anyone remember the ill-fated TV show featuring the Viper? Remember the “big wheel” feature where the driver could press a button and have the tires inflate into huge beach tires?
I wonder if that show helped, hurt or had no effect on sales?
Reply to this commentGet one if you ever sell TTZ
Reply to this comment“Now I have a dilemma; get a 600HP Viper this summer or a 650HP Z06 in 2008? Decisions, decisions.”
Whatever, I’m just gonna get one of each!
Reply to this commentGet the viper.
Reply to this comment“Stupid is as stupid does.” -Forrest Gump
GET THE CAR JOHN…and then plaster ads on the car to make it free!
Reply to this commentThe rock Ed lives under is called reality, where 3500 lbs cars with 600 HP, going 200 MPH don’t handle corners so well…
Reply to this commentSo by the logic, the new 3,700 lbs, 622HP Ferrari 599GTB can’t handle either. Strange how it lapped Ferrari’s track faster than their “World class handling” F430.
With the right setup, you can make anything handle.
Reply to this commentBut it’s a Dodge… It can be the fastest, hottest car in the world, but it’s still a Dodge.
Reply to this commentJohn don’t do it. Some things you can live without.
Reply to this commentThe last incarnation of the Viper has vastly improved it’s handling ability but it’s still no Lotus Exige. While I love ridiculous horsepower just as much as the next guy, don’t bother trying to convince anyone that the Viper is anything but a drag racer.
And to the guy above me, you can certainly live without a ridiculous car but…why would you want to? If you can afford a Aston Martin, why not?
Reply to this commentWhen a plan doesn’t work, apply more force!
Reply to this commentjust twin turbo the viper, would bring it to an easy 800hp and on its way to 1000+hp, kill the corvette. or you could just go for the twin turbo Ford GT, animalistic and can turn
Reply to this commentLol chow, I agree Stupid things could be fun
in this case.. if I had 2 million.. i would buy a 100,000 car
Reply to this commentI personally like the Koenigsegg more, but it misses some space to leave your newly bought cloths, so perhaps I’ll get this Viper instead…. I wish I could
Reply to this commentPlease, the Viper isn’t even close to the same league as the Koenigsegg. That’s like comparing some ground chuck to filet mignon.
Reply to this commentYou are a Dot Com Mogul afterall, you should buy it and stick it on your banner. It would be more meaningful if that was your own car…
Reply to this commentEd Lau, you might be right, I basically know as much as cars as my grandma knows about PC’s - that’s not much at all - but I must say this Viper looks pretty neat as well, especially the cabriolet
Reply to this commentMake it a “company car” and then use it as a “company purchase”
Reply to this commentsome say people are broke at all levels. The more you make the more you spend. Would you rather be broke rich or broke poor?
Reply to this commentAnd this is a dilemma for a broke rich person!!
“Now I have a dilemma; get a 600HP Viper this summer or a 650HP Z06 in 2008? Decisions, decisions.”
I agree with Andy. Write it off as a business expense, because, you know, you have to meet clients and stuff right?
Anyways, with an engine that size (there’s no replacement for displacement… except turbo/supercharger), Dodge could have easily coaxed more than 600 horses out of that beast. I guess the challenge would be to make it street/emission legal.
Personally, I’d be more inclined to get the “more than you can afford” car (I’m sure Ed knows exactly what I’m talking about), though I guess that costs just a touch more.
Reply to this commentHey John take a look at this Alfa Romeo!!!
Reply to this commentAlfa 8C competizione
http://www.8c.alfaromeo.it/
Alfa Romeo’s suck. Get one of Spyker’s cars. They’re from the country of the world’s most high tech urinal, so it’s gotta be good ;-).
Reply to this commentKench - Very good point. Actually, my dilemma isn’t deciding which car to get. It’s deciding if I want to lay out $100K for one. I come from a business and financial planning background and fully understand opportunity cost and the time value of money. I may do a blog post about that.
umberto romano - It’s a beautiful car but I am not sure if it’s available here.
As for writing it off as a company car, both Canada and US has rules to prevent you from doing that. The tax laws place a limit on how much you can write off on a car. I think it’s at $40,000 right now. If you buy a car that cost more than that, you can only capitalize it for $40,000. If it’s a lease, you can only write off $600 a month of lease cost.
These rules are in place to prevent every doctor, lawyer & website owner from buying $100K cars and writing them off.
Reply to this commentJohn
the “Alfa 8C competizione” is a limited production of 500 cars and costs about 150.000 €.
I think it’s available worldwide, you can ask to a Ferrari dealer in your area if you are interested.
Anyway happy new year to you and to all the readers of this blog.
I hope that I can afford to buy this alfa brera with the next year income from my sites.
http://www.mitoalfaromeo.com/html/alfa_brera.asp
Reply to this commentI second the opinion that Alfa Romeo’s aren’t exactly the best on the market for John’s price range…
Reply to this commentI think $40,000 is good enough. There are a lot of nice cars in that price range. Plus insurance will kill you on a Viper. You cant drive it in winter. Your roads better be good in BC or else you will scrape the sh*t out of it. Repairs are gona be expensive, (and a lot of things break on a sports car) after the warranty is done. If you plan on buying one good luck. And how does your wife feel about it?
Reply to this commentYes, buying a car in the region of $40k will allow you to get the best of both worlds to some extent. True, you won’t get something spectacular for that price but you can sure get something pretty nice. You’ll also benefit tax wise, as you mentioned earlier.
Reply to this commentWhen I was in the service one of my friends owned a car made by an average car company but, on the side, it had a tag marked “Handling by Lotus” with Lotus being in large letters.
He made it a point to pull off all other emblems off of the car so that most people would walk buy and compliment him on owning a “Lotus”!!!
Ahhh… good times…
Anyone remember what car that was? It was in the early 90’s.
Reply to this commentI have 2005 Chevy Aveo LS, how’s that for fancy? j/k. But it does what I need it to do - get my wife and I to and from work, stores, church, etc.
Reply to this commentHMTKSteve, I wouldn’t know, but a friend of mine has a cheap Japanese car, Toyota budget I guess, but he removed all the tags of it and replaced them by Chevrolet ones he took off a total-loss car and a lot of people simply look at those tags and give him compliments and such, pretty funny.
Reply to this commentIs that legal? You know, replacing a car’s logos and such and replacing them with another manufacturers? Either way I’m sure he saved a lot of money.
Reply to this commentLooks sweet!! Think you should get one for TTZ advertising
Reply to this comment$40k affords you a few decent options. The Acura TSX (staying within the Honda family) is a sporty sedan that might be worth considering, and if you want some more “umph”, you could consider a WRX. The Lexus IS is quite nice too. If you’re looking for more straight up sports car, then you can’t really go wrong with the S2000. Or maybe the new VW GTI?
Reply to this commentJohn, get yourself a used one cause you know you are going to spend money on mods anyway. Spend $60-$70k on a used and $20k on upgrades.
Reply to this commentJohn, you need to buy a Ferrari so we can ride around saying “More than YOU can afford, pal. FERRARI.” to everyone.
Reply to this commentIf you give 8.4 Liter engine to a German Engineer, they’ll surely get more horsepower from it. if you guys watched the top gear episode, you now that the exhaust heat burns the doors
Reply to this commentNice stuff,
good thing in US u have roads to drive them
But I feel Dodge could offer more..
Reply to this commentDid you ever see that show…hmmm, maybe mid 90’s called Viper? Ever since then I fell in love with this car. I love the new mods done to it.
Reply to this commentok that covertable viper , engine or not that ride is HOTTT
Reply to this commentI personally wasn’t thrilled about the newer model Vipers but this one… wow, perhaps the best yet! You just can’t beat that hood design… and it’s actually functional.
Reply to this commentNice! I’d love to have one those….doubt I would even be able to control it though lol.
http://dinnerpics.blogspot.com
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