“The man from America I met said, ‘You can’t slide that car,’” Chris Harris quips before tossing the bright blue Dodge Viper ACR sideways on the Top Gear test track. I’m about 99 percent sure I know the man of whom Harris speaks and he’s not often wrong–especially about the ACR–but sometimes it’s OK to be proven wrong. Harris’ glowing review of the Viper leaves out the mondo list of production car track records the ACR has smashed. The only thing mildly disappointing about a 645 horsepower street car that generates literally a ton of downforce for half the price of a Porsche 911 GT3R is that Dodge will stop making them after this model year.
Harris doesn’t mention that in this Top Gear review, but we’ll forgive him for his excitement over the Viper ACR’s absolutely insane performance. We’re not sure why this most recent Viper, still a legitimate Corvette slayer, never caught on the way it should have. For those in the market for a cheap and weaponized track day car that they could drive to the gas station in between run groups, there is absolutely no better deal than an ACR set to “Kill” for $140,000 all-in.
That’s a lot of money to yahoos like me and, based on the law of averages, you, but let’s not forget that based on lap times, this thing will kick a seven-figure Porsche 918’s ass all day up and down the Corkscrew at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. It won’t take long for these to be collector’s items, one thinks, but until that time, enjoy the rare occasions you can see the most insanely track-capable production car of all time.
