(July 18, 2015) AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The next chapter in the history of the ultimate street-legal, track-focused, hand-built American supercar begins with the return of the new 2016 Dodge Viper ACR. Certified for public roads and engineered to wring every last hundredth of a second out of road course lap times, the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR combines the latest in aerodynamic, braking and tire technology — a recipe designed to carry on the ACR’s lap-time busting reputation that has made it a legend on race tracks around the world.
 
“The Viper has always been more of a street-legal race car than a track-capable streetcar, and the new 2016 Dodge Viper ACR is the fastest street-legal Viper track car ever,” said Tim Kuniskis, president and Chief Executive Officer — Dodge Brand and SRT Brand, FCA – North America. “Our goal is to arm our enthusiasts with the ultimate Viper track car to dominate road courses around the world.”

The SRT engineering team that developed the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR is well-stocked with members who race their own cars, as well as learning from the factory-based racing Viper GTS-R that competed in the American Le Mans Series and IMSA United SportsCar Championship from 2012-2014, capturing the GTLM class driver and team championships in 2014. For the new Viper ACR, the team focused its efforts on three areas: aerodynamics, chassis and tires to maximize grip, producing never-seen-before handling capabilities and unprecedented lap times.
 
At the heart of the 2016 Viper ACR is the handcrafted, all-aluminum 8.4-liter V-10 overhead-valve engine, rated at 645 horsepower and 600 lb.-ft. of torque — the most torque of any naturally aspirated sports-car engine in the world.

Unique exhaust tips have been added to the side-mounted exhaust pipes to provide reduced exhaust pressure. All Vipers are engineered to withstand severe track duty in ambient temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit with a professional driver. Power reaches the pavement through the standard Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual transmission.
 
The 2016 Dodge Viper ACR sports a standard front splitter, lower dive planes and a 1,776 mm-wide adjustable, dual element rear wing, which is 54 percent larger (in top surface area) than the TA (Time Attack) 2.0 and helps to provide 1,101 pounds of downforce at 150 miles per hour (mph) and 1,533 pounds of downforce at 177 mph top speed.

The 2016 Viper’s available Extreme Aero Package produces the highest aerodynamic downforce of any production car. During on-track testing, SRT development engineers have experienced unprecedented downforce numbers of 1,200+ pounds at 150 mph and 1,700+ pounds at 177 mph top speed, along with 12 percent more downforce over the base ACR on straightaways and 21 percent more downforce during aggressive cornering.

The Extreme Aero Package includes a huge (1,876-mm wide) adjustable dual-element rear wing — which is 62 percent larger (in top surface area) than TA 2.0 — rear carbon fiber diffuser, unique SRT hood with removable louvers, detachable extension for the front splitter and four dive planes. The Extreme Aero rear wing, specifically designed for airflow around the Viper’s body, stands taller, sits further rearward and features unique end-plates and gurney lip to produce maximum downforce while minimizing straight line drag. The Extreme Aero Package delivers more than three times the downforce of the Viper TA 2.0 Package.

The rear carbon fiber diffuser extends forward of the rear axle. It includes six removable strake extensions, designed to rub against the track surface for increased straight-line stability and optimized downforce. Removable hood louvers over the front tires reduce air pressure in front wheel wells to provide additional downforce. The detachable front splitter extension and dive planes work with the rear aerodynamic treatment to provide outstanding grip and balanced performance on the track.

Track duty can punish the brakes. The 2016 Dodge Viper ACR features new Brembo Carbon Ceramic Matrix brakes for optimum braking performance with unprecedented brake fade resistance, and greater handling capability through reduced un-sprung weight. The system uses 390-millimeter (15.4-inch) two-piece front rotors and 360-millimeter (14.2-inch) two-piece rear rotors. Front brakes use six-piston Brembo calipers while the rear brakes use four-piston calipers.
 
The new Carbon Ceramic Matrix brakes have the largest brake pad area ever on Viper. The brakes work in conjunction with ABS and ESC specifically tuned for ACR to take into account the extra grip provided by the additional aero and specifically designed Kumho tires. Detachable front brake ducts provide additional cooling to the brake calipers for optimum track performance.
 
The 2016 Dodge Viper ACR is fitted with Kumho Ecsta V720 high-performance tires designed specifically for the car with unique tread pattern and compounds for front and rear. In testing, the new tires produce laps times that are 1.5 seconds faster than off-road only race tires.
 
Low-profile front tires measure 295/25/19 and are mounted on wider 11-inch wide wheels and when combined with the 355/30/19 rear tires provide the largest combined tire patch available on any production car. On the sidewall of the new tires is a unique raised ACR logo.
 
The Viper ACR’s ABS and five-mode Electronic Stability Control system (Full-on, Sport, Track, Rain, Full-off modes) are specifically tuned for the car to take into account the extra grip offered by the extreme aerodynamic and tire package.
 
Aluminum bodied, double-adjustable coil-over Bilstein race shocks are designed specifically for the Viper ACR and work in conjunction with ride height adjustment for optimal control of weight transfer and handling performance. Each shock provides independent 10-way rebound and compression adjustability. The suspension package also provides more than 3 inches of ride height adjustment.
 
Front springs are rated at 600 lbs./in. and rear springs at 1,300 lbs./in., more than double the suspension stiffness of the Viper TA model. With unique race alignment and 1.4 degrees more negative camber than the entry SRT model, the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR is capable of sustaining more than 1.5 g on high-speed turns due to the combined chassis and aerodynamic improvements.
 
“This car is not a 1-3 lap track special. You can run the car at the track all day, and the performance doesn’t fall off,” added Kuniskis.