2003 Dodge Viper SRT-10

When I heard Dodge was introducing the third iteration Viper this year with a real convertible top, I somehow expected a few other refinements as well. Silly me. Viper devotees are a loyal and stubborn lot. They may have wanted an easier convertible, but that doesn’t mean they wanted cupholders, creature comforts or congeniality. Oh, no. A kinder, gentler Viper? Never. Meet the 2003 SRT-10. A meaner, rougher Viper.

The Good News
If you’re like me, you’ve been lying awake at night worrying that the Viper didn’t have enough horsepower. It apparently bothered the Daimler-Chrysler folks, too, for this V-10 bursts forth with 50 more ponies than its predecessor. For those who have lost count, that adds up to 500 horses under the hood, plus 525 foot pounds of torque. Multiply that by the number of big, fat 19-inch Michelins it eats regularly, and you can understand how upkeep is a worthy consideration.

But let’s not spoil the fun, especially when there’s so much of it. In independent tests, this new SRT-10 reaches 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, 100 mph in 8.5 seconds. Do not adjust your glasses. That’s not a misprint.

This isn’t smooth Porsche quick, either. This is raw, white-knuckle power. It throws you against the seat, snatches your breath, rattles your every fiber and screams in your ears. Sheer automotive abandon.

Unfortunately, “abandon” also applies to the Viper’s handling under this kind of wide-open thrust. But the very definition of a wild thing includes some unpredictability, no? That can’t be said of the brakes, however, which increase in size this year. With this kind of thunder, it’s a very reassuring thought.

The strong manual transmission flexes amazing muscle in every gear, although I rarely got beyond three of its six. The Viper is so loud and rough, 50 feels like 80. It keeps you out of jail.

The steering heft weighs in just right for a racecar. Ditto for the clutch. Each time I depressed it, it sucked me down into footwell where the dragon’s breath collects. Too bad the Viper is so tricky on snow, because Minnesotans would love this feature.

As for the other new features, the easy, manual convertible top tucks neatly into the open trunk, a feat that required the Viper’s wheelbase to extend 2.6 inches. Its body lines are sharper, prettier, more exotic now. Its interior is just as snug, although there is now a dead pedal. There is also a new red “start engine” button and a great sound system. Too bad I never heard it.

The Bad News
If you hold the Viper SRT-10 (which, by the way, stands for “Street and Racing Technology”) to any kind of normal standards, it flunks most every test. It’s hugely uncomfortable, wildly impractical and challenging to drive. It idles like a washing machine and sucks gas like a semi. Anyone much over six feet will likely get bugs in his teeth and cinched through the hips.

And in even a short trip, heat from the engine fills up the cabin and sears the door sills such that they’ve posted big warnings against letting any part of your body touch them. Try scaling those low, wide babies in a skirt some time.

In short, driving this Viper is an assault. And that’s why we love it.

Gas mileage
EPA rated at 12 mpg city/21 highway. Oh, yeah, right.

Price
Manufacturer’s base, $79,995;
Price as tested $83,795

Is it worth it?
The Viper SRT-10 is not the car anyone buys for transportation. Even Porsches and Corvettes qualify as transportation. This does not.

This is a car you buy because you’ve always dreamed of racing Formula 1 and a Viper brings you closest to your fantasies.

It is a car you buy because people who know cars know this is the king of beasts. That you dared spend all that money for all this punishment speaks volumes.

It is a car you buy for the occasional sunny weekend drive in the country – not to enjoy tranquility but to scare the daylights out of the livestock.

It is a car you buy so you can gather with other owners and admire one another’s good taste, if not particularly good sense.

It’s a Viper. Nothing else comes close to the aura for the cash.

Beth Stein is a life-long car buff and free-lance journalist living in Nashville. She has reviewed new vehicles in print for 12 years as a weekly columnist for Nashville's daily newspapers and on television for Road Test Magazine and Motor Trend Television. Currently, her reviews appear nationally on Car And Driver Television.