2014 SRT Viper TA

2014 SRT Viper TA

Le Mans Viper driver Tommy Kendall summed up the SRT Viper TA perfectly in two sentences: “The best thing about this car is that it will do exactly what you tell it to do. And the worst thing about this car is that it will do exactly what you tell it.” He’s not kidding. Turn it too quickly, or get too deep into the 8.4-liter V-10 in the middle of a corner—in just about any gear—and the rear end will break loose, putting up a serious fight against the driver’s control of the beast. This track-focused model is obedient, but it demands deference. It’s the automotive equivalent of a circus tiger; one wrong move and you’re going to be in a world of hurt.

A TA—it stands for “Track Attack,” so you can get your mind out of the gutter—starts life as a base Viper and gets a host of alterations made with a single focus: lowering lap times. These include Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires, two small carbon-fiber splitters with a replaceable wear strip, new damper tuning, 20-percent-stiffer springs, a 35-percent-stiffer front anti-roll bar, a 31-percent-stiffer rear anti-roll bar, a high camber alignment, reworked brake rotors and pads, and a carbon-fiber engine-bay brace and rear spoiler. Orange stitching on the cloth interior doesn’t make you any faster; it just feels that way. The engine, the gearbox, and the shifter are the same as those found in base cars.BYOTA

In the pits, we overheard Kendall’s co-driver, fellow American Jonathan Bomarito, express his respect for the 640-hp road car, saying he wished their GTS-R racer pulled as hard. He wasn’t talking about basic acceleration characteristics but rather the top end on a straight. We estimate this model should post the same benchmark acceleration numbers as those of the non-TA car. The only new Viper we’ve tested—a GTS model for a comparison test—ran to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds and covered the quarter-mile in 11.5 seconds at 126 mph.

SRT is building only 159 examples of this Viper variant: 93 will be TA-exclusive orange, 33 will be white, and 33 will be black. But don’t fret if you can’t find a factory-fresh example or you want similar performance in a different color. All the parts are available over the Mopar counter, so any Viper could be retrofitted to keep up with a TA on the track. You’ll only miss out on the orange paint and the number plate on the dash signifying the limited run. In place of the latter, we suggest owners order their own custom plate engraved with that quote from Mr. Kendall—they’ll want to remember to pay their car some respect.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 3-door hatchback

BASE PRICE: $120,480

ENGINE TYPE: pushrod 20-valve V-10, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection

Displacement: 512 cu in, 8382 cc
Power: 640 hp @ 6200 rpm
Torque: 600 lb-ft @ 5000 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 98.8 in
Length: 175.7 in
Width: 76.4 in Height: 49.1 in
Curb weight (C/D est): 3350 lb

PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 3.2 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 7.6 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 11.5 sec
Top speed: 193 mph

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 12/19 mpg

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