Timeline: Streets of Detroit / Transport America Redux / The Land of Milk and Honey
Model Name: Dodge Viper GTS-R
Manufacturer: Chrysler Corporation, Dodge Division (race cars were assembled either by Societe ORECA or Street and Racing Technology)
Model Type: GT1-class Racing Car
Model Year: 1996-2004
Origin: Detroit, Michigan, United States of America
Engine: Chrysler 356-T6 'Viper' 7990cc V10
Power: 670 hp @ 6100 rpm (1996-97), 700 hp @ 6250 rpm (1998-2000), 715 hp @ 6400 rpm (2001-2004)
Torque: 660 ft-lbs @ 4000 rpm (1996-97), 667 ft-lbs @ 4100 rpm (1998-2000), 670 ft-lbs @ 4100 rpm (2001-2004)
Drivetrain: Front-engined, Rear-wheel-drive
Transmission: BorgWarner T56 six-speed manual (1996-97), New Process Gear SA971 seven-speed semi-automatic (1998-2001), New Process Gear SA1024 seven-speed semi-automatic (2002-2004)
Weight: 1,200 kg (2,648 lbs) minimum
0-100 km/h: 3.5 seconds
Top Speed: 220 mph est. (1996-97), 240 mph est. (1998-2004)
MSRP: $950,000 (1996-97), $1,100,000 (1998-2004)
Number Produced: 108 (including all models of the Dodge Viper GTS-R)
One of the most recognizable machines of the GT1 era of sports car racing, the spectacular Dodge Viper GTS-R began as a car that people respected but few ever expected to be one of the greatest cars of the era, only for constant development by Chrysler, it's Street and Rave Technology (SRT) division and Hughes de Chaunac's famed ORECA outfit to turn it not only into a winner, but one of the most capable cars of the era, the brute force American countermeasure to the thoroughbred McLaren F1 GTR and Ferrari F50 GT1 that became a champion on both sides of the Atlantic and came away a winner in sports car races all across the world.
Introduced to the world with the second-generation Dodge Viper at the 1995 Pebble Beach Councours d'Elegance, the Viper GTS-R entered both the 1996 BPR Global GT Series and the 1996 IMSA GT Championship, being reasonably successful in America (though it lost the GT1 title to the Porsche 911 GT2 of Champion Racing, the Vector M12 GT of American Spirit Racing and the McLaren F1 GTR of PacWest Racing, despite winning two races. In Europe things were less capable, as the McLaren and Ferrari competitors outclassed the Viper, even though it's pace was undeniable.
1997 brought better success in IMSA as Canaska Southwind and Challenger Motorsports won the IMSA championship in convincing fashion, despite the challenge of Risi Competitzione and their new Ferrari F50s. In Europe the ORECA team replaced DAMS with the cars, and while the Viper was competitive it was hardly the title contender Chrysler wanted - but for 1998, the Viper swapped out it's aging BorgWarner manual transmission for a New Process Gear-built seven-speed semiautomatic, which also was introduced with the 1998 Viper GTS-R road car. Also new (and on the road car) was powerful ceramic brakes developed by SRT and StopTech, which improved the car's braking. Improvements to suspension and aerodynamics also helped improve the car for the 1998 season.
1998 was a slugout in the BPR and IMSA, and while the Ferraris of BMS Scuderia Italia came out on top, the Vipers of Team ORECA, Stephenson Racing and Chamberlain Engineering held their own against the Ferraris and the McLarens, winning four races (including, importantly for Chrysler, the BPR race at the new Race City in Detroit) and finishing third in the championship. IMSA was a second title in a row, this time for PacWest, who had swapped out their McLaren F1s for the Vipers and benefited from it.
While McLaren's long-tailed, semi-automatic gearbox-equipped F1 GTRs and the screaming Ferrari F50 GT1s remained capable, and the fine-handling four-wheel-drive Nissan Skyline GT-R proved a capable competitor, the first year of the FIA GT Championship saw the Team ORECA Vipers come good at last, even as the Michael Shank Racing McLaren F1 GTRs shockingly bested both the Vipers and the new-and-fast Corvette C5-R in IMSA. The Vipers' fantastic result at Le Mans - first and second in class, sixth ans seventh overall - was somewhat overshadowed by the awesome victory by Panoz in the world's biggest sportscar race, the first overall victory by an American car at Le Mans since 1969.
2000 saw a repeat title for Team ORECA and Chamberlain Engineering did provide excellent support, but Porsche's new Carrera GTR was a serious contender the whole season as was the Nissan Skyline GT-R, and while the Ferrari F50s and McLaren F1s were aging, they were still very fast and capable. Michael Shank Racing's McLaren F1s and the Corvette C5-Rs once again stopped Team ORECA's hope for a double GT1 title, but few could complain about four championships in four years. 2001 saw that streak stopped, as the Ferrari 550 Maranellos of Risi Competitzione and the Corvettes claimed the IMSA title while the FIA GT Championship was won by the Porsche Carrera GTR, the title being won by Porsche as a result of Team Prodrive blitzing the field at the final two rounds at Kyalami and Adelaide.
For 2002 Chamberlain, ATS and Zakspeed took over the FIA GT Championship duties to allow ORECA to focus on the IMSA title, setting up a wild showdown between Team ORECA and their Dodge Viper GTS-Rs and Corvette Racing and their Chevrolet Corvette C5-Rs. It was a battle that ORECA won in 2002, though only just and the battle went all the way to the IMSA finale at the Nassau Speedweeks in the Bahamas, and the Ferrari 550s of Risi Competitzione and Team Racing Point frequently interjected themselves into the battle. The following year the Corvettes came away with the title after a similar season-long battle. In Europe Team Prodrive's Ferraris beat out Porsche Motorsport for the 2002 FIA GT Championship, with Zakspeed just falling short on stopping Prodrive and BMS Scuderia Italia from a repeat in 2003.
Chrysler stopped supporting the Viper GTS-R after the 2004 season, but by that point over 100 such cars had been built, and they would be common sights in GT racing all over the world for years to come, as their relative simplicity, durability and speed meant they were ideal cars for ambitious privateers. Owing to this they saw service all over the world. Zakspeed won the Nurburgring 24 Hours three times in a row in 2001, 2002 and 2003 with their Viper, while Callista Meccanica won the 24 Hours of Bathurst in Australia in 2004 in an upset win over the highly-favoured Gerry Rogers Motorsports and their factory-backed Holden Monaro 427C racers. First-generation Viper GTS-Rs could be seen in national GT Championships all the way through the 2000s, and their legacy was such that Chrysler would end up racing the Viper again a number of years later.
A 1998 Dodge Viper GTS-R homologation special
A ORECA-run 2000 Dodge Viper GTS-R
Zakspeed's Dodge Viper GTS-R on the way to victory in the 2003 24 Hours of the Nurburgring
Model Name: Dodge Viper GTS-R
Manufacturer: Chrysler Corporation, Dodge Division (race cars were assembled either by Societe ORECA or Street and Racing Technology)
Model Type: GT1-class Racing Car
Model Year: 1996-2004
Origin: Detroit, Michigan, United States of America
Engine: Chrysler 356-T6 'Viper' 7990cc V10
Power: 670 hp @ 6100 rpm (1996-97), 700 hp @ 6250 rpm (1998-2000), 715 hp @ 6400 rpm (2001-2004)
Torque: 660 ft-lbs @ 4000 rpm (1996-97), 667 ft-lbs @ 4100 rpm (1998-2000), 670 ft-lbs @ 4100 rpm (2001-2004)
Drivetrain: Front-engined, Rear-wheel-drive
Transmission: BorgWarner T56 six-speed manual (1996-97), New Process Gear SA971 seven-speed semi-automatic (1998-2001), New Process Gear SA1024 seven-speed semi-automatic (2002-2004)
Weight: 1,200 kg (2,648 lbs) minimum
0-100 km/h: 3.5 seconds
Top Speed: 220 mph est. (1996-97), 240 mph est. (1998-2004)
MSRP: $950,000 (1996-97), $1,100,000 (1998-2004)
Number Produced: 108 (including all models of the Dodge Viper GTS-R)
One of the most recognizable machines of the GT1 era of sports car racing, the spectacular Dodge Viper GTS-R began as a car that people respected but few ever expected to be one of the greatest cars of the era, only for constant development by Chrysler, it's Street and Rave Technology (SRT) division and Hughes de Chaunac's famed ORECA outfit to turn it not only into a winner, but one of the most capable cars of the era, the brute force American countermeasure to the thoroughbred McLaren F1 GTR and Ferrari F50 GT1 that became a champion on both sides of the Atlantic and came away a winner in sports car races all across the world.
Introduced to the world with the second-generation Dodge Viper at the 1995 Pebble Beach Councours d'Elegance, the Viper GTS-R entered both the 1996 BPR Global GT Series and the 1996 IMSA GT Championship, being reasonably successful in America (though it lost the GT1 title to the Porsche 911 GT2 of Champion Racing, the Vector M12 GT of American Spirit Racing and the McLaren F1 GTR of PacWest Racing, despite winning two races. In Europe things were less capable, as the McLaren and Ferrari competitors outclassed the Viper, even though it's pace was undeniable.
1997 brought better success in IMSA as Canaska Southwind and Challenger Motorsports won the IMSA championship in convincing fashion, despite the challenge of Risi Competitzione and their new Ferrari F50s. In Europe the ORECA team replaced DAMS with the cars, and while the Viper was competitive it was hardly the title contender Chrysler wanted - but for 1998, the Viper swapped out it's aging BorgWarner manual transmission for a New Process Gear-built seven-speed semiautomatic, which also was introduced with the 1998 Viper GTS-R road car. Also new (and on the road car) was powerful ceramic brakes developed by SRT and StopTech, which improved the car's braking. Improvements to suspension and aerodynamics also helped improve the car for the 1998 season.
1998 was a slugout in the BPR and IMSA, and while the Ferraris of BMS Scuderia Italia came out on top, the Vipers of Team ORECA, Stephenson Racing and Chamberlain Engineering held their own against the Ferraris and the McLarens, winning four races (including, importantly for Chrysler, the BPR race at the new Race City in Detroit) and finishing third in the championship. IMSA was a second title in a row, this time for PacWest, who had swapped out their McLaren F1s for the Vipers and benefited from it.
While McLaren's long-tailed, semi-automatic gearbox-equipped F1 GTRs and the screaming Ferrari F50 GT1s remained capable, and the fine-handling four-wheel-drive Nissan Skyline GT-R proved a capable competitor, the first year of the FIA GT Championship saw the Team ORECA Vipers come good at last, even as the Michael Shank Racing McLaren F1 GTRs shockingly bested both the Vipers and the new-and-fast Corvette C5-R in IMSA. The Vipers' fantastic result at Le Mans - first and second in class, sixth ans seventh overall - was somewhat overshadowed by the awesome victory by Panoz in the world's biggest sportscar race, the first overall victory by an American car at Le Mans since 1969.
2000 saw a repeat title for Team ORECA and Chamberlain Engineering did provide excellent support, but Porsche's new Carrera GTR was a serious contender the whole season as was the Nissan Skyline GT-R, and while the Ferrari F50s and McLaren F1s were aging, they were still very fast and capable. Michael Shank Racing's McLaren F1s and the Corvette C5-Rs once again stopped Team ORECA's hope for a double GT1 title, but few could complain about four championships in four years. 2001 saw that streak stopped, as the Ferrari 550 Maranellos of Risi Competitzione and the Corvettes claimed the IMSA title while the FIA GT Championship was won by the Porsche Carrera GTR, the title being won by Porsche as a result of Team Prodrive blitzing the field at the final two rounds at Kyalami and Adelaide.
For 2002 Chamberlain, ATS and Zakspeed took over the FIA GT Championship duties to allow ORECA to focus on the IMSA title, setting up a wild showdown between Team ORECA and their Dodge Viper GTS-Rs and Corvette Racing and their Chevrolet Corvette C5-Rs. It was a battle that ORECA won in 2002, though only just and the battle went all the way to the IMSA finale at the Nassau Speedweeks in the Bahamas, and the Ferrari 550s of Risi Competitzione and Team Racing Point frequently interjected themselves into the battle. The following year the Corvettes came away with the title after a similar season-long battle. In Europe Team Prodrive's Ferraris beat out Porsche Motorsport for the 2002 FIA GT Championship, with Zakspeed just falling short on stopping Prodrive and BMS Scuderia Italia from a repeat in 2003.
Chrysler stopped supporting the Viper GTS-R after the 2004 season, but by that point over 100 such cars had been built, and they would be common sights in GT racing all over the world for years to come, as their relative simplicity, durability and speed meant they were ideal cars for ambitious privateers. Owing to this they saw service all over the world. Zakspeed won the Nurburgring 24 Hours three times in a row in 2001, 2002 and 2003 with their Viper, while Callista Meccanica won the 24 Hours of Bathurst in Australia in 2004 in an upset win over the highly-favoured Gerry Rogers Motorsports and their factory-backed Holden Monaro 427C racers. First-generation Viper GTS-Rs could be seen in national GT Championships all the way through the 2000s, and their legacy was such that Chrysler would end up racing the Viper again a number of years later.
A 1998 Dodge Viper GTS-R homologation special
A ORECA-run 2000 Dodge Viper GTS-R
Zakspeed's Dodge Viper GTS-R on the way to victory in the 2003 24 Hours of the Nurburgring
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