Prodrive on the Viper
Helping DaimlerChrysler sort out the European model
Automotive engineering specialist Prodrive has worked with DaimlerChrysler Corporation to develop a fully type-approved version of the 500hp Dodge Viper SRT-10 for European customers.
Prodrive managed the programme of 45 separate tests required to obtain approval in all European markets and worked with DaimlerChrysler to re-engineer over 50 parts of the Viper in order to meet the most stringent European requirements.
Most significantly, the side exit exhaust system on the US-spec Viper did not pass European drive-by noise regulations, so there had to be significant modifications to the exhaust system, without compromising the performance or driveability of the car.
Prodrive has also worked with DaimlerChrysler to coordinate the supply chain for the European vehicle. Wherever possible, changes have been introduced with the Viper’s existing suppliers, with parts installed on the Viper line at the Conner Avenue assembly plant in Detroit. Changes that require a substantially different build-sequence, as is the case with the new exhaust system, are to be carried out in Europe, at a Prodrive-managed facility specially set up at Zeebrugge, where the cars arrive from the US.
“It didn’t make sense for DaimlerChrysler to redesign the Viper production line for the relatively small number of European cars, so they will build and test the cars before shipping them to our facility for the final changes,” explains Andy Tempest, managing director of Automotive Technology at Prodrive. “We have accumulated a lot of experience in this area thanks to projects with companies such as Subaru and Ford, so we were ideally positioned to help DaimlerChrysler through the process with the Viper.”
The first of the several hundred Viper SRT-10s that Dodge will be selling each year through its European dealer network will arrive at the Prodrive Zeebrugge facility in September, and the car will be available for purchase by the end of the year.
there is only one prodrive, subaru, GT 550 ferrari's etc. They have a nice little private test track at the back of solihull, went on it once in a company car
>> Edited by Viper on Thursday 22 July 11:55
burwoodman said:
£80K?...at that price they can keep it. 60hp per litre? what a pig
I had one in Japan as a 'Team Car' with an uprated engine to 640hp and it RULED THE ROAD, AND QUITE FRANKLEY THE WORLD !
See http://groups.msn.com/adamwilcoxphotosite/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=203
For a pic.
AW
Hey, a couple of weeks ago someone refered to my car as a slug.....much lower form of life than the intelligent swine ;o)
Cancelled the order for mine but after last week at Hockenheim and seeing how good the handling was on the track and the brakes which are superb....it may have won me over at just undet 70k perhaps.....but at 80 plus no.
Do hope Chysler UK read this forum occasionally.
People used to call Skoda's slugs but I remember them winning there class on the RAC ralley ever year in the 70's.
Did I say vipers are reliable?
>> Edited by z064life on Friday 23 July 14:32
In terms of servicing, it costs £150 every 7500 miles, with the major one at 30,000 miles costing £350 (according to the Evo buyer's guide). It may be only 60 hp/l, but such a low level of specific output is good enough to see this 3400-lb car off to 60 in ~4.0 seconds, 100 in less than 9, and 150 in around 22.5. All the while with gearing that allows 190 mph in 5th gear, still some 650 rpm short of redline. And a 6th gear that allows 60 mph cruising @ 1150 rpm (and anywhere from 12-16 mpg in mixed driving). This in a car that has (in its home market anyway) a 7-year/70K-mile warranty on the drivetrain.
To say that the Viper's 60 hp/l output is poor indicates there is another 8-liter V10 to compare it to. Which one is that? (Remember, as displacement goes up, it's generally more difficult to maintain specific output, all else being equal.)
Gassing Station | Vipers | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff