How has the DODGE VIPER SRT-10 been captivating wealthy street racers for a decade and a half? "Viper" is a cult name for every American. How has the model captivating wealthy street racers for a decade and a half?
“I cannot permit driving on the sidewalk for shooting, even though the color is stunning,” the black policeman looked sternly but kindly. - See that building over there? Our mayor sits there, and the windows of his office overlook here! Although … if you only need a couple of minutes - I, so be it, will not notice you. " The Viper photo session in downtown Detroit did take place.
Downtown looks good: skyscrapers of the early twentieth century coexist with modern sculptures and the Cobo Exhibition Center, which hosts America's largest auto show every January. But the mayor's patience is not unlimited - it's time to move on. A mile into the center, and before us are abandoned buildings with gaping black eye sockets of window openings, facades burned out by old fires and doorways strewn with debris. Once upon a time, life was raging here. After the black riot of the 1960s, when 42 people were killed and more than 7,000 injured in five days, many whites left Detroit, and it firmly took the rankings of America's most crime-ridden places. But even here DODGE VIPER SRT-10 “Viper” does not lose self-confidence, and this feeling is contagious. An hour earlier, I saw the car for the first time in an airport parking lot and cautiously touched the start button of the engine.
The engine sighed noisily with its multi-liter lungs. A harsh song of shafts and valves at idle, vibrations on the steering wheel, pedals and seat - how unlike a well-trained European school! In the city, the turnover does not rise above 2000. Almost from the start, Dodge and I trudge in third gear, realizing a small fraction of 760 N • m of torque … You can make a mistake and turn on the fifth - the car simply will not notice it. But everyone notices us! Passers-by react to the muffled but promising murmur of the release by raising their hands in greeting; drivers honk after a tantalizingly poisonous (as befits a viper!) green spot spread across the asphalt.
Over the 16 years since the start of production, "Viper" has not changed much. The car of the current, formally fourth generation became more powerful by 90 hp., a double-disc clutch appeared in the transmission, the gas distribution and intake systems were improved, the aluminum independent suspension of all wheels was reconfigured. However, the car is cosmically far from perfect in many respects. If you are taller than average, you will have to pull your head into your shoulders, otherwise the edge of the windshield will block your view. She does not allow you to relax when landing, treacherously aiming at the face with an acute angle. The exhaust, brought out to the threshold at the rear wheel, heats up the air. It becomes difficult to breathe - rather a green light!
Cockpit trims are cheap, and the design is unsophisticated. Controllability is straightforward: there is no stabilization system (thanks for the ABS!), With careless driving and "pedaling", the skid sets in abruptly, and it is not easy to correct it. The paradox is that many of the flaws fit perfectly into the image of a street fighter! When the traffic lights are left behind, Viper reveals his cards. The harsh low-frequency roar of the engine, mixed with transmission noise, is reflected from the chrome sides of trucks weaving along the highways. The steering wheel is filled with weight and urges to change rows in time with the rumbling of electric guitars rushing from the speakers. The fuel burning up in the exhaust pipe under the gas discharge makes you press the pedal to the floor again, enjoying the frantic pressure and juicy acceleration even beyond the permitted speeds. The pursuers in the shaking rearview mirror are lost. Now you can slow down. And for the hundredth time, enjoy Joe Frazer's lightning-fast left hook, which even Mohammed Ali feared, a four-second acceleration to a hundred. The green serpent is obliged to get drunk, and he does it superbly!
