Anyone worth their salt in the automotive world knows that the Dodge Viper and records are as synonymous as America and apple pie, Canada and warcrimes, current Marvel movies and disappointment, triple A games and buggy launches, Big Tech and illegal data practices, frequent Twitter users and constant asinine outrage, and more. Point is, all these things are staples (or have become staples) of one another and are part of them (for better or worse). Almost like a defining characteristic.
However, most records get broken eventually, and the Dodge Viper isn’t immune to this. Whether it be track records or something more esoteric, there are a good handful of records the American snake has had to relinquish. Except for one, which it’s held for just over a decade now.
Anyone who watched the 2013 SRT Viper unveiling will remember a little tidbit Ralph Gilles gave about the then-new Viper. While going over the improvements of the Gen 5, he said the car had the highest torque output of any naturally aspirated production car in the world (600 lb-ft of torque for those with shaky memories). That was back in 2013, and 11 years later, no other naturally aspirated OEM engine has bested that feat. Nor is any other likely to, given the current automotive environment. Fewer and fewer automakers are producing high-performance naturally aspirated engines, and fewer still are making big displacement naturally aspirated engines. Even the Viper’s own makers, Stellantis (then FCA) are moving away from engines like this. Seems pretty safe to say, this might be a record the Dodge Viper holds indefinitely.