It may be less powerful than a Hellcat, but Dodge’s 2015 Viper is still venomous

By Stephen Edelstein September 3, 2014

With all of the Hellcat hullabaloo, it’s easy to forget that there’s another wild animal in the Chrysler performance stable.

After returning to the Dodge fold, the Viper will get a handful of upgrades for the 2015 model year.

The 8.4-liter V10 gets a five-horsepower bump for a total of 645 hp, while torque remains unchanged at 600 pound-feet. No, that’s still not as much as you’ll get in a Challenger or Charger SRT Hellcat.

It may be outgunned on the horsepower front, but the Viper should at least be able to compete visually with its siblings thanks to two new colors – Stryker Purple and Yorange – and a Ceramic Blue Edition package for the GTS model that gives the car an otherworldly glow. The latter will be limited to just 40 units.

Related: 2014 SRT Viper TA first drive

There’s also a new GT model that sits between the base Viper and the GTS in the lineup. It includes adjustable Bilstein DampTronic Select shock absorbers and five-mode electronic stability control, but does without most of the GTS’ luxury features.

The sportiest Viper is still the TA, which evolves with a 2.0 Special Edition package for 2015. It includes a model-specific aerodynamic package with dive planes, a carbon fiber front splitter, and larger rear spoiler, plus unique suspension tuning and upgraded brakes, wheels, and tires.

Only 32 TA 2.0 Special Edition models will be made in each of the three available exterior colors (Competition Blue, Yorange, Venom Black). They will go into production with the rest of the 2015 Viper range in the coming months.

Editors' Recommendations

2020 Dodge Charger Widebody adds grip to tame massive Hemi power

Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

Cars

Don’t let the gimmicks fool you. The Ioniq 5 N is a serious track car

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N drifting.

We’re finally getting to the fun part of automakers’ methodical quest to replicate their lineups with electric cars.

Performance versions of ordinary cars have been a staple of the auto industry for decades. But while we’ve already seen some variants of EVs boasting more power and more impressive stats — think Tesla Model S Plaid or Lucid Air Sapphire — the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is the first to truly apply that format to an EV.

Cars

The Maserati GranCabrio Folgore is one of the best-looking EVs yet

Front of the Maserati GranCabrio Folgore

Maserati is adopting electrified vehicles with open arms, and while that could potentially signal an identity crisis for the luxury Italian brand, that’s probably a good thing in the long run.

The company recently took the wraps off of the new Maserati GranCabrio Folgore, which is essentially a convertible version of its already released GranTurismo Folgore electric car. The new EV is its third go at electrified vehicles so far, and it flew us out to Rimini, Italy, to witness the big reveal in person.

Cars

EV warranties aren’t like those for non-electric cars. Here’s what you should know

Close up of the Hybrid car electric charger station with power supply plugged into an electric car being charged.

EVs are on the rise. With awesome new models finally rolling out and charging networks rapidly expanding, it feels like we're at the tipping point of electric cars being as mainstream as non-electric vehicles. But with a whole new type of vehicle come new challenges. One challenge is adapting to charging times. Another is paying closer to attention to range. And another, as some drivers are finding out, has to do with electric car warranties.

Turns out, the warranty that comes with electric cars isn't necessarily quite the same as the one that you might get with your non-electric car. If you really think about it, that's probably not all that surprising -- after all, while they can look the same, electric cars have a completely different makeup under the hood compared to their gas-powered cousins. But understanding an EV warranty could be the difference between winding up having to pay thousands for a battery replacement, or getting one repaired on the house.
It's not all new
Before diving into things like battery warranties, it's worth doing a quick primer on car warranties in general. EVs and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles usually come with two different warranties -- at least when they're bought new. First, there's the basic warranty (also known as bumper-to-bumper warranty), which covers every part of a car except for basic maintenance, usually for up to three years or 36,000 miles.