Over the past year, Dodge has been battling to keep the Viper relevant. The appearance of the Corvette Z06 and competition from the insane Challenger Hellcat have made the hand-built American supercar seem a bit lost.
In fact, Dodge has twice halted production of the Viper to prevent a buildup of unsold cars. But, as the saying goes, things are always darkest before the dawn. Lovers of the big, bad snake can rejoice because the 2015 Viper is back on its game with the lowest price since the first Vipers rolled of the line in the ’90s.
To put it simply, the entire Viper range has dropped $15,000. An entry-level SRT model now costs just $84,885. The original Viper that went on sale in 1992 cost $50,700 which is the equivalent of $86,130 today. So, for economists at least, the 2015 Viper is the cheapest ever.
The range-topping Viper GTS now costs $107,385 – roughly equivalent to a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S, which has 250 fewer horsepowers, manages just 185 mph to the Viper’s 206 and is close to a full second slower to 60. That’s a pretty good lineup for the Viper. And things look even rosier when comparison involves the simply insane Viper Time Attack 2.0 model which costs $100,885.
Related: See first drive review of 2014 Viper Time Attack
The major change to the lineup itself is the introduction of the “GT” model. Slotted between the entry-level SRT package and the fancier GTS, the GT offers luxury interior trim as well as a two mode suspension, five mode electronic stability control, and massively upgraded brakes. This model will cost $94,995, or five grand less than the SRT used to.
Wise observers will note that the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 offers similar – or even better – performance on paper and a price of just $78,995. First and foremost, this means that it is a great time to be a fan of American muscle. But it also confuses that fact because the Viper is an entirely different animal. It is a raw, scary hand-built exotic, that now happens to cost just as much as mass-produced sports cars like the Corvette and the Porsche 911.
