Faults:

Build and trim quality not acceptable on a car of this price and market segment. Significantly worse than my TVR Chimaera, and that cost less than half as much.

The car is actually very reliable though.

General Comments:

Much about the Viper is pretty awful. For starters, 400 bhp from 8 litres is a joke. European manufacturers would get 200 more from 2 litres less. Still, all said and done, it's an 8 litre V10 and as you would expect, it goes like absolute stink. First gear is good for around 60 mph! Shame it doesn't sound better though. Needs the Hennessey conversion for that (and another 150 bhp - yum!) That said, out of the box this has more than enough performance for the anti-speeding Nazis to put you behind bars with three gears left to go!

In the corners, it's not the handful you might think. Sure the sheer torque will overcome the garden roller rear tyres without too much trouble, but driven swiftly and tidily, it simply goes where you point it. It stays flat and there's good feel through the steering. The other bonus about having a big, softly tuned engine is it has no spikes or surges in its delivery which can upset the car. There's just fuss free grunt at any revs and any throttle opening.

Running costs are what you would expect of a 14 mpg car - steep! Insurance is horrendous as well. My premium went up by 65% over the Chimaera.

One of those cars I just had to have, and now I'm going to have a hard time parting with. Has a sense of occasion and a feel good factor that few polished European rivals can get near. In many ways, the bad bits of the Viper - the comedy build quality, the mediaeval technology and the sheer impracticality of it are exactly the things that make it stand out. If you like the finely honed precision of, say a Porsche, you will hate it. If you love the attitude and "characterful flaws" of a TVR, you will probably fall in love with the Dodge. I have.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong in 2 years and 16K miles. Which is impressive to me, especially considering that I drive the Viper every day, AND regularly race it at the track.

I just replaced the rear tires, which wear about twice as quickly as the fronts. Parts are not cheap for this car.

General Comments:

The Viper is an amazing car. It was a dream of mine to own one, and I still love the car after two years.

I've done some modifications and the car's acceleration is truly SCARY (about the same as a stock Saleen S7).

The handling is amazing, as you can go faster than you would think to try in other cars. But the Viper does NOT suffer fools well, so you need to really take time to learn the car before driving close to it's limits (which are not obvious with squealing tires). The car's chassis is the most solid of any open car that I've driven.

Most of the complaints that I've read about the Viper can be fixed with simple mods. Cabin heat goes away with high-flow cats, a great exhaust sound comes with aftermarket exhaust, better visibility (for taller drivers) comes with a seat lowering kit. And I added a B&M shifter for tighter shifts.

Contrary to most beliefs of the public, I get decent gas mileage (for the performance) in the Viper, averaging around 16MPG with 26MPG on long freeway drives.

The one thing that I hadn't been prepared for was the instant celebrity status of the car. People smile, yell and wave every single day, and stare at the car as if there was a nude supermodel in the passenger seat.

It's not a car for everyone, that's for sure. But it's a real blast!