NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
The original Dodge Viper was, for many, the quintessential American performance machine. Its design spoke of raw power. Ten huge cylinders of inelegant, inefficient and unforgiving power. Take a turn too fast and prepare to find yourself sliding sideways off the asphalt. Hey, you want "forgiving"? Talk to a priest.
The old Viper, already a classic, was designed to look like it hadn't been designed at all. It looked like the engineers had just yelled out for someone to bring them a hood that fit that big engine. "Sure, that one'll do. Hand me that pneumatic wrench, will ya?" The result was a car that resembled a gargantuan bottom-feeding fish without, somehow, looking ugly. That's a fine line to walk.
Things change and, like people, cars mature. Like an irresponsible teenager who's been through a "Dr. Phil" lifestyle makeover, the new Viper retains its masculinity but it gains some finesse and, yes, forgiveness.
Some differences you can see immediately. It also looks more like a car that was designed by car designers and built by a car company. "My intention was to make it appear to have been sculpted out of solid metal," says Viper exterior designer Osamu Shikado. The hood has been lowered, but the grill has been enlarged to accentuate Dodge's trademark cross design. The goal was to smooth out the appearance while maintaining what Dodge calls "Viperness."
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Viper's new 505 cubic inch (a 3.5 increase in displacement) 500 horsepower V-10 has the same basic architecture as the old, but it's lighter and has 50 more horses than the previous version and 35 foot/pounds more torque. The car's road manners have also been improved but without resorting to fancy "traction control" systems. If you can't handle 500 horses, it's still your problem. With the same "driver's car" philosophy, there's only one transmission available. It's a six-speed manual.
Inside, looking at the gauges, it's the tachometer, not the speedometer, that is given emphasis. It's big and in the center. (For those of you who've spent too much time driving automatic family sedans, the tachometer is the gauge that shows you the engine's speed in RPMs. It's that dial, next to the speedometer, that you never look at.) Viper drivers, the thinking goes, care about getting the most out of the car. How fast they're going is simply "As fast as I can," and you don't need a gauge for that.
Then there's the roof. Actually, that's where this whole thing started. The new Viper has an easy to operate convertible top. That roof change actually instigated the makeover. Once designers realized they'd have to lengthen the car by 2.6 inches to fit the new roof mechanism, they figured they might as well re-do the whole thing.
Now, at a base price of $80,795 for a two-seater with a small trunk, this isn't everyone's car. Consider this, though. It's a veritable econo-box at one-eighth the price of an Enzo Ferrari.
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