SRT replaces Dodge Viper

With each passing week, 2012 is looking to be the best automotive year we can remember.

First Toyota launches the eagerly anticipated cheap sportscar, the GT 86, thus inspiring other Japanese manufacturers to come up with an equally eagerly anticipated cheap sportscar to rival it. Thanks for that, Toyota.

Then Ferrari shocks us with a stunning Pininfarina-designed body draped over the fastest road-going Prancing Horse ever.

As if that wasn't enough for Q1, Lamborghini decided to remind the world that all is indeed well post-financial crisis, with its recent reveal of the Aventador J. It's strangely comforting to know that everyone in Sant'Agata Bolognese is still as mad as ever.

But the real reason why we'reso giddy about 2012 is this. It's staring at you right across these pages. Watch your eyes though; its menacing glare alone is venomous.

The SRT Viper (don't call it a Dodge — SRT, or Street and Racing Technology, is now Chrysler's stand-alone performance brand) has formally and unanimously become the one car wheels looks forward to driving the most. We've officially decided that we would turn away an invitation to road-trip with Amber Heard if we were given a chance at half-a-lap behind the wheel of the lustrous Viper.

We're talking about an all-aluminium V10 with cavernous cylinders displacing 8.4-litres of Yank brute force. We're talking about 640 naturally aspirated horses pummelling the rear tyres to within an inch of their lives, and 813Nm of torque mercilessly twisting through the six-speed manual transmission (start working on those biceps now).

If ever there was a car that says, "I bite, hard," this is it. And call us masochistic, but we're ready to go in without the antivenom.

Now, at this point we should probably add that the new SRT Viper is actually a 2013 model. We don't care. That gives us the rest of 2012 to work up enough courage for that first meeting.

Chrysler's return of the snake is clearly one of the biggest headline acts of the year, and it's easy to understand why. Firstly, there is the Italian-inspired exterior design (Ralph Gilles, president and CEO of Street and Racing Technology says Fiat had nothing to do with it, but that doesn't change the fact that the Viper looks like it came straight out of Pininfarina's studio). SRT will hand-build every single Viper that comes out of its Conner Avenue assembly plant in Detroit, offering a base model as well as a top-spec GTS variant. The outer skin is crafted from carbon fibre and aluminium, while the interior has been given a completely new lease of life with premium materials, proper craftsmanship, fully leather skinned, sewn and wrapped interior panels, Kevlar Sabelt seats, and a new, next generation Uconnect Access in-vehicle connectivity system with a 7.0in colour display. Needless to say, the Viper's interior is no longer the stuff of McDonald's Happy Meal plastics, as before.

The driver's seat has also been dropped by 20mm, in the name of comfort but more importantly performance as well, and interior room was increased with the floor pan and bulkhead extendedby around 90mm to providemore legroom.

Yes, that's all very nice, but what about the important bits?

The beating heart of this snake is, of course, the hand-assembled 8.4-litre V10. The 2013 Viper gets a new, ultra-high flow and lightweight composite intake manifold, high-strength forged pistons, sodium-filled exhaust valves, new catalysts to reduce back pressure and an aluminium flywheel. All in all, SRT managed to shed more than 11kg from the engine, while also finding time to shorten the throw of the six-speed 'box and add closer gear ratios for better acceleration.

Viper engineers then stiffened up the chassis by 50 per cent compared to the old one, thanks to direct racing involvement from the Viper GTS-R and Competition Coupé models. The biggest lesson learned on the track is evident in the use of a new aluminium X brace under the bonnet and an aluminium impact beam at the front which helps reduce weight and improve weight distribution. All this has resulted in a car that's 45kg lighter.

The rear suspension has been completely re-engineered, and the car finally includes ESP and traction control to help maximise grip as well as your life.

Let us remind you that the old Viper SRT-10 hit 100kph from rest in under four seconds, but since this one sports a better power to weight ratio, plus the addition of launch control, we're guessingthe mid-threes shouldn't posea problem. Once you overdo it, you can be thankful for the four-piston Brembo brakes with aluminium callipers, gripping 355mm discs in all four corners.

For now, something we can all be thankful for, is one heck of a year to be a petrolhead.