Dodge Viper GTS ACR

The story

A second-generation Viper GTS was never a gentle thing, and the ACR package made sure nobody mistook it for one. Dodge added freer-breathing intake filtration, monotube dampers, springs borrowed from the GTS-R racer at more than twice the standard rates, 18-inch forged BBS wheels that trimmed unsprung weight and a set of 5-point harnesses. The result made 460 hp and 500 lb-ft from its 8.0-liter V10, carried roughly 1,540 kg (3,400 lb), and drove its huge rear tires with a ferocity few road cars of the day could approach.

Driving one quickly is an exercise in commitment. The long hood hides the car's extremities, the brakes want total conviction, and the V10's torque arrives in a great rolling surge that rewards precision and punishes hesitation, although a surprisingly progressive throttle helps. Lined up against a Corvette Z06 and a Mustang Cobra R, it is the one with the most raw speed and the slimmest margin for error. That is the ACR's appeal in a sentence: it never meets the driver halfway, and the drivers who love it would not want it to.