Mopar Debuts 2015 Dodge Viper ACR Concept for SEMA

2015 dodge srt viper

Mopar recently released the first picture of its 2015 Dodge Viper ACR Concept car—destined for a SEMA debut on November 4 in Las Vegas—so let the rumor-mongering begin right here: Could this car be the first hint of an upcoming production model that will look to crack the 7-minute mark at the Nürburgring? 

Consider:

• The 2015 Dodge Viper is the Chrysler Group's high-performance flagship, but it's consistently out-buzzed—and significantly outsold—by its closest rival, the Chevy Corvette. In fact, the Corvette sales total for September alone (2,467 units) was more than twice the number of current-generation Vipers delivered (1,137 unit) since sales began in February of 2013.
• With the Charger and Challenger Hellcats about to be unleashed on the public, the 2015 Dodge Viper may not even be the best-performing car in its own backyard.
• In 2011, a previous-gen Dodge Viper ACR posted a Nürburgring lap time of 7:12.13 to become the fastest mainstream-branded street-legal production car ever on that track. It's still No. 6 overall, too, behind only the Gumpert Apollo (7:11.57), Nissan GT-R NISMO (7:08.68), Porsche 918 Spyder (6:57.00), Radical SR8 (6:56.08), and Radical SR8LM (6:48).

And what better way could there be for the 2015 Dodge Viper to earn back some performance credibility, boost awareness and perhaps even goose sales, then to break the 7:00 mark at the Nürburgring, where it already has a nice track record of success?

It's also worth noting that any mention of a powertrain is suspiciously absent from the press materials for the 2015 Dodge Viper ACR concept. Could that be because engineers are still trying to fit a supercharged, 707-hp Hellcat HEMI beneath its hood?

The car certainly lives up to its ACR "American Club Racer" reputation in other respects, highlighted by a functional, wind-tunnel-test carbon-fiber aero kit, the obligatoryset of Brembo-backed high-performance brakes, and a stripped-down, driver-centric cabin.

Oh, and on the topic of stripped-down cabins, the 2015 Dodge Viper's nest will hatch a new entry version when sales start in the first quarter of next year, with that car offering less standard content than its 2014 counterpart, but with 20 more horsepower and a $15,000 drop in pricing, to $84,995.