The 2012 SEMA Show is about dazzling the world with the capabilities of tuning companies and it takes a strong presence to be able to pull out ahead of the crowd. Chrysler Group’s Mopar and SRT brands are attempting that very feat by teaming up with comedic ventriloquist, Jeff Dunham.
For this build, Dunham is putting aside Walter (the retired, grumpy old man), Achmed (the dead terrorist), Peanut (the hyperactive, purple-skinned "woozle"), and Jose Jalapeño on a Stick (well, that one’s pretty self-explanatory) so that he can team up with Chrysler on "Project Ultraviolet," the tuning package that started off as a Dodge Challenger SRT8. The purpose behind this build is for Chrysler to show off some newly developed technology and a brand new engine. Nothing else is said about the car in this video, but there are two more videos to follow before the 2012 SEMA Auto Show opens its doors.
Are we excited to see what this purple Challenger has to offer? In the words of Jose Jalapeno on a Stick, "Siiiiii, señor!"
Hit the jump to read more on the Dodge Challenger SRT Project Ultraviolet by Jeff Dunham.
One of the 24 projects to be displayed by Mopar at the 2012 SEMA Show at the end of October is a stunning customized SRT Viper. Inspired by the company’s racing vehicles, this special Viper features a yellow exterior paint finish and lots of carbon fiber parts.
The sunny exterior finish is bordered by carbon fiber on the underhood and the performance cross X-Brace trimmed in a satin finish with a decal-cut Viper "Stryker" logo in the center. The engine cover is also made of a combination of aluminum and carbon fiber and features the standard SRT logo. The package continues with a carbon fiber aero package and new Mopar coil springs to aid in suspension performance.
For the interior, Mopar is offering accents in the same yellow found on the exterior with black Katzkin leather seats with yellow accents and a six-point safety harness. The final addition for the interior is a new, race-inspired, sand-blasted aluminum Mopar bright pedal kit, with the Viper logo etched in the pedals.
As an option, Mopar is also offering "Track Pack" wheels finished in hyperblack, a front tow hook, and an LED fog lamp kit.
Updated 10/31/2012: Mopar has unveiled today at the SEMA Auto Show a very impressive list of parts and accessories they are offering for the 2013 Viper. Hit the jump for the full list and prices.
The newest member in the Chrysler family is SRT (Street and Racing Technology), which was unveiled at the same time as the new generation Viper that bnow bears its name. According to Chrysler, this new extension of their brand will be responsible for the development of the most powerful performance models available.
A lot goes behind setting up an arm such as SRT. Each department has a specific use in the grand scheme of the automotive world. Today, SRT has unveiled a video that explains the essence of this newly created brand and solidifies its purpose for the company: "The SRT family of five street and racing technology vehicles represents the pinnacle of Chrysler performance. Five different ways to get your revs up - all bred from the minds of those passionate about making cars better, faster and stronger."
SRT has already wowed us with their new generationViper, but we have to wonder what other scintillating models they have in store. The next piece of this SRT puzzle comes in the form of the Barracuda, but will it be able to stand up to its German competitors? Only time will tell, but they are sure off to a great start!
Let’s imagine you are one of those lucky people that have the extra $100K in your pocket and wants to buy the new 2013 SRT Viper. Now that you have the money, $97,395 for the SRT Viper and $120,395 for the SRT Viper GT, the next step would be to configure the sports car of your dreams. According to SRT, that shouldn’t be a problem because the new Viper comes with no less than 150,000 possible combinations, including colors and stripes, interior options, stereo choices, and wheel designs.
The standard Viper is offered with a choice of six exterior colors - Adrenaline Red, Black Venom, Bright White, Gunmetal Pearl ($1,000), Race Yellow ($1,000), and Shadow Blue Pearl ($1,000) - while the GTS adds two more- Stryker Red Tinted Pearl and GTS Blue ($1,000). These exterior colors can be combined with different racing stripes - Billet Silver, Black Venom, and Gunmetal - each priced at $4,500 for the standard Viper and at $5,000 for the GTS. Next, we have eight wheel options with prices ranging from $500 to $1,100.
For the interior, there are three different audio systems, the most expensive being the 18-speaker Harman Kardon premium audio system priced at $2,995. The seats can be covered with premium ballistic nylon, Nappa leather with Alcantara inserts, and the first application of Laguna Premium leather in an SRT. That will add another $3,000 to your car’s price.
There are also four packages to choose from: the Track Package priced at $3,500, the Grand Touring Package at $2,500, the GTS Laguna Interior Package at 7,500, and GTS Launch Edition Package price at $15,500.
That being said, all you need is patience, lots of money, and good luck to customize the Viper of your dreams!
Hennessey is truly in a class all their own. After delivering the sheer awesomeness that is the Venom based on the Lotus Elise, the company is gracing us with their keen sense of style and power by preparing another package, this time for the new 2013 SRT Viper.
The Viper-based package delivers the same kind of power upgrades as the ones found on the previous package, meaning there are two different power output to choose from. The Venom 700R increases the Viper’s output to an impressive 725 HP, while the Venom 1000 Twin Turbo delivers a mouthwatering 1,120 HP - that’s almost double the standard 640 HP offered by the 2013 Viper.
Like with the previous Venom packages, the new 700R and 1000 Twin Turbo kits provide more of a power update than anything else. The exterior updates are limited to a carbon fiber aerodynamic kit, including new spoilers, new splitters, and a very cool rear wing for the 1000 Twin Turbo version.
Hit the jump to read more about the 2013 Hennessey Venom 1000/700R.
The details on the upcoming SRT Barracuda are still very scarce and we aren’t expecting to hear more until sometime in late 2013, at the earliest. There are, of course, the occasional leaks and the inadvertent video evidence of its existence, but nothing too concrete. We all have our assumptions, given the nature of the SRT line, that the SRT Barracuda will be a hulking V-8 powered machine set to rip the fender wells from future 4-cylinder Mustangs and Camaros.
Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. The SRT lineup is a growing brand in itself, much like the Ram lineup. Plus, with Chrysler now being in bed with Fiat, we all know that Chrysler likely won’t build any other cars that don’t have a Fiat relative somewhere. Not to mention that Fiat is in need of a newer rear-wheel-drive platform. This brings us to our point that the SRT `Cuda very well may be a full-line vehicle. By that, we mean one that has a 4-cylinder, V-6 and multiple V-8 options.
According to reports, the SRT Barracuda should come in at a full eight inches shorter than the Challenger it will replace, giving it an optimal size for Fiat to use. With this shorter body, the `Cuda is also set to drop a few hundred pounds, which will make it more even with the Mustang and Camaro that the Challenger is simply monstrous compared to.
Now add in the fact that the EU standards and new CAFÉ regulations are going to force SRT to up its mpg and lower its emissions and you can see exactly why the Barracuda may have more than just a bulky V-8 engine powering it. We will likely see a boosted 4- or 6-cylinder engine gracing the bottom end of the SRT Barracuda range with your typical array of 5.7- and 6.4-liters playing at the top. Without that, all that SRT has to offer up to the CAFÉ standards is the gas-guzzling SRT Viper, and that simply won’t do. Nor will it work for the EU standards that Fiat has to live up to.
We’ll keep an ear out for any more information that we can dig up.
The SRT Viper is one of the hottest models on the tip of all of our tongues and we are all excited to see it hit showrooms in November. We have seen many weird things, however, when it comes to its official release. In a report, we learned that only about 15 to 20 percent of all Chrysler dealerships will “earn” the right to sell it by having their entire team trained on the car, among other odd qualifiers.
Well, we have finally found out exactly what this all boils down to for dealerships. The “training” program that Chrysler is making dealerships put their employees through will run the dealers a whopping $5,000 to have completed. Following that, the dealership still has to pay an additional $20,000 just for the right to sell the Viper, given the dealership meets all of the customer service criteria.
That brings the grand total to sell the viper to $25,000, or roughly one-quarter of the price for one base model SRT Viper. We are all for Chrysler wanting to get this release right, but to gouge your dealers like that is simply inexcusable. Regardless of how much money you may think dealerships make, keep in mind that the average new car sale nets the dealer less than $2,000 in profit.
That would mean that a dealership would have to sell roughly 10 to 15 SRT Vipers (at the average profit number) to break even on bringing the damn thing into the showroom. I worked at a high-volume Dodge dealer and allow me to tell you that the two Vipers we had on the showroom floor never left their spot on the floor – even for a test drive – in the year I worked there.
Chrysler is likely making far more profit on the SRT Viper than the dealers will and it needs to step up and provide these cars at a lower rate than $25K. The $5,000 training fee is understandable, but $20K just to “earn” the right to have it grace your dealership’s lot… Yeah, we feel a collective “Screw You Chrysler” coming from the majority of dealerships.
Autoweek America Adventure is holding a 7-day-long rally sponsored by SRT on October 24th, which runs from Colorado Springs, Colorado to Los Vegas. Along the way, drivers are required to endure certain tasks and tests to earn points. In a way, it is a race between the two cities, but speeding is strictly prohibited and you lose points for it.
You must also navigate the route perfectly and hit each checkpoint at a certain time. If you are too early or too late to the checkpoint, you lose points. At the end of each day, the team with the most points gets a key and at the final rally event, the SEMA show, the key holders will all try their keys in the ignition of a 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8.
Whoever’s key starts this mighty luxury car gets to drive it and its 470-horsepower, 6.4-liter V-8 engine home, netting themselves a free $47,670 car.
The entry process is pretty simple; just head over to the Adventure America website and bang your mouse on the “Register” link at the top of the page. From there, just enter all of your information and the information of you teammate(s), then pay your $5,000 registration fee for your team – c’mon, you didn’t think it would be free, now did you? You have to have a car that can at least make it to and from Las Vegas too.
That five grand, however, pays for all of your hotels, meals, drinks, and track fees during the trip, plus it pays for your entrance into the SEMA show. Also, if you use the promo code “Fox 12” during your registration process, you get to use a Dodge Challenger or Chrysler 300 rental car to get you to or from Los Vegas, courtesy of Fox Rent-a-car.
So check it out and see if you can get yourself into a brand new 300 SRT8!
To say that we’ve been waiting for this car pack to arrive can be construed as a massive understatement. If you’re wondering why, look no further than the featured car of Forza 4’s September Car Pack: The SRT Viper GTS-R.
Back in June, we got to play around with the SRT Viper - included in the June pack - in the game. Now, though, things get a little juicier with the inclusion of the SRT Viper GTS-R that competed in the ALMS series over the summer into Forza’s latest car pack. Both cars, #91 and #93, have been added to the game, which means that we can have double the fun destroying the competition with these two venomous bad boys finally in the game.
In addition to the pair of Viper GTS-R’s, Forza’s September Car Pack will also include the 1968 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, the 1960 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato, the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, and the 2011 Citroen DS4, among others.
Check out the preview video of Forza 4’s September Car Pack!
Chrysler’s Viper conversion from Dodge to the new SRT name wasn’t going to venture down the new path on its own. Rumors have been floating around that the company was also reviving the "Barracuda" name as a replacement for the current Dodge Challenger, but Automotive News is adding a side note to those rumors.
Turns out, the Challenger will be replaced with the Barracuda, but not entirely. The SRT Barracuda will take the place of the Challenger SRT8, but the standard Challenger will maintain its branding. This coincides with SRT’s goal of only producing high-performance sports cars; the 305 HP Challenger doesn’t quite fit the bill.
The future Dodge Challenger will be entering its new generation in 2015, so we’ll see the SRT Barracuda around the same time. The new Barracuda will be built on an entirely new platform and will be powered by a new 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 that will debut in 2014.
