FYI, The "VCA" had the 2008 details at VOI. We are not allowed to release details until they are revealed to the press on press day at NAIAS.
By the way, the HP IS NOT THE BIG STORY OF THIS CAR...... sorry, you'll have to wait until press day to hear the rest of the story.... info that only the VCA knows
Ok Folks, a lot of speculation going on here about killer news at NAIAS.
“the HP IS NOT THE BIG STORY OF THIS CAR”
Allow me to add my $0.02:
Torque has been a subject generously talked about on this thread. I am willing to guess that one part of the big news will be a substantial increase of torque in the midrange, maybe even low-RPM, thanks to judiciously designed and programmed Variable Valve Timing. This is by no means new technology, BMW had it for at least a decade and they call their system VANOS (German for Variable Nockenwelle Stellung = variable camshaft positioning), Honda had it even longer in various forms, and many others. It is however, I believe, a novelty in a pushrod engine.
How does this translate to the 08 Viper performance envelope? 0-60, we all know is driver dependent and limited by traction at the moment and place (too many variables: tire temp, tire age, tire wear, alignment, wheel hop, track conditions), so at best, incrementally better.
0-100: now the improved mid-range torque as well as the 90 HP boost in power will come into play in a very dramatic way. We will see a big improvement and to those concerned about ZO6 I would say: Sleep well! Nothing to worry about.
0-150: Ah! Here we will see real SuperCar territory and leave Mr. Bow-Tie many car lengths behind; many, many car lengths…..
Top speed? Vert: open 200 mph, closed 205. Coupe 208-210 mph would be my guess at this time.
The second part of the killer news could be that all of this performance gain did not have a negative impact on the city/highway consumption values, quite to the contrary. Again, thanks to VVT and massively improved low-end torque, the gas guzzler tax will not be applicable on the 08 Viper. I know this is a stretch, but one can always dream. (If this is true, then sadly, the dealers will tack on even fatter “Added Dealer Profit” secondary stickers during the first 6 months on the market).
At this time, I am not making any assumptions on weight reduction and base all my speculation on unchanged Gen III weight. If Dodge managed to reduce weight, more power to them and even better Power to Weight Ratio for us!!!
Furthermore, I believe that the technological advances made to the following driveline components will also have a beneficial effect on performance and drivability: dual disc clutch, redesigned gears and synchros in the transmission and new speed-sensing, limited-slip differential; let us not forget one last item: Michelin PS2, finally!
Again, all of this is speculation at this time, so please nobody take this post as “Gospel”! As I said before, just my $0.02!