Dodge Viper GTS Gets ‘Choppy’ for Awesome Sound & Big Gains
A cam and heads make a huge difference in this Dodge Viper GTS – in terms of sound, on the dyno, and in the real world.
The Dodge Viper has been out of production for quite a while now, but there are still plenty of them out there – many for reasonable prices. This is both a good and bad thing, of course, because while the Viper deserves more attention that it gets from the masses, we also appreciate that fact that it’s very much attainable, especially compared to most every other V10-powered supercar out there. However, this particular Dodge Viper GTS – owned by the Four Eyes YouTube channel – isn’t exactly some collector grade piece.
Rather, this Dodge Viper GTS gets driven, raced, and modified, with its most recent mission being to beat a 2017 Audi R8 V10 in a straight line. To accomplish that, the idea is to install a cam and head package on the car, along with a triple-core radiator to keep the temps under the hood at a reasonable level. The Dodge Viper GTS already has a full exhaust system on it, but its trombone-like sound has motivated the owner to reinstall its resonators.
The new cam comes from Prefix, and goes along with some heavy-duty lifters, plus freshly-ported heads, pushrods also sourced from Prefix, and a billet aluminum pulley, after which it’s time to put everything back together and fill this V10 back up with some fresh fluids.
After ensuring everything’s buttoned up and there are no leaks, the Dodge Viper GTS heads over to a shop for a tune, after which it will hit the dyno and see the fruits of all this labor.
In stock condition, the Dodge Viper GTS put down 410 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque at the wheels, which went up to 458 horsepower and 505 pound-feet of torque after the exhaust install and a tune.
The baseline run already paid off in a big way, as those numbers rose to 520 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque, though it was running a bit lean. With a little more tweaking, the group discovered that without resorting to higher-octane fuel or E85, they could safely put down 527 horsepower and 567 pound-feet of torque, which are still stout numbers.
Perhaps more importantly, the car makes more power throughout the rev range, and puts down a whopping 450 pound-feet of torque at just 2,000 rpm – making it a heck of a lot of fun to drive. The question is – can it outrun the aforementioned R8, which churns out 610 horsepower and 423 pound-feet of torque? A resulting roll race is actually pretty close, but the Dodge Viper GTS manages to squeak out a win.
The Viper has a hard time finding traction from a dig, however, which means that it’s time for some more tweaks, including addressing its long gearing, according to our host.
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