Dodge Viper SRT10 Roadster test drive since 2007

Touch the beautiful

Each meeting with a truly great work of art leaves an indelible trace in the soul. Until the end of days I will remember that emotional shock experienced in the Sistine Chapel or Museum of Orsa. With great cars, a similar story. Especially when there are three at once.
Just two years ago, on the pages of our magazine, two legendary supercar of the mid-90s Ferrari 512 TR and Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster met. Cars from my very first game Need for Speed. Then it seemed that nothing could be cooler. I did not drive those cars, but at the next table there was a man who managed to touch the beautiful. And I raised his stories with rapture, not even assuming what turned fate prepared for me.
F40. The most extreme and close to motorsport roadport Ferrari. The latter, in the creation of which Enzo Ferrari himself took part. The fastest machine of the world of 19871991. The machine, which is celebrating the 25th anniversary on July 21 of this year. A little more, and they will begin to let her out on the rally of the older, and she will still give a head start to many. Since childhood, I was sure that I would never pump on it. Only 1337 copies were released. F40 was a distant star from the lost galaxy, Mona Lisa behind the Louvre’s armored vehicle, and now she stands in front of me!
XJ220. The fastest and most expensive Jaguar in history. And one of the most exclusive. The fastest machine of the world of 1992194. A child of those years when the Jaguar XJR prototypes at a speed of 400 km/h Bok on the side fought with Sauber-Mercedes and Porsche in the World Sport Prototypes Championship. A car with a complex, largely tragic fate. A car that appeared at the wrong time. A car that disappointed many who was looking forward to it. A car is an order of magnitude more exclusive than F40. Only 281 coupes left the walls of the plant. He also has an anniversary this year: the 20th anniversary of the start of serial production.
Viper. The product of American maximalism, a bloodthirsty beast that devoured more than one driver. Ultimatic, extreme and wild. The most wild of the modern ones. But what is he doing here, next to the great classics of the past? Viper is our reference car that will allow you to understand how brutal the supercars of the past were. In addition, this Viper is not some Dodge, but 1000-horsepower (for those who thought it was a mistake, in the words of a thousand) Hennessey Viper Venom Twin Turbo. John Hennessy built only 24 such coupes, only one of them lives in Russia, under the serial number 16. You won’t have to get bored!
Surrealism is me!
Imagine a picture: Mona Lisa enters a roadside cafe somewhere in Adygea. The one that is the Jaconde. He comes in and says: the innkeeper, prepare a ristretto to me, but Signor Leonardo does not tolerate quickly when I have no long time! Surrealism, which I never dreamed of Dali! But the appearance on the roadside Adyghe car wash Ferrari F40 is no less surprising. Meanwhile, this is a reality. But the Italian arrived not one, but accompanied by Jaguar and Viper. In addition to Mona, Lisa in the cafe, it turns out, it turns out, Dr. Gasha Vincent Van Gogh and a thousand Taits from the fields of the Gauguin field.
As you know, the calm and measured life of the car wash after the visit of such guests was replaced by the noise and bustle worthy of the bee's hive. It is easy to understand the washer, who, instead of the usual 15 minutes, washed the dirt from such places F40, which only its creators knew about. And how many people wiped drops from long -dry bodies of unique supercars! It seemed that the entire population of Adygea came from different parts of the republic, so that at least through rags it was touched to the works of automobile art. But the last drops of water have already dried up, and we leave the sink, leaving behind the legend about how the Adygheans rubbed the back of Monet Lisa.
A billion smile
F40 was sculpted from what was, and it looks appropriate. What outside, what's inside. Enzo wanted to correct the Porsche 959 and Lamborghini Countach as soon as possible as soon as possible, the image of the brand as the manufacturer of the most-most sports cars in the world, so he rushed his engineers. As if he felt that he had a little more than a year to live. It is worth starting the motor, as you know: millions of boys of my generation were not in vain went crazy about this angular compartment. Engineers often complain that the engine with two turbines and a relatively small volume cannot sound good. F40 sings his love serenade of speed so beautifully that she is just right to perform in La Scala! It is worth clicking on the gas, and a slightly lazy roar instantly goes into a hysterical scream to the accompaniment of the whistle of IHI turbines. You release the pedal and the silence of the centuries -old forest explodes a loud zilch of the bypass valve, and seething wheezing breaks out of exhaust pipes.
F40 in the Kuban in its element. It is fast and emotional on the M4 Don highway, which in the Krasnodar Territory is more like American highway, and on a serpentine near a hot key. And in the city of Ferrari, it simply explodes the space around itself only by its appearance. But do not think that driving on this machine is easy and does not require tension. This beauty requires a male hand, self -confidence and driving skills. She is like an experienced partner who needs a cool partner for passionate tango. Well, our F40 is even more so, because a week before the test, the Italian visited the track in Nizhny Novgorod, from where she returned with the end of the clutch. Driving in such a car is like dancing with a partner who has a heel broken: you have to work for two. Clutch, gas, lever to the left and on itself (where everyone has the second one, here is the first), clutch, and again gas, but much more tender. Throw it sharper, and all power will go into the slippage of the clutch. But if the clutch is new, the F40 still would not haveleted familiarities in the handling of the right pedal of Turboyam here as deep as the Mariana depression, and the turbine is as large as Everest.
F40 is built according to racing canons: a carbon monocock, around which a machine is built, a fiberlashes of the body, a suspension on double transverse levers, a compact high -speed V8 with a capacity of 478 liters. With. and a volume of only 2.9 liters. It is not surprising that Ferrari is going like racing cards. Not only are the front wheels loaded much worse than the rear, but they are also 10 cm! As a result, if you do not load them at the entrance to the turn, you will not turn them. Damn, why is the clutch skipping, and why we are not on the track! Although, thank God that we are not on the track. F40 is a dangerous girl, tortures and will look with a finely stretched smile of the front bumper. Her mysterious smile. Like Mona Lisa. A billion smile.
Incomprehensible genius
Despite the fact that F40 and XJ220 appeared at about the same and are considered competitors, philosophy in two machines diametrically opposite. The Italian car was created for the track, and British for super -speed travels in autobahns. It is lower, longer, wider, its entire form is subordinated to the achievement of maximum speed. Even wheeled wheels and those are almost continuous to reduce resistance. The extreme right number on the speedometer demonstrates that they tried not in vain. 360 km/h. Three hundred sixty! 20 years have passed, and cars that go faster, no more fingers of one hand: McLaren F1, various Koenigseg CC series, SSC Ultimate Aero TT, but a couple of Bugatti Veyron and Super Sport. Not weak, right?
And yet he failed. Everyone was waiting for the V12, all-wheel drive and the Lambo-act of the concept, and received a 3.5-liter bi-turbo six from the MG Metro6R4 rally monster, which brought the rear wheels. Yes, and the doors were the most ordinary. And then there is a recession in Europe, and in the USA in the world's largest Ultra-Luxury market, the car was not officially sold. The 1989 concept overshadowed both Ferrari F40 and Porsche 959, and the 1992 serial car itself ended up in the shadow of McLaren F1 and Bugatti EB110. As a result, the British hardly sold out the released Supercups until the very end of the 1990s. Even performances in motorsport turned out to be embarrassed. In the Le-Man 1993, XJ220 C won. Let the GT in your class, but with a solid advantage, the nearest Porsche lagged behind 2 circles. He won to be disqualified a month later! By the way, one of the pilots of that unhappy crew was David Kulthard. I could not throw out thoughts about the sad fate of the car. Jaguar did not allow me to tune in to a positive wave. The hoarse, uneven sound of the motor at idle, the noise of the suspension on every Kuban bump, the heat in the cabin and the sad eyes-fads covered with centuries were led by melancholy. I could not understand this car.
But you do not need to think that Jaguar is a melancholy loser. This is not just a very beautiful, but also incredibly capable of a sports car. A few years ago, colleagues from the British magazine Evo rushed to the XJ220 along the western Ring of Bedford only 1.6 seconds slower than Lamborghini Murcielago LP640! But the Italian car is 90 liters. With. It is more powerful and equipped with an all -wheel drive transmission. I will reveal the secret: we also went on the Jaega on the track during last year's sports car of the year and even let Roman Rusinov’s wheel. But XJ did not show outstanding results. Unfortunately, the highway near Moscow is too pagand for such a large and powerful car, and old tires do not provide the desired grip. As a result, insufficient rotation is just colossal driving like sand. Yes, and turning a heavy steering wheel on a slow highway is still a pleasure. Something tells me that we will definitely meet it, we must reveal the secret of a mysterious handsome man with sad eyes!
Home reptile
After a couple of uncompromising classics, Viper gives the impression of an incredibly comfortable and friendly car. Incredibly, the words Viper, comfort and friendliness are really in one sentence! ABS, GUR, vacuum brake amplifier is quite a road car. Skrip-script, the machine at every junction reminds that there are silent blocks in the suspension. But in Ferrari and Jaguar there are only bushings! Even more progress in supercarrow is noticeable in the Dodge salon: it is comfortable and spacious here, and all the noise is generated by a monstrous engine. By and large, all the impracticality of the American coupe boils down to the low lip of the front bumper from Hennessey and to the location in the front bumper of the intercooler, which threatens with a hydraulic boat even when overcoming not the deepest puddles. A standard bumper would here, and in dry weather you can ride throughout the Kuban. But it would be arrogant to believe that a 1000-horsepower car can be harmless. You go a maximum of a quarter of the pedal, press more and the back of Viper instantly sets in motion. Even the rear tires do not save 335 mm wide! Despite the fact that in John Hennessy studio, not only the engine was changed by the changes (it was equipped with turbines and increased the volume from 8.3 to 8.5 liters), but the suspension (the clearance became lower, and the suspension hardness can be configured) and the brake system, Venom Created for movement in a straight line. Viper Hero of Dreg Stip, and not a serpentine at all. For maximum acceleration, a special glue that increases the clutch should be applied to the asphalt. In Russia, only a white arrow in the Krasnodar Territory can boast of such glue, but even there only the first 200 meters are glued with a thin layer. It is worth a powerful American to leave the sticky zone, the rear wheels immediately break into the southwest.
There were only two cases in history when Viper Venom Twin Turbo fell into the hands of journalists. Before us in 2007, such luck fell to colleagues from the American Road & Track, and they dispersed the car from zero to 200 miles per hour (320 km/h) in 20.3 seconds, which is 3.9 seconds faster than Bugatti Veyron! Nothing demonstrates the potential of the machine better than these numbers. Well, we were the first to travel to Viper Venom on ordinary roads.
See you!
F40, XJ220 and Viper. It is still difficult to realize that all this was with me, that all this was in our country. It really was, and these two hot from the sun, emotions and hot silencers of the day in the Kuban will forever remain in the heart. A meeting with beautiful never goes without a trace.
These machines turned all my ideas about cars about what power, beauty, handling, turbo-plate, about what the sound of the motor should be and what is an uncompromising supercar. It is just amazing what a long way has done the automotive industry over these 20 years. A modern Superivot car is perfect for trips of young fashionistas to the countertops of the lanes or Tretyakovsky passage. There are no special skills to manage the same Ferrari 458 Italia, because the whole army of electronic systems are ready to stand up for your protection. Ferrari F40 and Jaguar XJ220 are cast from another dough. They require a lot, but they give no less. In the modern, through the digital world, every touch to them, every second together with them is akin to a miracle. They are analog and through, devoid of GMOs and enhancers of taste. These cars play on the strings of your soul so masterly that Yuri Bashmet will envy. What can I say if Viper, which we are accustomed to consider the wildest of modern supercars, against the background of the classics of Ferrari and Jaguar, it seems quite civilized and obedient.
But, flying away from Krasnodar, I thought not about cars, but about people. About the Adyghe washers, who happened to touch the most beautiful bodies of the greatest cars. About the children from the hot key, to whom fate gave a meeting with cars whose uniqueness can not yet be understood by virtue of a young age. About the owner of these machines, thanks to which these works of automobile art settled in the Kuban. About the mechanics for which the clutch replacement on the F40, the elimination of the shortcomings of American tuning or the removal of the Lamborghini motor is interesting everyday work. It is great that there are people who managed to touch the beautiful, because the beautiful makes you think and fosters the taste. Beautiful, in the end, cleanses the soul and makes us better. In any case, I believe in it.
I really want a museum to open in Krasnodar once and the beautiful to become public. Well, thanks to our magazine, Muscovites will get a unique opportunity to see these masterpieces now. On June 30, in Luzhniki, all three heroes of this test will appear before the public as part of the first festival of the speed of the magazine of cars. Come, a chance to touch something truly beautiful does not fall out every day!

 
 
 

Source: Cars