Independent team of Viper enthusiasts posted their best-ever ACR lap time at the Nurburgring, notching a 7:01.3 lap around the famous German circuit. Today, we’ve got the in-car video showing just how hard driver Lance Arnold had to work to get that time.
This gargantuan effort began in August, when the privateer team brought two brand-new, showroom-fresh 2017 Viper ACR Extremes to Germany along with a crew of mechanics, engineers, and a rotating roster of professional drivers—all with zero input or support from Dodge. In August, driver Dominik Farnbacher set a preliminary 7:03.45 lap time on his first full-speed flyer in the Viper; later, Mario Farnbacher improved the time slightly with a 7:03.23.
The effort met with difficulties nearly every step of the way—on the day Arnold set his lap time, the team lost one car to a seized differential, and another to a high-speed tire failure that led to a crash. Despite the drivers all feeling that the Viper is capable of a sub-seven-minute lap time, with both cars hobbled and no more money in the crowdfunded effort, this 7:01.3 will stand as the fastest Viper ‘Ring time.
Watch the full lap right here to appreciate exactly what went into hustling this beast of a machine around the world’s most challenging racetrack and into the record books. It’s the fastest Viper time, the fastest manual transmission time, the fastest rear-drive time, and the fastest American car time ever recorded at the ‘Ring, and it’s within striking distance of the Porsche 918 Spyder’s 6:57.00. With more time and money, perhaps the Viper team could have broken into the sixes.
Independent team of Viper enthusiasts posted their best-ever ACR lap time at the Nurburgring, notching a 7:01.3 lap around the famous German circuit. Today, we've got the in-car video showing just how hard driver Lance Arnold had to work to get that time.
This gargantuan effort began in August, when the privateer team brought two brand-new, showroom-fresh 2017 Viper ACR Extremes to Germany along with a crew of mechanics, engineers, and a rotating roster of professional drivers—all with zero input or support from Dodge. In August, driver Dominik Farnbacher set a preliminary 7:03.45 lap time on his first full-speed flyer in the Viper; later, Mario Farnbacher improved the time slightly with a 7:03.23.
The effort met with difficulties nearly every step of the way—on the day Arnold set his lap time, the team lost one car to a seized differential, and another to a high-speed tire failure that led to a crash. Despite the drivers all feeling that the Viper is capable of a sub-seven-minute lap time, with both cars hobbled and no more money in the crowdfunded effort, this 7:01.3 will stand as the fastest Viper 'Ring time.
Watch the full lap right here to appreciate exactly what went into hustling this beast of a machine around the world's most challenging racetrack and into the record books. It's the fastest Viper time, the fastest manual transmission time, the fastest rear-drive time, and the fastest American car time ever recorded at the 'Ring, and it's within striking distance of the Porsche 918 Spyder's 6:57.00. With more time and money, perhaps the Viper team could have broken into the sixes.
