Scalpel or Chainsaw? The Nissan GT-R and the Dodge Viper ACR Demonstrate the Many Faces of Speed.

Scalpel or Chainsaw?  The Nissan GT-R and the Dodge Viper ACR Demonstrate the Many Faces of Speed.

Some people love to drive fast, and don’t care how they get there.  Whatever it takes – turbos, monster cubic inches, rocket strapped to the roof – just as long as it accelerates them as quickly as possible towards triple-digit, white knuckle speeds.  Then there are others who approach speed with a more specific set of expectations, whether they are looking for a coldly calculated formula for maximum miles per hour or a brutal and unpredictable bull ride that will test every inch of their driving muscle as they attempt to reach their destination in one piece.

It’s no surprise that the modern automobile market offers vehicles that are designed to satisfy almost every personal peccadillo when it comes to high horsepower excitement.  With so many “supercars” available, it becomes less interesting to compare the end result – usually near-200 mile per hour top speeds and sub-four second 60 mile per hour counts – and far more instructive to instead investigate what route a particular vehicle takes on its way to knocking the socks off of test drivers.

Currently, there are two extremely fast cars that for lack of a better term serve as bookends on the high performance shelf: the Nissan GT-R and the Dodge Viper ACR.  Each of these specialized automotive weapons is arguably unique in their respective approach to speed, having honed a particular set of driving characteristics to a fine edge that places them on opposite ends of the spectrum.  Let’s take a look at these case studies of two very different solutions to exactly the same problem:  how to get from point A to point B as fast as possible without leaving the surface of the Earth,

The Nissan GT-R is a relative newcomer to the game in North America.  Having been restricted to foreign markets for many painful years where it was known as the Skyline GT-R, automotive geeks and performance aficionados have had to watch from across the sea as their vehicular wet dream routinely shattered speed records and made easy work of the competition in the street.

All of that changed in 2008 when Nissan decided to not only significantly upgrade the GT-R but also introduce it to the United States.  Dropping the Skyline moniker, the GT-R hit dealerships across the country like some digital construction out of a Playstation game.  Futuristic, almost confrontationally industrial bodywork indicated that this was no lovingly sculpted Italian exotic – it was something spit out of a computer’s artificial intelligence, a finely-tuned instrument designed to attack the tarmac with frightening speed and acumen.

Driving the GT-R makes it clear that this coupe is the Terminator of automobiles, a soulless entity that draws its strength not from some divine spiritual connection between the driver and the road but rather from carefully measured doses of power digitally doled out in precise increments.  The vehicle’s 480 turbocharged horses don’t prance so much as stand rigidly at attention, awaiting the command from the gas pedal to launch out of the starting gate at full speed.  Thanks to all-wheel drive, a 6-speed automatic transmission and assorted electronic nannies, drivers don’t have to do much more than point and shoot the GT-R in the general direction they are trying to go.  The coupe is clearly in control of the driving experience at all times, with the person sitting behind the wheel providing inputs not all that dissimilar to the aforementioned video game – an apt situation for a vehicle aimed at the Gran Turismo generation.  The end result of this carefully controlled, time-released performance is a top speed of 193 miles per hour and a sprint to 60 that takes only 3.2 seconds.

Coming back from the future lands us squarely in the clutches of the 800 lb gorilla in this test – the Dodge Viper ACR.  Throughout its almost 20 year existence, the Viper has served to put the rest of the sports car industry on notice that there was at least one vehicle out there that had stayed in touch with the roots of performance driving.  Wild, loud and ready to brawl, the Viper is the automotive equivalent of a heavy metal concert – lots of power, lots of virtuoso antics, and the possibility of a fight breaking out at any moment.

Introduced back in 1999, the American Club Racing (ACR) edition of the Viper is a nod to the track credibility gained by the sports car in a number of different racing series around the world.  600 horsepower and 560 lb-ft of torque make it clear that the Viper ACR is used to being king of the hill when it comes to straight-line speed, and a top speed approaching 200 miles per hour confirms this assumption. 

However, despite the presence of a tall rear wing and upgraded brakes, what the Viper doesn’t have is anything in the way of a safety net should drivers suddenly exceed their skill level on either a race track or public highway.  When it comes to making mistakes at speed, the Viper is a brutal master.  Wide tires and a sturdy chassis provide plenty of grip, but exceeding the limits of this coiled snake can mean a quick trip to either the emergency room or the afterlife.  The vehicle places very little buffer zone between driver and pavement, and requires incredible concentration and will to squeeze ten tenths performance out of its package.  Even sitting in the Viper at idle feels vaguely threatening, especially considering that directly in front of the cockpit sits over 8 liters of V10 power, connected to your right arm through a 6-speed manual transmission.

Which approach towards hitting that 200 mile per hour siren song you choose is largely a matter of personal taste.  Some prefer the surgical accuracy of the Nissan GT-R, calling down its horsepower reserves like a fighter jet directing a tactical air strike with laser-guided missiles.  Others need to feel the pulsing, heart-racing power of the Viper surging through their body as they hang on by their toes through a double S-curve, fervently hoping that they won’t introduce just a little too much loud pedal at exactly the wrong moment. 

For those who want to try and experience the best of both worlds, there are a host of other supercars out there that will gladly take you down a more moderate path towards high performance.  However, the Nissan GT-R and the Dodge Viper ACR lead the way when it comes to starkly illustrating just how philosophically different ostensibly competing automobiles can feel from the driver’s seat.

 
By Benjamin Hunting   http://www.benjaminhunting.com