Dodge kills the Viper GTS-R racing program

[Mook]

Damn...thats some pretty shitty news for racing.

We just received a statement from Ralph Gilles, Senior VP of Product Design announcing Dodge is out of IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship with the Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R GTLM-class team. He says:

“Our company has made a business decision to discontinue the SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper GTS-R racing program. We are very proud of the amazing achievements our fantastic teams, drivers and partners have achieved on track the last few seasons. We thank them for their hard work, effort and commitment to SRT Motorsports. It’s been an honor to be a part of the inaugural IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season and we wish them every success in the future.”

In the press release it states Dodge will redirect the racing efforts to their product lineup. The Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R 2014 racing season concluded Saturday, Oct. 4 at the Petit Le Mans.

Officials at IMSA made the following statement: “On behalf of IMSA, I’d like to congratulate the SRT Motorsports team and drivers—including 2014 GTLM champion Kuno Wittmer, and everybody involved with building a winning Viper SRT GTS-R program. We look forward to celebrating their accomplishments together next Monday at our TUDOR Night of Champions in New York. “

We don’t know how this will affect the privateers racing Vipers in the TUDOR series, but hopefully they will continue to receive support with parts and info from Dodge.

Read more: WOW! Dodge Kills Viper GTS-R Racing Program
Follow us: @HotRodMagazine on Twitter | HotRodMag on Facebook

Click to read more...

 

[Bru]

 

[RICH17]

Fuckin blows. They just won the last two races IIRC

 

[Primalzer]

Will they still build the GTS-R, and just not have a factory backed team?

EDIT: NVM reading>me

 

[Chester Copperpot]

Thanks Fiat.

 

[Xfirez51]

Vipers stacking up like cordwood at dealerships. I think the C7 has really put a crrimp in this program and others. With Alfa coming on line I think Chrysler's money will be going towards building that brand which is more in line w the overall direction of the company strategy.

 

[Primalzer]

Didn't the Viper just have it's best sales quarter ever?

EDIT: Best sales month

The current Dodge Viper, formerly SRT Viper, is one of the very best cars people aren't buying. Some have said that's because its six-figure price tag was unjustifiable, so Dodge responded with a healthy $15,000 price cut. And guess what? It seems to be working.

Car sales tracking website Good Car, Bad Car notes that dealers moved 108 Vipers in September. That doesn't seem like a lot, and it still isn't, but it's a pretty sizable increase over previous months, where only about 30 to 70 Vipers were sold on average. On the Viper's best month before this one, they sold a mere 97 copies.

The last-generation Viper struggled with sales toward the end of its run as well, selling sometimes less than 10 a month. That means that September was the best sales month the Viper has had in years.

Was it because of the price cut, which dropped the base MSRP to about $85,000 on both old 2014 models and the new 2015s? Probably, yeah. It's certainly a better deal than it was. And with the $79,000 Corvette Z06 on its way, Dodge had to do something to further entice buyers.

Like I said, the current Viper is one of the best and most badass sports cars around, so let's hope this is the start of a nice trend. I'd like to see it be more successful than it has been.

 

[Xfirez51]

Dodge drops Viper price to $84,995 to spur sales | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

They cleared some inventory w a price close to the new Vette Z06. Once that comes out we'll see if it holds up. However, that a lot of profit to be giving up.
You wonder if that doesn't signal fire sale! Put that together w the announcement about Tudor, and
Not good indicators.

 

[guspech750]

Viper = meh
Hellcat Challenger + a family = yayeeeeeeeeee

 

[Xfirez51]

Viper = meh
Hellcat Challenger + a family = yayeeeeeeeeee

Which brings up a question. Where else is that V-10 used these days? What are the prospects of that platform going forward.

 

[guspech750]

Which brings up a question. Where else is that V-10 used these days? What are the prospects of that platform going forward.

Does Dodge even offer the work truck iron block V-10 in their trucks anymore?

Does the Challenger drag pack even come with a V-10 now that the supercharged Hemi is available?

I have seen for a while now the V-10 slowly dying away while others are using boosted V-8's with better performance

The Viper will never have a Vette like status. Not that that was their intention. Time for something new?
Or does Dodge just evolve the Challenger and Charger now while dropping the Viper?

Time for a change.

 

[SRT41320]

The viper is iconic in its own way... I highly doubt they will ever get rid of it! A couple weeks ago a story leaked about S/C V10s being tested...

And dodge is always in and out of racing - they will be back!

 

[Lead Pipe]

They should cancel the whole Viper program and start over with a new chassis. Game, Vette.

 

[Mook]

Viper looks better.

 

[Xfirez51]

They should cancel the whole Viper program and start over with a new chassis. Game, Vette.

Think they may have heard you. I'd love to take a drive in the Alfa 4C. That's a millenial type of car.