Total Time Attack AnnihilationTA is an acronym for Time Attack, a mission this new Viper has been specially tuned to carry out on road-race circuits. (If the TA name sounds familiar, that’s because Chrysler has used it on muscle cars in the past.) The street-legal, track-oriented Viper isn’t as extreme as, say,
Viper ACRs of yore, but it’s a pretty thoroughly sorted stopgap model that should tide Viper track monkeys over until a true ACR replacement arrives. Well, it will tide some Viper aficionados over, at least—initially there will be just 33 TAs produced, all painted in this far-from-subtle Crusher Orange hue.
The TA starts life as a base Viper, to which SRT fits the dual-mode Bilstein dampers from the uplevel GTS model, the Advanced Aerodynamics package with carbon-fiber front splitters and rear spoiler, and wheels and tires from the optional Track package. The Bilsteins are tuned for more firmness than in the GTS, and the two driver-selectable suspension settings are rechristened Soft Track and Rough Track. SRT also tweaked the springs and anti-roll bars to be more track-friendly, and the stock aluminum engine-bay-spanning X-brace is swapped for a carbon-fiber piece. SRT is still working out whether to include the Track package’s StopTech brakes or to stick with a variation of the stock pieces. Regardless, the goal is increased thermal efficiency for less fade.
No Hyperbole, It’s Track-FocusedSRT says it based the TA on the non-GTS Viper because the regular car is lighter. A noble gesture, but because the TA gets the adaptive dampers, it ends up being 51 pounds heavier than a Viper with the Track package, but lighter than a GTS with the Track pack by 26 pounds, based on SRT’s claimed weight figures. (The Track pack–equipped Viper and Viper GTS both are lighter than their regular-grade counterparts.) There are no changes under the hood, so the TA uses the same 640-hp, 8.4-liter V-10 as the rest of the Viper lineup.
Free of the GTS’s fancier Nappa-leather interior duds, the TA cabin is pretty utilitarian. The cloth-and-vinyl interior might not be flashy, but all of that not-leather on the seats is grippy and better at holding the driver and passenger in place during hot laps. Stitching on the steering wheel, seats, door panels, center console, and instrument panel is color-matched to the TA’s Crusher Orange exterior, and is the lone attempt at spicing up the businesslike atmosphere.
The 2014 Viper TA still is being developed—note the lack of a final decision on brakes—but SRT is looking at extending the TA treatment further down the road. An SRT representative tells us that the company will monitor the popularity of the initial 33-car production run, and is considering releasing additional builds in other colors. When the TA becomes available later this year, it will be positioned between the SRT Viper and the Viper GTS. As such, expect pricing to fall around $116,000.
Πηγή:
Car and DriverWatch the full -on track- test at the great video by
MotorTrend! Enjoy and Reply!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLa3l_UX77c]
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