All New 2013 Dodge Viper GTS

A manufacturing facility-backed Viper will race on the world stage again. Based mostly on the all-new 2013 Dodge Viper, the Viper GTS-R reemerges in 2012. The competitors-spec 2013 Viper will compete this 12 months as part of a two-automotive staff in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), the same sequence that Viper dominated in 2000.

The new GTS-R is constructed for three issues: pace, reliability and durability. The GTS-R is all about successful endurance races, such because the Petit Le Mans, a 10-hour race at Highway Atlanta in Georgia, and the 24-hours of Le Mans in France. It’s additionally built to run shorter races within the ALMS, usually two hours in duration. The GTS-R will run within the GT class in opposition to Ferrari, Porsche, BMW and Corvette amongst others.

“We stopped racing Viper as an official manufacturing unit program after the 2000 season,” said Gary Johnson, Highway Racing Manager for Dodge Motorsports. “Ever since then, Viper fanatics have requested us when we will race again. We had no answer until now.”

 Mentioned Matt Bejnarowicz, SRT Car Challenge Manager, “The 2013 SRT Viper GTS-R builds on the new production Viper with significant changes to all programs - the basic form and construction remains the same.”

SRT partnered with Riley Technologies of Mooresville, N.C. to create the 2013 Viper GTS-R race car. Riley Motorsports, a subsidiary of Riley Applied sciences, will handle the racing program.

The GTS-R will make its long-awaited debut in the ALMS GT class later this year. Kuno Witmer, Dominik Farnbacher and Marc Goosens will share the driving duties. Additional drivers might be named closer the GTS-R’s return to ALMS racing.

Modifications to the production 2013 Dodge Viper GTS improve each part of the car. The chassis is the same in the GTS-R and the street-going Viper, in compliance with ALMS rules. The wheelbase of the GTS-R stays ninety nine inches as is it on the street-legal model of the Viper. The fundamental automotive seems the identical for probably the most half, with modifications to aerodynamics. Listed here are the foremost variations between the GTS and the GTS-R.

·         Engine size is diminished to 8 Liters by altering cylinder bore and stroke

·         Maximum engine size is 5.5 Liters, but the governing our bodies allowed the eight-liter Viper V-10, requiring a restrictor within the engine’s intake tract

·         A new intake manifold is created to work with the restrictor

·         The engine will run on E-85 - 85% ethanol

·         Transmission is moved to the rear of the automobile and shall be sourced from Xtrac

·         Dry weight of the automobile is lowered, with rules defining minimum weight as 1245 Kilos, 2740 lbs. dry

·         A brand new roll cage is included

·         Bodywork is carbon fiber composite, with aerodynamic modifications (physique sides are lowered and front splitter/rear airfoil included)

·         New front and rear suspension programs designed to work with Michelin racing slicks

·         Front and rear observe increased

·         Automobile has a climate-managed cockpit, as required by the foundations to keep the driver cool

Chrysler designer Alan Macey and other members of the SRT design group beneath Mark Trostle worked with Riley Applied sciences and SRT aerodynamicist Jeff Reece (a member of the original GTS-R group) to create the bodywork shapes that optimize efficiency while keeping the essential strains of the 2013 Viper.

“SRT needed to maintain the automotive looking as a lot as possible like the street automobile while incorporating the changes mandatory for optimum performance on the observe,” stated Bejnarowicz. “From my perspective it’s probably the perfect integration I've ever seen - the sculpting design and the surfacing division interacting with the shape and functionality of a race car. So it seems to be completely stunning and the way in which all people worked together was really fairly cool.”

The engineering team started with the SRT Viper highway car design and Riley morphed that shape to the Le Mans and ALMS guidelines for the permitted size of the car. By way of rules, GT cars could be slightly more than two meters wide. Thus the fenders were widened.

There are additionally certain liberties allowed for the areas below the wheel centerline, and in entrance and behind the front and rear wheel centerlines. SRT and Riley engineers reshaped the automobile in these regions and gave it to the design office. The design crew in flip surfaced every part, ensuring all of the design cues were correct. Final however not least, the race automobile was digitized and analyzed by way of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).

“We’ve performed plenty of CFD iterations to guantee that all the pieces is working correctly,” stated Bejnarowicz. “It’s fairly vital to Chrysler that the race automotive look as very similar to the road car as possible. We don’t want a chopped-up street car look. However that’s also necessary to the ACO - the Le Mans people - as a result of the foundations particularly say you can make all these changes, but they require that the car look as close to the road version as possible. I believe the execution that has been carried out on this automotive is probably going to be one of the best on the market on the race track.”

“We had approval final December with our body form they usually commented how nicely we integrated all the things - up to now so good in that department,” Bejnarowicz reported. “It's fairly cool to see Chrysler design shuttle with a race automotive builders. The mentality within the design office is ‘if it really works properly for a race automotive, it’s cool from a design standpoint. The magnificence is within the function. Every time they went by and cleaned up design surfaces, the aerodynamics additionally bought better. The wind likes the identical thing as the design office.”

On the engine aspect, SRT Chief Powertrain Engineer Richard Winkles will oversee this system with Roush Industries of Livonia, Michigan, SRT’s strategic partner. Le Mans and ALMS rules restrict engine dimension to 5.5 liters, however SRT was not about to interchange the vaunted Viper 8.4L V-10 with a smaller V8. The staff approached rule makers and acquired permission to run an eight-liter version of the massive overhead valve engine. To compensate for the dimensions advantage, the engine is throttled back by way of an intake restrictor, just as GTS-R was in its previous life. The restrictor takes a giant chunk out of Viper’s energy curve, and it won’t let the engine run as fast. Nonetheless, Crew Viper is confident that the automobile shall be fairly competitive.