Those of you not up on ancient Mayan prophecy or apocalyptic cosmology could be forgiven for missing the most obvious implication of our report earlier today on the demise of the Viper. Our commenters, however, are rather more on the ball. So be forewarned! As we enter the final years of the Viper, the age of darkness is nigh! But there's still time to repent before War, Conquest, Pestilence and Death arrive on the scene.
You see, according to some, this rock upon which we live is a goner come Dec. 21, 2012. Commenter WheatKing is abundantly aware of this, and its implication for Viper sales and future generations of the snarling set 'o fetish wheels:
Everyone knows the world ends in 2012.. No sense making them after 2011.. Apparently the four horsemen of the apocalypse have already put in their orders for their black ACR models to be delivered early 2011..
A little after WheatKing secured COTD, Beta.Rogan thoughfully provided a preview of what the four horsemen might be in for:
I once dyno'd a first-gen Viper with a customer-tuned 2-stage nitrous system and open headers into cherry bombs. It was hard to drive around the parking lot, let alone at speed. It was the most pissed-off sounding car I had ever been around...it was literally daring you to try something funny. "Go ahead punk, let me see what you've got?" It was a scary car.
At the end of the day, it made around 730whp and 950wtq before it blew a 3-foot fireball out of the intake manifolds at 5500rpm. Both air filters caught on fire, all the hoses blew off the intake manifolds and a huge freeze plug was jettisoned in the process.
After I managed to put out the fire the customer checked his nitrous jets, shrugged and said "guess I didn't size them right." I helped him put the freeze plug back in (it idled at 3000rpm without it) and he drove it home!
After that experience, I learned that a Viper, no matter what, demands respect, as I've never seen an engine survive a nitrous backfire like that. Fuckin' A. R.I.P