Dodge Viper reviews

2005 Dodge Viper Interior Features

Tall folks will still need to work out a method to gracefully enter the 2003 Viper. Our favorite ingress is to plant our left foot on the floor in front of the driver's seat, and then swing and slide our right foot and leg toward the pedals as we lower ourselves into the seat, all in one motion. This has to be done, of course, with the top down. If we try to enter using our right leg first, it gets hung up on the steering wheel. Besides, our maneuver makes us look like Tom Selleck hopping into his Ferrari 308 in reruns of the Magnum P.I. television show.

The seats coddle you more than before. They hold you tighter and at the same time are more comfortable because of their form fit. After you insert and turn on the ignition key, you reach in front of the six-speed shift lever and push a red starter button to start the engine, the same procedure needed for the Honda S2000.

The instruments and controls are angled toward the driver, instead of displayed on the center of the dash like the older car. A huge tachometer with a 6250-rpm redline sits directly in front of the driver, and to its right is a 220-mph speedometer. Every switch and vent is easier to see and reach. The climate control is not as abbreviated in function as the old car's was: Instead of having all heat go only to your feet, you can select dash vents for warm air, just like a real car. That helps a lot when it's chilly and you've got the top down. With practice, you can drop the top using just one hand while sitting at a stoplight.

Outward visibility is not as good as the old car, however. The new Viper's roof is slightly taller, yet lanky drivers still peer into the top of the windshield frame. The top corner of the driver's side A-pillar is just two hand-widths from your forehead. Looking rearward is more difficult because the height of the trunklid blocks some view. The roll hoops over the seats, however, don't get in the way, we noticed. Chrysler says the new tail is higher to promote more downforce on the rear wheels at speed, which is estimated to be 190 mph (the speedo goes to 220). The shape of the tail creates less drag, too, according to the company. There is also a bellypan under the car to cut drag, although its final shape hadn't been determined at the time of our test drives.

The pedals are closely spaced like the previous car's, enough that we could heel-and-toe without effort, but they are centered in front of the driver, instead of being offset to the left side of the cockpit. A new addition is a real dead pedal for your left foot, which we used to hold us into the seats during our drive on a twisty test track. You won't be moving your legs around while you're driving, since the extra three inches of wheelbase adds room primarily to the trunk, which now holds enough for two pack rats for a long weekend.