2013 Viper Roars into New York Auto Show 2012, Reinvigorates SRT, Chrysler

The 2013 SRT Viper literally roared into the New York Auto Show when its crew gunned the engine with a heart rattling growl on Wednesday. The new car is regarded within the company as the beginning of a reinvention for Chrysler and SRT.

The 2013 SRT Viper is truly one of the fastest cars in the world, Ralph Gilles, President and CEO of Chrysler's SRT brand said.

When the decision to create the new SRT Viper was made, an executive at the company declared Today we are a car company again, Gilles said.

The new SRT Viper Shows we still have a soul at Chrysler, Gilles added.

And the car has soul in excess. First and foremost, the 2013 SRT Viper looks and sounds incredible -- aggressive, slightly out of control, and exceptionally loud. The SRT crew had a lot of announcements about the redesigned and revivified Viper. The 2013 SRT Viper now sports a mostly carbon fiber body and lightened engine, which decreased the weight of the car 32 percent to 3,297 pounds curb weight.

Despite the lighter engine, the horsepower and torque have both been increased. The 2013 SRT Viper now has 640 horsepower and 540 foot/pounds of torque, making it the torquiest naturally aspirated care in the world.

SRT designed the 2013 Viper with racing in mind, and the company plans to reenter the American Le Mans racing series with the redesigned car. Reentering American motor sport in a big way, in addition to the time and money dedicated to designing the new SRT Viper, does bode well for Chrysler's reemergence as a car company that not only can produce a quality product, but can capture drivers' imaginations as well.

The new SRT Viper has been purposefully designed for drivers in a way that pervious models have not. Viper's have traditionally had a reputation for being sporty, but also straying into the realm of kit cars, while the new model features many additions to make it more palatable to consumers.

The 2013 SRT Viper now has traction control, launch control and cruise control (although you can turn all of those features off if you still want some seriously stupid hoonage). When this thing sinks its claws in, it really stick like glue, Gilles said, speaking about the Viper's handling.