2000 Dodge Viper RT/10 review from UK and Ireland

Build and trim quality not acceptable on a car of this price and market segment. Significantly worse than my TVR Chimaera, and that cost less than half as much.

The car is actually very reliable though.

Much about the Viper is pretty awful. For starters, 400 bhp from 8 litres is a joke. European manufacturers would get 200 more from 2 litres less. Still, all said and done, it's an 8 litre V10 and as you would expect, it goes like absolute stink. First gear is good for around 60 mph! Shame it doesn't sound better though. Needs the Hennessey conversion for that (and another 150 bhp - yum!) That said, out of the box this has more than enough performance for the anti-speeding Nazis to put you behind bars with three gears left to go!

In the corners, it's not the handful you might think. Sure the sheer torque will overcome the garden roller rear tyres without too much trouble, but driven swiftly and tidily, it simply goes where you point it. It stays flat and there's good feel through the steering. The other bonus about having a big, softly tuned engine is it has no spikes or surges in its delivery which can upset the car. There's just fuss free grunt at any revs and any throttle opening.

Running costs are what you would expect of a 14 mpg car - steep! Insurance is horrendous as well. My premium went up by 65% over the Chimaera.

One of those cars I just had to have, and now I'm going to have a hard time parting with. Has a sense of occasion and a feel good factor that few polished European rivals can get near. In many ways, the bad bits of the Viper - the comedy build quality, the mediaeval technology and the sheer impracticality of it are exactly the things that make it stand out. If you like the finely honed precision of, say a Porsche, you will hate it. If you love the attitude and "characterful flaws" of a TVR, you will probably fall in love with the Dodge. I have.