Of course all cars deserve a certain level of respect. The Viper, however, is especially demanding. Go into a tight corner too quickly and the front end will plow right off the road. Try to compensate with the throttle and you just might end up in the same spot but facing backward. The rear end snaps out so quickly and so unpredictably (unless you have spent a great deal of time behind the wheel to know the cars specific handling nuances) that a conservative approach is the best policy. This is no overstatement. According to a Dodge representative, at least a dozen press cars have been written off over the Viper's ten year existence, with four of the incidents resulting in the death of the driver, and in one case passenger as well. What makes this particularly sobering is that all these victims were professional drivers, trained in advanced driving courses and experienced in accident avoidance maneuvers. The Viper lives up to its name, biting a careless handler deep and hard.
But that doesn't mean it can't be a safe yet exhilarating experience to drive. I charged up the undulating two-lane highway with confidence at reasonable speeds, dove in and out of hairpin corners and even kicked the rear end out in a joyful slide while administering opposite lock steering at the other end. It's capable of this and much, much more. All the while my heart was pounding with apprehensive excitement, wondering just how far I could push it but never getting up the nerve to find out - probably a good thing seeing as there was no racetrack style run-off area anywhere in sight.
Quite the opposite was true really. The mountainous roads around Santa Barbara might not be as high above sea level as the careening ribbons of tarmac that snake through BC's canyons and traverse over majestic mountain peaks, but a 50-ft drop at 160 km/h (100 mph) is deadly enough. With that in mind I stayed content with little blasts up to slightly higher than posted speeds and concurrent mad braking before oncoming curves, an equally adrenaline inducing experience. The Viper uses power assisted 4-piston calipers on 330.5 x 32 mm (13.0 x 1.26 in) front and 330.5 x 22 mm (13.0 x 0.87 in) rear discs accompanied by an anti-lock system - thank goodness. Its Michelin Pilot tires offer that extra grip necessary to bring the 1,561 kg (3,442 lb) car to a quick and controlled stop.