But that's not to say it wasn't fun. After the initial state of overwhelm had departed I was left happily zigging and zagging my way through California's sinuous mountain roadways, not a care in the world. Part of this laissez-faire attitude had to do with the attractive and measurably more user friendly dash and center console area. The quality of materials has improved as has the general layout, with an intelligently arranged grouping of black on white analog gauges, dominated by a large 7,000 rpm tachometer and 355 km/h (220 mph) speedometer, each effectively sheltered from sunrays. The hood itself is artfully arced, flanked on the right side by a vertical stack of four white-faced auxiliary gauges that include oil pressure, oil temperature, coolant temperature and a voltmeter, along with the associated warning lamps. To the right a set of large circular vents feed air onto driver and passenger, actuated by a simple 3-dial, two-button climate control system at the base of the central stack. A sensational sounding 7-speaker, 310-watt AM/FM/6-disc dash-mounted CD audio system is situated between both. In an unusual request made by the vocal Viper owners group cupholders are not included, but a functional center console storage compartment incorporating a power outlet and room enough for CDs is. Satin-finished chrome and machined metal accents highlight the cabin, as well as a 'retro' push button starter on the dash. Directly below on the lower console a fat, stubby leather and metal clad gearshift lever sits surrounded by more scintillating riveted metal trim.
The Tremec T56 6-speed shifter itself is a carryover item, but beefed up slightly to handle the increase in power and torque. It's relatively easy to row through the gears and complimented by a purposefully weighted clutch and well placed pedals - also made of machine cut metal. The center one applies new Brembo 44/40 dual opposing piston fixed calipers to 14-inch Brembo rotors up front and 42/38 dual opposing piston calipers onto the 14-inch calipers in the rear. Stopping distances are amazingly short. Dodge claims a 60-to-0 mph (96.6 km/h) braking distance of less than 30.5 m (100 ft) - I believe them. The Continental Teves sourced ABS system is now standard, but getting them to work effectively from 300 km/h (190 mph) was not a problem the supplier had ever encountered. That said you can now rest assured they'll work. Dodge's Performance Vehicle Operations team, the inside group behind the new Viper and all other future SRT badged Dodge vehicles, took it upon themselves to performance test them from top speed, and in turn made certain the necessary programming modifications were factored in.