The Viper engine is a high-performance

naturally-aspirated A naturally aspirated engine, also known as a normally aspirated engine, and abbreviated to N/A or NA, is an internal combustion engine in which air intake depends solely on atmospheric pressure and does not have forced induction through a turboc ...

pushrod A valvetrain is a mechanical system that controls the operation of the intake and exhaust valves in an internal combustion engine. The intake valves control the flow of air/fuel mixture (or air alone for direct-injected engines) into the combu ...

valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...

-per-

cylinder A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...

90°

V10 engine A V10 engine is a ten- cylinder piston engine where two banks of five cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V10 engines are much less common than V8 and V12 engines. Several V10 diesel engines have been pro ...

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. ( , ), usually referred to as Lamborghini or colloquially Lambo, is an Italian manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its su ...

for use in the

Dodge Viper The Dodge Viper is a sports car that was manufactured by Dodge (by Street & Racing Technology, SRT for 2013 and 2014), a division of American car manufacturer Chrysler from 1992 until 2017, having taken a brief hiatus in 2007 and from 2011 to 20 ...

. Despite its large displacement, it is based on the Chrysler LA V8.

Development

Phase SR (1992–2002)

SR I (1st generation)

The Viper V10 is based on the

Chrysler LA engine The LA engine is a family of overhead valve engine, overhead-valve small-block 90° V engine, V-configured gasoline engines built by Chrysler Corporation between 1964 and 2003. Primarily V8s, the line includes a single V6 and V10, both derivations ...

family and appeared with the

in 1992. It was conceived and prototyped as a Magnum 5.9 with two extra cylinders and a longer stroke of . The first-generation Viper V10 engine had a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of and produced at 4600 rpm and of

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational analogue of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). The symbol for torque is typically \boldsymbol\tau, the lowercase Greek letter ''tau''. Wh ...

at 3600 rpm.

SR II (2nd generation)

The second-generation engine, also displacing 8.0 L, produced at 5200 rpm and of torque at 3700 rpm. 1999 was the last year for

forged Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compression (physics), compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die (manufacturing), die. Forging is often classif ...

pistons until the 5th gen engine was released in 2012. There was an emissions transition happening around this time that may have influenced this.

Phase ZB (2003–2010)

ZB I (3rd generation)

The third-generation engine, introduced on the 2003 Viper, had a displacement of with a bore x

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

of , rated at at 5600 rpm and at 4200 rpm of torque after SAE certification in 2006.

ZB II (4th generation)

For the 2008 Dodge Viper, the engine's output was increased to at 6100 rpm and at 5000 rpm of torque via a slight displacement increase to and the use of

variable valve timing Variable valve timing (VVT) is the process of altering the timing of a Poppet valve, valve lift event in an internal combustion engine, and is often used to improve performance, fuel economy or emissions. It is increasingly being used in combina ...

, among the first utilized in a

engine. The bore was now , the same as Chrysler's 6.1 L Hemi engine.

Phase VX (2012–2017)

VX I (5th generation)

The 2013 SRT Viper kept roughly the same displacement but further boosted power to at 6150 rpm and at 4950 rpm of torque. Since 2015, power was raised up to at 6200 rpm.

Other Viper V10 vehicles

In addition, the Viper V10 was installed in the Dodge Ram SRT-10, earning the truck the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for fastest production truck (later bettered by the Australian Holden HSV Maloo, which uses the LS2

Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

engine). The

Dodge Tomahawk The Dodge Tomahawk was a non-Street-legal vehicle, street legal vehicle introduced in 2004 by Dodge at the North American International Auto Show#2003, North American International Auto Show, as a one-off concept vehicle, concept, and later tha ...

concept vehicle also uses this engine.

Bitter Cars Erich Bitter Automobil GmbH (Bitter) is a premium sports-luxury automobile marque produced in Germany and later Austria. Founder Erich Bitter (1933–2023), a then retired racing driver turned automobile tuner, importer and ultimately designe ...

of Germany produced the Bitter GT1 based on the

Lotus Elise GT1 The Lotus Elise GT1 (also known as the Lotus GT1 and known internally as Type-115) is a race car developed for grand tourer-style sports car racing starting in 1997. Development Lotus Cars had previously been using the Lotus Esprit GT1 –a ra ...

using this engine. The V10 was also sold to British luxury car manufacturer

Bristol Cars Bristol Cars was a British manufacturer of hand-built luxury cars headquartered in Bristol, Bristol, England. It was formed from the car division of the Bristol Aeroplane Company after the World War II, Second World War and later became indepe ...

: the Bristol Fighter was powered by a modified version of the engine which produced , increasing to at high speed due to the ram air effect. Bristol Cars further produced a Fighter S, in which the engine was tuned to give ( at high speed). Bristol had also planned to produce a Fighter T, further modifying the engine with a

turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into th ...

to produce at 5600 rpm. However, Bristol have since stated that no Fighter T models were produced. * Bristol Fighter *

* Millyard Viper V10 Motorcycle * Spania GTA Spano * VLF Force 1 * Dodge Ram SRT-10 * Alfa Romeo Zagato TZ3 Stradale

References

{{reflist Chrysler engines V10 engines