Confirmed Rumor: New Viper to get Ferrari V10

[Shiro666]

http://blog.caranddriver.com/rumor-mill-viper-to-get-ferraserati-v-10/

Pretty wild to have something from the Ferrari/Maserati parts bin for swap fodder. Nothing against the current V10, but one of these bad boys would look great swapped into.....well...anything.

I am not holding my breath for this to actually happen but I have always wanted somthing high revving and Italian being kind of high revving and Italian myself.

I wonder if I would always be Fixing It Again, Tony.

Thoughts?

[Restomod]

Does not sound like a good idea BUT If it happens you will see some HIGH revving sevice costs!!! Ferraris are not cheap to maintain,seal,timing belts,clutches ect.....

[Shiro666]

This is traditionally true, but one would think if this was a powerplant that was going to be used in a car to compete with Z06's and the like, it should have a decent parts infrastructure with costs at least in the ballpark of the outgoing V10.

The engine is modular and would be maintained by existing Chrysler dealerships, not Italian dudes in sunglasses.

[Yenko boy]

Not that I don't like high revving low displacement v8's or 10's it just doesn't seem right in a viper. When I think viper I think big motor big torque and big horsepower.

[wolf28]

While I think the idea is kinda interesting, I have to agree with Yenko boy on this one.

[Memphis]

So this is confirmed to be a rumor? lol. I would hate to see the maintenance costs on this new engine.

[Kenova]

Not that I don't like high revving low displacement v8's or 10's it just doesn't seem right in a viper. When I think viper I think big motor big torque and big horsepower.
X2
North Americans say they like big horsepower, but it's the torque that always seals the deal. On top of that, most are not comfortable with wringing an engine out to 8000 rpm. This will result in most Viper owners lugging the Ferrari engine resulting in a unanimous thumbs down for the car.
All in all, a very bad idea for the NA market. Just one of the reasons Fiat didn't make it the last time they were in our market.

Ken

[mikedc]

Agreed.

This idea is right up there with the 2006 Dodge Charger being a modern-looking 4dr.

[Provertstang]

Let's flash back to the 60's when Ford/Shelby went over there and cleaned their clock with good ole american v-8 muscle. Then the new rules that stated your piston could be no larger that a baby food jar so Ford and Chevrolet pulled out.

Personally I think a Viper already sounds like crap. A v-10 just sounds wrong. The car is amazingly cool looking but that sound, ugh! Build a 600hp Hemi and let it eat!

Just my .02c worth,
Brent

[-The Stig-]

I would think that the Italian mill under the hood might drop some weight off the Viper...

If they can get an expected 500hp from the new Ferrari F450, and make 620hp from the V12 out of the 599GTB Foriano. And upwards of 848hp from the V12 out of the FXX Evoluzione (which is pretty much a race car, I know.)

If they can make those numbers, a 600-something horsepower V10 for a Viper isn't out of the question. Maybe with this motor the Viper will get a sequential gear box finally? I'm a fan of shifting my own gears, but it'll open up the market to more folks.

Look how popular the F1 transmission is in the F430's. Hardly find a 6-speed manual in them. Plus, Ferrari puts in that lame shift gate for the 6-speed... really hard to row the gears with that. Almost make it where you have to use the F1 setup... although, it is classic looking... just a pain in the butt.

[Kenova]

Build a 600hp Hemi and let it eat!

Just my .02c worth,
Brent
I agree! At the very least they should have a 500 HP Hemi as the base engine and the V10 as an option. I'm sure that would make it appeal to a few more customers.

Ken

[buickfunnycar.com]

Viper V-10 is one of the worst sounding engines I've ever heard,how could this be a bad thing..?

[tones2SS]

Keep it with American horsepower!!
(Just doesn't seem right putting an Italian engine in an American muscle car like that, unless it is a custom build.) But these will not be custom builds, they will be actual production cars.
Like some others have suggested, go with a killer HEMI set-up.

[moreHP]

Well I'll be damned! I thought I was in the extreme minority who thought the viper sounds terrible going down the road. I am glad to hear that others feel the same way. To me it sounds like a V6.

I think a wound up ferrari sounds pretty awesome, but I dont think it really fits the image of a viper.

[Yoda4561]

Seriously, that's the worst idea I've ever heard. Let's start putting supercharged toyota engines in corvettes next, it'll be great. The rumor does sound kinda odd though, I'd expect a mercedes engine in it before a Ferrari plant. I'd rather see a turbodiesel in the thing than an italian engine. I do agree that the viper V10 isn't the best sounding engine out there. Not sure if that's an exhaust issue or just the engine's nature. A modernized big block all aluminum hemi V8 would be way cooler, but even with all the computerized fuel/ignition I doubt it would make the emissions, etc requirements.

[James OLC]

Seriously, that's the worst idea I've ever heard. Let's start putting supercharged toyota engines in corvettes next, it'll be great. The rumor does sound kinda odd though, I'd expect a mercedes engine in it before a Ferrari plant. I'd rather see a turbodiesel in the thing than an italian engine. I do agree that the viper V10 isn't the best sounding engine out there. Not sure if that's an exhaust issue or just the engine's nature. A modernized big block all aluminum hemi V8 would be way cooler, but even with all the computerized fuel/ignition I doubt it would make the emissions, etc requirements.

Why would you expect a collaboration with the old owners (Merc)and not the new ones (Fiat)? To me it makes perfect sense for Fiat - their only motivation for buying Chrysler was to take advantage of an existing infrastructure and market. Being able to cost share a design across three brands would certainly help to defer costs. With the first gen V10 they had to stick them in pickups to try to recoup their investment since Viper sales weren't going to do it on their own. Given the virtually ignored Viper product as it exists today, I would hope that this breathes some life into the design. A major diet would be a nice compliment to a new bullet.

[Shiro666]

Also, Keep in mind that the original V10's were developed with and cast by Lamborghini, a partner of Chrysler at the time. Seems like history repeating.

[Yoda4561]

Why would you expect a collaboration with the old owners (Merc)and not the new ones (Fiat)? To me it makes perfect sense for Fiat - their only motivation for buying Chrysler was to take advantage of an existing infrastructure and market. Being able to cost share a design across three brands would certainly help to defer costs. With the first gen V10 they had to stick them in pickups to try to recoup their investment since Viper sales weren't going to do it on their own. Given the virtually ignored Viper product as it exists today, I would hope that this breathes some life into the design. A major diet would be a nice compliment to a new bullet.


Yeah... I kinda missed the mark there. :squint:This is what happens when you don't read the article first and haven't been paying attention to auto-news for a few years. I sorta just assumed that fiat bought Daimler Chrysler and had no idea that Ferrari was owned by fiat. That was way down on my list of "things that just don't happen", somewhere below honest politicians and no taxes. Still, the whole idea just doesn't sit very well with me. Ferrari is a strong, elite brand. The Viper is an american image car. Combining them like this just weakens both brands. Americans can't build a good engine so they needed Ferrari? Ferrari as some parts bin for dodge? It's just wrong in so many ways :sick: .

[CptKlutz]

Cant see why the rumored new engine would be "high revving" Ferrari/Maserati? They are talking about a shared corporate parts bin but the Viper V10 would be pushrod. But having Italians develop the concept and casting can only be good news.

[formula]

The. Engine. In. The. Viper. Was. Co-developed. By. Lamborghini.

I feel like this detail is slipping through the cracks, here.

Also, plane-crank engines almost always sound nastier than their normal-crank brethren. Heck, compare the 430's v8 to the 450's plane-crank--it sounds way nastier now. I've never heard a plane-crank ten, but it's gotta sound better than the UPS truck engine the vipers have now.

I, for one, would be all for it. the flat-crank 8 in the 450 is one of the most beastly engine designs I've ever seen, and it sounds like god beating up a tiger. I'm sure they can punch the ten out a bunch and boost the torque numbers if the engine design is modular enough to accommodate two completely different timing structures.

But, since this is all rumor right now, we can all dream around.

[Memphis]

^Every V8 Ferrari is has flat plane cranks iirc. I believe the Gallardo V10 is a cross plane crank and it sounds quite nice

[NOPANTS-68]

They should save a couple bucks by using the 6.1L Hemi they have now and offer it with an Eaton on top. It would be cheaper to build, sound far better, and keep it all Mopar.

[trapin]

This of course is all contingent on there actually being a Chrysler when the time comes. If this Fiat thing falls through, that is the end of Chrysler. My buddy works there and says the word around campus is that it's not looking good.

[Shiro666]

This whole "sounds better" thing sure is subjective. I think that the majority of car people find that Ferrari's sound like orchestral sex. I like how the new hemi's burble, but you can hardly compare the two. Both sound loads better than the current V10.

I think a sip of Haterade might be in order.....

[James OLC]

They should save a couple bucks by using the 6.1L Hemi they have now and offer it with an Eaton on top. It would be cheaper to build, sound far better, and keep it all Mopar.

Like it or not, Fiat owns (will own) Chrysler so this new engine - if it were to happen - would be just a much a Mopar engine as the 6.1L hemi.


Currently floating through the executive offices in Torino is a plan to fit the Dodge with a V-10 version of the next-generation corporate V-8. This 90-degree engine would be modular top to bottom as well as by cylinder, with a flat-plane crank for the Ferrari V-8, a conventional cross-plane crank for the Maserati V-8, and pushrod-actuated valves for the balance-shafted Viper V-10.

If you read the release you can see that the Viper version of this corporate engine would not (could not) be a small displacement, high RPM engine like the Ferrari engines. And like Formula has pointed out, the current V10 was developed with engineering input from a high HP, high RPM Italian standpoint and it is light years removed from the traditional Lamborghini engines.

[tones2SS]

This of course is all contingent on there actually being a Chrysler when the time comes. If this Fiat thing falls through, that is the end of Chrysler. My buddy works there and says the word around campus is that it's not looking good.

That sucks! Hopefully things turn around for Chrysler.