Dodge Viper ACR to take another stab at Nurburgring record with crowd-funded cash

DODGE Viper fans with money to burn have banded together to send a brace of the swansong ACR Extreme cars to Germany’s Nurburgring in an attempt to take back the production car lap record and plant the Star-Spangled Banner on hallowed European soil.

Since the sub-Extreme Viper ACR claimed the lap record in 2011, a number of other contenders have since brought the title back to Europe. However, patriotic Americans have joined forces for one last attempt on the record before the Viper is put out to pasture in August.

More than US$159,000 (A$210,000) has been raised by philanthropic Viper fans to cover the costs of shipping two Viper ACR Extremes across the Atlantic, while Nurburgring aces Dominik Farnbacher and Luca Stolz are the mercenaries hired to steer the cars.

The vehicles are being provided by Texan Dodge Viper and SRT dealer ViperExchange, which presumably wants the pair of super coupes back in one piece.

A time of 7 minutes 12.13 seconds was set by the previous Viper, but to reclaim the record the ACR Extreme needs to go faster than the current best time of 6 minutes 52 seconds recently set by the Lamborghini Huracan Performante.

It is worth noting that the ACR Extreme has already had a crack at the record once before but failed to sneak under the seven-minute mark.

The band of Viper lovers, buoyed by the car’s recent successes smashing records at a number of US race tracks, believe the V10-powered monster has what it takes to embarrass the world’s toughest metal on home turf.

“Our beloved Viper has set 13 track records in the US. Let’s go back to Nurburgring and re-take the ultimate international crown as we sail into the sunset,” reads a note on the Gofundme web page.

At its disposal, the most track-focused road-legal Viper to date has a 481kW naturally-aspirated V10 at the front and driven wheels at the back.

Even if the crowd-funded team is successful, some might question the legitimacy of a record set by a car dressed up in the Extreme Aero Package, which is a retrofit option and contributes about 800kg of downforce.

The team will hit the track in July.