• The Dodge Viper is Dodge's top end, two door, performance sports car. Originally debuted in 1992 as a production vehicle, the Dodge Viper is known as very serious, quick, traditional, and sleek street performance car.
• The Viper is produced with seating for only two, as performance and speed take priority over the possibility of more passengers. It includes wrap-around tail lamps and voluptuous body styling. A wrap around window and an optional convertible top allow it to be one of the most noticed cars on the road. The Viper comes with a 510-hp 8.3-liter aluminum-intensive V10, mated to a Tremec T56 six-speed manual transmission, anti-lock brakes, and a viscous limited-slip differential. Unlike many competitors, the Viper is only available with a manual transmission, with little in the way of electronic driving aids.
• For 2006, the Viper has only minor changes. Since production is low, changes occur when the car is totally redesigned, which last occurred in 2003.

The third is the 2006 convertible with a top that works, combined with the new coupe, both called SRT10s. We don't want to heap fault on the previous GTS Le Mans-winning coupe, but the new coupe feels about twice as good on the road and on the racetrack.

The engineers at SRT, Dodge's in-house tuning company, Street and Racing Technology, have tuned up the coupe with a stiffer frame, a more competent, less thumpy chassis and suspension arrangement, and a few more creature comforts, without sanding off all of the Viper's visceral edges.

The car is handbuilt around a central cage structure using various kinds of reaction-injected or sheet-molded plastic body panels, door skins, hood and decklid. The cage makes its presence known in the form of the very tall, wide central tunnel that houses the shifter, handbrake, and window switches, newly turned out in brushed metal instead of black plastic. They have left plenty of room for a roll cage inside the car.

The first and second generation Vipers were pretty wavy here and there, but the plastic body panels on the Vipers we drove were straighter, flatter, better fitting, and more uniform than on any previous Viper, so they have apparently improved their plastic parts manufacturing processes while they were finding more power, more torque and more chassis stiffness.

Thankfully, the throttle modulation on the Viper is very good, the clutch pedal is light, with a short pedal travel, and the six-speed manual needs a strong, precise hand for maximum driving rewards. One key to the Viper's performance is its monster tires, 275/35R18s in the front and 345/30R19s in the rear, special Michelin high-performance run-flat tires that eliminate the need to carry a spare, jack and lug wrench. Michelin has been the Viper tire supplier exclusively since Day One, and they continue to upgrade the wet and dry handling capabilities and torque handling capacity with each succeeding generation of tires.

We can't say enough about the consistently excellent performance of the huge 14-inch four-piston Brembo antilock brakes. Combined with the giant footprints made by the tires, the brakes pull the 3500-pound Viper down from speed like it was a 150-pound race kart, all day long.

The new steering system feels like it has been slowed down and calmed down a bit. It doesn't hunt around all the time like the original Viper did, but neither is it dull or slow, with a hefty weight and solid on-center feel, like an American sports car. SRT has arranged a static weight balance of 49.6 percent front, 50.4 percent rear, which is as close to 50/50 as you can get, and that helps make it turn in very forcefully. The suspension is near race-quality in terms of the way it keeps the body perpendicular to the road, but will not shake your nerves and rattle your brain until the road surface gets really grim.

The form-fitting tall bucket seats will hold your upper body in the corners very well, and the seat will bump up against the rear wall when extended all the way back, and that's it. No more rear travel or recline. If you're very tall, you'll be more comfortable in the convertible. The floor pedals can be power-adjusted by a dashboard button through four inches of reach, a big improvement over the old manually adjustable pedals.

The new instruments and controls are canted to the left in the new car, toward the driver, and you can see all the faces in one quick left-to-right sweep of the eyes. The large tachometer sits directly in front of the driver, to its right a smaller 220-mph speedometer (but 190 is more like it). All of the switches and vents are easier to see and reach.

The throttle, brake and clutch pedals are closely spaced for heel-and-toe downshifting. A new feature is the dead pedal for your left foot, good for bracing in the corners at the race track or on your favorite country road. A returning feature is the use of acres of cheap plastic on the interior.

The 2006 Dodge Viper is quicker, faster, and more civilized than the previous car, among the fastest production cars sold in America. It is stiffer by far than the convertible, which leads to palpable improvements in steering, stability and handling. It is even more powerful and more torquey than the original V-10. The lightweight plastic body has more built-in downforce for high-speed handing. It is huge fun to drive approaching the limit, and then you really have to be careful. If we had the kind of discretionary income that it takes to own one of these cars, we'd buy one in a hot minute, put slicks on it, and take it to the nearest race track every weekend. Or, just drive it to work, the longest way possible.

NewCarTestDrive.com correspondent Jim McCraw filed this report from the Detroit area.