Ireland and America have joined forces to destroy the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Well, not really… but the duo will put on one hell of a show. Ireland is represented by Formula Drift pro Dean Kearney. The American side of the equation is Kearney’s ridiculous 900 horsepower Dodge Viper.
What started life as a road-racing Viper has been transformed into a slideways leviathan. Here, Dodge’s V10 engine has been tweaked to produce the aforementioned 900+ horsepower and 700 lb-ft of torque. It’s done by way of JE Pistons, Magnaflow headers, and an OS Giken flyhweel that whips the revs into a flurry. All the action is modulated by a four-speed gearbox and Kearney’s fast feet.
Over the years, the car has seen different styles, but I am currently in love with the almost comical roof scoop. It’s like an anime version of what you’d find on an older WRC car. But it makes sense on a Viper, because the Viper is a cartoon version of a real car anyway.
Click play and watch the car slide all over Lord March’s driveway.
[EDIT: Apparently it’s twin-turbocharged and fitted with nitrous, so it makes over 1,110 horsepower. Jesus…]
This is what a 900 horsepower Dodge Viper does at Goodwood
By Jeff Glucker
Jul 12, 2018
By Jeff Glucker
Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff
I’m pretty sure that’s still the “old” 900-horsepower one. The turbo one has had I think 3 engine failures so far, and I’m pretty sure his old car being on a boat across the Atlantic must have been why he had to borrow a Nissan for FD New Jersey.
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Damn, but that’s one hairy beast! I’d have the whitest of knuckles and tightest of sphincters driving that overpowered squirrel.
Are these drift monsters set up with some off-centred suspension? Or does unsticking the back wheels just balance out the front rear grip better?
Somehow the car only looks stable when it is in a drift: Too twitchy to ever drive in a straight line, but looks like once you get it at a 15 or 20 degree angle and a little opposite lock it all settles down.