2008 Dodge Viper Mileage: Not Appalling?

The Viper leaves our offices today after a week of me tooling around in the sinister coupe, and sitting at my desk this morning I had to tally up the gas receipts for the week. Much to my surprise, the dang thing got 20.17 mpg over the course of 750 miles, which ain’t too shabby. Of course, most of my driving was on the highway at cruising speeds, including a 170-mile road trip where, at 70 mph, the Viper was barely off idle in sixth gear. And, oh yeah, no cruise control made that driving a blast (note: sarcasm).

Official EPA estimates put the Viper at 13/22 mpg city/highway, so looking back those numbers aren’t too surprising, but they’re still impressive for a 600-hp supercar that has a gas-guzzler tax. A four-wheel-drive 2009 Honda Pilot is also rated at 22 mpg highway, but don’t take that tidbit as a direct comparison, just a fun fact. The coupe is an insanely fast car to drive on the street, but I was cautious while “testing” it, limiting blasts of acceleration and watch-the-gauge-drop fuel consumption. If you want to push it, by the time first gear is done the car will have reached or exceeded the majority of legal speed limits. Even being conservative, though, something still doesn’t compute when you say “Viper” and “20 mpg” in the same sentence.

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