Remember the Aesop fable of “The Farmer and the Viper”? With an emphasis on cosmetics and interior luxury, the 2013 Dodge SRT Viper is like that. The two-seater dazzles with highfalutin options like leather-covered everything and a $14,000 paint job you’ll consider a bargain. However, Cars.com reviewer Aaron D. Bragman admonishes, once you’re in the cockpit, this street-legal racecar turns on you, its intimidating V-10 taunting you to top 200 mph while pummeling you with sport-stiff suspension. Consider that parting exhaust burn on your leg payment for your “reward from the wicked.”
Former Assistant Managing Editor-News Matt Schmitz is a veteran Chicago journalist indulging his curiosity for all things auto while helping to inform car shoppers.