An Absolute Legend Has Built An Off-Roading Dodge Viper
The current crop of ‘safari’ style sports cars – things like the Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato, Porsche 911 Dakar and Morgan CX-T – all look like hilarious fun (in fact, we can confirm the Sterrato is), but what if you want something similar that’s a bit more… brash? Muscular? Enter YouTuber Matt Brown, A.K.A. SuperfastMatt, and his off-road Dodge Viper: 8.0 litres of dust-shredding, V10-powered glory.
The off-road Viper is the product of over a year’s worth of work to make the sports car capable of being yeeted through the desert without snapping in half. It’s got custom long-travel suspension and bump stops, the rear axle and locking diff from a Jeep Wrangler, and some truly enormous all-terrain tyres.
Naturally, the body’s been chopped away in places to accommodate said tyres and some underbody armour, as well as improve the all-important approach and departure angles.
With all the fundamentals finished – a process you can catch up on with Matt’s 12-video-long playlist documenting the build – it’s time for a shakedown run in the desert, with a Ford F-150 Raptor brought along as a point of reference.
Matt subjects the Viper to various key off-road tests: doughnuts, hillclimbing, whoops (the big washboard ruts you find on dirt trails rather than what you say after landing a jump too hard and breaking something), and jumps. Finally, it gets subject to a drag race against the Raptor, as well as a small plane. Obviously.
Off-road Dodge Viper doughnutting
Naturally, the doughnuts are minimal effort in a powerful, rear-drive car on a loose surface, but the way the Viper stands up to everything else thrown at it is remarkable. It does an admiral job of scrambling up some steep, slippery hills, and mostly survives some serious airtime (with the exception of the custom steering arms, which… need work).
We won’t spoil the result of the drag race, but safe to say it might not be what you expect. Matt, if you’re reading this, can we suggest a Dakar Rally entry?
