An Absolute Legend Has Built An Off-Roading Dodge Viper
The current crop of âsafariâ style sports cars â things like the Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato, Porsche 911 Dakar and Morgan CX-T â all look like hilarious fun (in fact, we can confirm the Sterrato is), but what if you want something similar thatâs 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 yearâs worth of work to make the sports car capable of being yeeted through the desert without snapping in half. Itâs 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 bodyâs 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 â a process you can catch up on with Mattâs 12-video-long playlist documenting the build â itâs 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 wonât spoil the result of the drag race, but safe to say it might not be what you expect. Matt, if youâre reading this, can we suggest a Dakar Rally entry?
