First Drive: new Corvette Stingray [VIDEO]

For 60 years, the Chevrolet Corvette has held the title of “America’s Sports Car”, but it’s not America’s only sports car.Since it first slithered onto showroom floors in 1992, the Street and Racing Technology (SRT) Viper, former under the Dodge moniker, has won fans and terrified unprepared drivers with its own unique brand of American performance.

It takes the entry-level 455bhp 6.2-litre V8 - the most powerful base-engine in a Corvette ever - and adds stainless steel intake and exhaust manifolds, a high flow cat and mid pipes that work with the factory-fit dual-mode performance exhaust. There's also a hydraulic roller camshaft, ported and polished cylinder heads, and a remapped ECU to work with 93-octane unleaded.

While they’ve typically been separated by significant price and performance gaps, although the previous-generation Corvette Z06 and ZR1 essentially closed those gaps), the ‘Vette and the Viper have a lot in common. They both emphasize raw power and performance over finesse and luxury, which is why they’re both often viewed as unrefined compared to European rivals.
Now, there are new versions of both of these cars. Both General Motors and Chrysler’s SRT claim that each has the sophistication to take on the best from the Europe, but without losing any of the American brutality.