Chrysler unveils 640 horsepower Viper

•  1 
• Email Print

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The Dodge Viper has been out of production since 2010 but Chrysler Group unveiled a new version, powered by a huge 8.4 liter V10 engine, at the New York Auto Show Wednesday.

The new car looks like Vipers dating back to the car's introduction in the early 1990s. It preserves the long hood and giant side air ducts. Gone, though, is the Dodge name. Now it's just the SRT Viper.

The new car also makes greater use of technology than past Vipers, in which a very basic, low-tech driving experience was part of the image.

For the first time, the Viper will have both traction control, which helps prevent the tires from spinning under hard acceleration, and stability control, which helps the driver during abrupt maneuvers.

Cool cars from the New York Auto Show

Stability control, which has been shown to significantly reduce fatal crashes, is now required by law on all new cars. In the Viper, the stability can be adjusted to allow the driver to push the car closer to its cornering limits before the computers intervene.

"We strove to deliver a supercar that continues to bring the driver as close as possible to the machine," said Ralph Gilles, head of the SRT division for Chrysler group.