TRACK RAT'S SNAKE; Second-generation Viper ACR takes "race `n' ride'' to a new level.(News)

Byline: PETE LYONS

The Viper cage clangs shut, and there you are, locked in with 600 snakepower of coiled poison. Slowly, it raises its fanged face, blinks its slitted eyes, smiles.

"Good day, sir. May I offer you some whine?''

Supercars are growing more civil, which is disorienting. Dodge's new Viper SRT10 American Club Racer wears the street-thug look it should, and its muscle is rock-real, but its manner is as smooth as a British butler's. It starts up quietly, clutch and shifter are amiable, and when you fly into a racetrack turn at a pace you're sure would make even Viper racer Tommy Archer's eyes go wide, the ACR simply murmurs encouragement: "Okay, that's fairly good, but next time, let's carry some speed.''

Shouldn't a vehicle so snake-quick strike icy fear in your heart?

Herb Helbig doesn't think so. Known in Viper circles as the Grail Keeper-it says so on his helmet-Helbig is chief engineer of Dodge's SRT group. This is the small bunch of car nuts and hands-on racers who light halos of excitement above the company's everyday products. SRT models are track- capable versions of base cars and have to remain comfortable en route to the track.

But this second-generation ACR model does strain that definition, with its stiff suspension, sticky tires and monstrous aero. "We wanted to raise the bar,'' explains Helbig. "We wanted to show the rest of the guys who build cars like this that this car will take no prisoners when it's out on the racetrack. That was the purpose for doing it: Make it absolutely untouchable on a racetrack, dollar for dollar.''