The Viper is back. The 2009 Dodge Viper is the latest and greatest in dodges muscle range, but it’s also a wonderfully balanced sports car, with sleek looks to match. Though the 2009 model doesn’t do anything particularly now, there are a lot of small tweaks to performance and appearance which all add up.

The new Viper comes as with hardtop or as a convertible and features a 600-hp 8.4-liter V10 engine ñone of the most powerful in its league. There’s not much point racing this thing, because it’ll win every time, but you might be able to beat it on features and looks.

While the classic Viper styling is still visible, the 2008 and 2009 have been criticized for their somewhat unimaginative design, which lacks the memorable lines of the original. As is typical with Dodge, the interior quality also takes a back seat to the pure mechanical genius of the machine. It’s rough and ready, to say the least. Dodge calls this “racing essence”.

So don’t be mistaken. The 2009 Dodge Viper is all about racing, speed, power and more racing, and it’s not too concerned about driver comfort. It’ll reward you with years of heart pounding fun if you give it a try.