The new SRT Viper was tested by Motor Trend against the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 in a heads up performance comparison down the 1/4 mile and at Laguna Seca Raceway. Powered by a 640 horsepower 8.4L V10 the SRT Viper ran a 11.4 @ 128.7 MPH, which tied the ZR1. The ZR1 edged out the Viper at Laguna Seca Raceway running 1:33.99 vs the Viper at 1:35.77. For $141,990 as well as all of the hype we expected quite a bit better from the reincarnated Viper. The Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 with 662 horsepower is just a few clicks slower for under $60,000. We’re hoping to see some better real world numbers for the SRT Viper soon.

Here is a heads up race between a 2005 Ford GT and a 2010 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 at the recent StreetCarDrags Event at Palm Beach International Raceway.   The Ford GT has a pulley and tune upgrade by Heffner Performance and the ZR1 is stock.  Both were running on street tires and struggling a bit off the line with the best run of the day for the Ford GT at 11.09 @ 131 MPH and 11.3 @ 128 MPH for the ZR1.  We also weighed both cars with the Ford GT coming in at 3,430 pounds and the ZR1 3,299 pounds.

We’re giving away a GoPro HERO2 Motorsports Edition valued at $299 to a lucky DragTimes.com user who adds their timeslip link in their signature in any automotive discussion forum.   If you run your own website or blog you can use the link as well to enter*.  We’ve made adding the link super simple:

Step 1: Add your car to our database if you haven’t already and find your timeslip page on DragTimes.com. Scroll to the bottom where you will see the box containing the signature link code.

Step 2: Select the code and copy it to your clipboard.

Step 3: Paste the code into the signature area for your account of the automotive forums you visit and save it.

Step 4: Click the link in your signature to test*** and make sure you’re taken to your timeslip on DragTimes.com.

Each unique click on your link from you or anyone else will add another entry** for you into the drawing for the GoPro HERO2 Motorsports Edition on July 30th, 2013.    The more clicks you receive the higher your chances of winning are.

The HD HERO2: Motorsports Edition is the most advanced GoPro camera yet. Wearable and gear mountable, waterproof to 197′ (60m), capable of capturing professional full 170º wide angle 1080p video and 11 megapixel photos at a rate of 10 photos per second, the HD HERO2 is the world’s most versatile camera. Whether your goal is to capture footage of a spirited rip through backcountry roads or you want to capture and study lapping footage to learn how to set a new track record.

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As performance cars continue to become more and more powerful the point of diminishing returns comes up pretty quick when they are sending all that power to just 2 wheels. What’s the point of having 500-700 or even more horsepower if all you do is spin the tires when you try and use it. In the sports car world, the Nissan GT-R (545 HP), Porsche 911 Turbo S (530HP) and Lamborghini Aventador (700HP) are the kings, running 0-60 MPH in under 3 seconds with ease due to their AWD systems. Competitors like the Corvette ZR1 (638HP), Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 (662 HP) and Dodge Viper (640HP) are left for dead trying to play catch up while spinning their tires.

In the sports sedan world all of the best in class performers have gone with turbocharged engines that have massive amounts of torque and power. Audi is the only one that has all wheel drive as of now, but it’s best performer is the huge and very heavy Audi S8. Even with it’s large size and weight, it’s the S8′s all wheel drive and twin turbo V8 pumping put 520+ HP (we think they are way underrating it) is allowing for 0-60 in 3.6 seconds and high 11′s in the quarter mile at 118 MPH. This is enough to beat out the current Mercedes and BMW offerings, the M5 and E63.

Mercedes-Benz is finally coming around and is set to offer it’s first all wheel drive AMG sedan with the 2014 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG 4Matic. Motor Trend spent some time with an E63 test mule and experienced the AMG Launch Control system catapulting the new AMG from 0-60 MPH in 3.4 seconds. Torque is split 33/67 front/rear at all times which is great for all around driving although we would rather see an active system like the Nissan GT-R where it can vary the distribution at will.

We’re expecting this new AMG to be well into the 11′s in the 1/4 mile and into the 10′s after some tuning and boost increases. We’ve already seen the AMG built 5.5L V8 BiTurbo motor put down 620 horsepower to the wheels on RENNTech’s dyno which is well over 700 HP at the engine. Hopefully the AMG 4Matic drivetrain is up to the task to allow for 10 second sedans running with the GT-Rs at the drag strip. We haven’t heard anything about an all wheel drive M5 or M3, but we hope BMW follows along, if not, they’ll be literally left behind along with those ancient Vettes, Vipers and Shebys.