2009 Dodge Viper SRT-10: Audio Review

Having a premium branded audio system in our long-term 2009 Dodge Viper SRT-10 is the epitome of putting lipstick on a pig. While the Viper can't be considered porcine performance-wise, its 600-horsepower power plant makes such a raucous grunt even at idle that any improvement in sound quality the Alpine components can muster is effectively drowned out and muddied. And when the tires start to squeal, forget about it.

I put the Viper's stock Alpine system through a full audio eval nonetheless. But I may have well just left it on the Sirius E Street Radio channel that was tuned in when I fired up the engine. Hmmm ... wonder who on the staff has such an affinity for The Boss?

The Setup
The Alpine system is standard on the $94,130 car, but our Viper is also equipped with the $1,700 AM/FM CD GPS Navigation Radio option with Sirius satellite radio. The audio system consists of seven speakers powered by 310 watts. The speakers include a 6.5-inch woofer in each door, a 1-inch tweeter at each end of the dash, 2.5-inch midranges behind each seat and a 6.5-inch subwoofer in a vented enclosure between the seats.

The Sound
Same with every audio system I sound check, I listened to about a dozen musical tracks in the Viper to analyze clarity/lack of distortion, tonal balance, timbre, tonal accuracy, soundstaging, imaging and dynamics. I also used non-musical tracks to further gauge soundstaging and imaging and to test for linearity and absence of noise. For more details on the audio-system testing process and the tracks used, click on the Edmunds.com article Sound Advice.

As mentioned at the beginning of the post, the Viper's extreme exhaust note while sitting still makes null any significant sound-quality improvement of the Alpine setup. Plus, the subwoofer between the seats creates such in-your-face low frequency that I turned the bass on the head unit's tone control almost all the way down -- once I figured out how to do it via an irritating interface and a tiny screen that looks straight out of the late '80s.

But even with the bass lowered to near zero, low frequency still overwhelmed the system and skewed tonal balance. And the bass was mostly boomy and distorted, which also took away any true timbre and tonal accuracy and dulled dynamics. Soundstaging and imaging didn't fare much better; the stage was severely constricted in width and had no real depth, and imaging was seriously side-biased. Linearity was poor at low- and mid-volume levels, but at least the system passed the absence-of-noise test.

The Sources
The available media options are as limited as the system's sound. As the name implies, the AM/FM CD GPS Navigation Radio option tunes in terrestrial radio, and our Viper also has Sirius sat radio. The only other music source is old-fashioned CD. But if you also want to be guided by the nav system, you have to decide between directions or music since the head unit's disc drive doubles as home to the mapping DVD. If you're looking for iPod integration, don't forget your FM transmitter. And for Bluetooth, you better bring along a headset or speakerphone. Better yet, leave those at home and concentrate on just driving this beast.

2009_viper_det_nav_lt_1[1].jpg

What We Say
Normally this is where I'd say that this car's stock audio calls -- or in this case begs -- for an aftermarket upgrade. And if you're serious about sound, you can probably throw enough speakers, amplifier power and money at the problem to get an appreciable increase in sound quality. But with the sonorous snarl created by the Viper's 10 cylinders when the pedal is to the metal, why bother? Save your money and your hearing.

The Scores
Sound: D
Source Selection: D
Cost: C-

Doug Newcomb, Senior Editor, Technology

Categories: 2009 Dodge Viper SRT-10

9 Comments

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kevm14 says:

06:26 PM, 10/20/10

To be fair, the excessive bass may have been tuned for driving down the road. Between tire noise and engine noise, it'll need a big boost.

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eclogite says:

06:30 AM, 10/21/10

If I owned a Viper, the engine and exhaust would be all tunes I'd need.

mrryte says:

07:11 AM, 10/21/10

So it doesn't have Bluetooth or even an aux input? Wow....
You'd think that Dodge would at least put some effort into designing/building a decent audio system for a $90K halo vehicle.

stress83 says:

07:41 AM, 10/21/10

@mrryte:

That is not at all what the Viper was about. It's not a touring car. It's a brutal assault weapon. I'm sure that the nav was simply added as parts bin appeasement. Furthermore, I am going to imagine that the next-gen Viper will include your desires, but the entire package will be a bit watered down and not at raw as this generation Viper. Perfect for those who care more about suede and stitching than they do actually using the capable performance vehicle for more than a status symbol. But I digress...

@eclogite: Well said. One doesn't buy the Viper to emulate the accoustics Sydney Opera House (the garrish appearance of the latter, maybe...).

jeepsrt says:

08:35 AM, 10/21/10

I had that head unit in my 2003 Dodge Ram and had to get a 6 disc changer so I could use the Nav and listen to music at the same time. It was the only stock Nav available at the time and it was not very user friendly but did the job.

lostboyz says:

08:51 AM, 10/21/10

if anyone remembers the ford gt interior it only had a off the shelf 1din cd player, so this is pretty good considering.

You don't buy these cars for their audio performance, other than exhaust note

theodore2 says:

10:26 AM, 10/21/10

Why is every blog negative about this car? I'm not sure why you even wanted to test it? To bash Mpar some more? Sad!!!

dougnewcomb says:

01:12 PM, 10/21/10

@theodore2: 'Cause I've been tasked with audio-testing every vehicle in out LT fleet. And waddaya mean? I've read plenty of positive post on the Viper.

@theodore2: 'Cause I've been tasked with audio-testing every vehicle in out LT fleet. And waddaya mean? I've read plenty of positive posts on the Viper.