James Retych's 1999 Dodge Viper GTS

By: James Retych and Mark Price

Intro by: Che Chou

12.19.06 // 18:47

Although it may not be the very first aspect of the game to grip your senses, audio is a crucial part of Forza Motorsport 2's simulation equation. The audio characteristics of each car in the game remains a fine point of detail you pick up after hours, days, weeks spent on the edge of grip in the world of Forza Motorsport. For the development of Forza Motorsport 2, we go through pains to record hundreds of cars to get that aspect of the game just right. In an effort to share with you some insight into how all of this game development voodoo works, we're pulling together a recurring series of features called the Turn 10 Dyno Spotlight that looks at a sampling of the most interesting cars we've gotten to record over the past year of Forza Motorsport 2 development.

Our seventh Dyno Spotlight article, and our final one for 2006, we dig up one of our favorites from the ol' scrapbook. And once again, the car in the spotlight — a 1999 Dodge Viper GTS — is yet another American muscle icon, best known for perhaps signaling the re-entry of the U.S. auto manufacturers back into the super car arms race. Conceived as early as 1987, the Viper was rumored to have been inspired by Carroll Shelby's classic Cobra design, with Shelby actually having a hand in the Viper's original concept. The first generation Vipers rolled off the assembly lines in 1992 as a convertible roadster sporting the RT/10 badge. Since that time, there have been three generations of Vipers, each improving on the overall spec of its predecessor. As well, power has been bumped up from the Viper's initial 400 hp stock offering to the now standard 500 hp engine.

But beyond just pure performance and economics, the Dodge Viper has a special place in global motorsports, garnering American-bred pride with winner's cups in the FIA, Grand Am, SCCA, and even drifting competitions like Formula D, among many others. In pop-culture, there was a television show called Viper devoted to the myth behind the concept car (uh, Knight Rider, anyone?), as well as too many cameos in other movies to count. More importantly, Vipers have been a mainstay in racing games soon after its introduction — titles like the Test Drive series back in the '90s featured the Viper as a fairly marquee ride. Then of course, in 2005, there was the original Forza Motorsport on the Xbox, which offered more than a handful Dodge Vipers for you to choose from, including the legendary twin-turbo Hennessey Venom with its 1000 hp accomplishment.

Reading James Retych's story recalls many shades of our past Dyno Spotlights — boy racer falls in love with car, vows to buy it one day, eventually does, and forms a lifelong bond with his vehicle like a master and his beloved pet. Of course, the journey doesn't end with this article. Perhaps it never ends. In the meantime, all we have is a snapshot of somebody's passion for our common and favorite pastime.

Here's James Retych, telling it like it was, and it is.

// Next: Love at First Bite... //