Whether you're a Viper owner looking for a little extra venom for your snake, or a serious road racing or drag racing competitor, DaimlerChrysler Corporation's Mopar Performance Parts has something for you. To demonstrate, DaimlerChrysler today gave journalists the opportunity to drive a variety of Dodge vehicles equipped with street-legal Mopar Performance Parts.

"Traditionally, Mopar has been at the forefront of providing performance parts for its customers," said Lou Patane, Executive Director, Chrysler Motorsports Operations. "Today's Mopar Performance Parts offering continues - and strengthens - that commitment, both in CARB-certified (legal for on-road use) and pure competition parts.

"Mopar has aggressively moved forward with parts for today's production vehicles such as the Viper, Neon and Dodge trucks, while working to provide non-model line specific parts such as crate motors to appeal to hot-rod builders, historic vehicle restorers and club racers. For 1999 we have an unrivaled range of performance parts available."

DaimlerChrysler's Mopar Performance Parts demonstrated today its recently released Dodge Viper power and handling upgrade components and Dodge Magnum engine performance kits. California Air Resources Board (CARB) has granted DaimlerChrysler the first exemption certificates of aftermarket performance parts to any automaker for OBDII vehicles, allowing owners of select DaimlerChrysler vehicles to purchase and fit these components for on-road use.

The exemptions, which apply to 1999-model year and earlier vehicles, make these systems legal in all 50 U.S. states. Certification allows parts to be fitted individually, in combination or as a complete package to each engine. CARB's standards were made significantly more stringent by the introduction of stricter exhaust emission (Low Emission Vehicle or LEV) and engine monitoring (On-Board Diagnostics stage 2 or OBDII) regulations.

"Mopar is committed to providing environmentally responsible parts that meet customers’ needs for enhanced performance," said Patane. "Moreover, we had to satisfy DaimlerChrysler's own standards of durability and quality to ensure that our owners’ expectations are fully met."

The parts certified offer significantly enhanced performance for owners of Dodge vehicles using 5.2 and 5.9 liter V-8 engines (1999 and earlier Dodge Dakota, Durango and Ram trucks and Jeep® Grand Cherokee), 8.0 liter Magnum V-10 engine (Dodge Ram), and Jeep® vehicles using the 4.0-liter in-line six cylinder engines (Wrangler, Cherokee and Grand Cherokee).