That's what happens when you put an inexperienced driver in an overpowered car made by a company (Dodge) that knows practically nothing about sports cars.
Well put. The Viper is all engine. It has the best power to weight ratio of all sports cars. Having said that, the C5 vette gets consistently better reviews then the Viper because of ride and handling.
Like the Shelby Cobra that inspired it, the Viper handles and brakes well enough. There are quite a few of them being raced on the road courses with relatively minor suspension and brake changes or upgrades. Anything with that much horsepower can kill a foolish driver, though.
It's not all that overpowered, though. Now, THIS beast is overpowered:
Supercharged Chevy LT-1 crammed in an old 240Z. Check out the owner's website and be sure to play the 240Z videos. It'll light up the tires at a 40 mph roll and accelerate as hard as a sport bike. I'd prefer it if he didn't demonstrate all that torque with oncoming traffic like that, though (note how the front wheels are cut to correct for that back end sliding around).