When Dodge unveiled the first-ever Hellcat-powered Challenger SRT in 2014, the temple columns shook.
More powerful than many Exotics at the time thanks to its 6.2 L V8 topped with a supercharger of a volume comparable to that of a “big” four-cylinder (2.4 L), it advanced 707 hp to relaunch hostilities in this war for power among the muscle cars Americans. The American brand closed last week the final chapter of this thundering epic of Dodge, the curtain of which will fall at the end of the year.
Outrageous and unbridled, this Challenger SRT Hellcat has always since occupied the top of the charts of raw power against the Mustang Shelby and Camaro ZL1 of this world with its multiple liveries. She will also have been the main character of an American story, where the coupé personified the self-made man from a modest background who took on much better-off rivals. Because this Challenger will always have been based on a “rental vehicle”, allowing it to be rather affordable in terms of its performance potential.
More than 1000 hp
The last pages were lithographed a few days ago with the unveiling of the very last version to carry a Hellcat engine. It is called SRT Demon 170, to refer to its engine derived from the Hellephant C170. It is therefore still a 6.2 L V8 supercharged by compressor as at the origin which serves as basic material. However, it has been radically revised. Its supercharger, now 3L in volume, boosts air pressure to 21.3 psi to ensure peak power of 1,025 hp and 945 lb-ft of torque when fueled at the engine. E85 ethanol.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY STELLANTIS
This Challenger’s supercharged 6.2L V8 produces 1025 hp when run on E85 ethanol fuel.
To ensure that this prodigious energy can be resisted, all of the V8’s internal parts have been strengthened and the fuel injection system improved to deliver up to 621 L of gasoline per hour to the cylinders. When the drag race is over, a cooling system kicks in, using the vehicle’s air conditioner to cool the hot compressor.
A parachute to brake
Above all, this Challenger SRT 170 is cut out for this type of event. It excels there, moreover, if we judge by the figures put forward by Dodge. The famous quarter mile (402 m) is completed in 8.91 s with a top speed of 243 km/h, which makes it the fastest production car on this measurement point. During the exercise, it reaches 97 km/h in just 1.66 s, not without taking off the front wheels. During this time, the driver takes twice his weight in longitudinal acceleration. Mind-blowing, you say? Fortunately, you can equip it with a parachute to slow its momentum at the end of this straight line.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY STELLANTIS
Dodge offers the option of installing a parachute at the rear of this Challenger to avoid visiting the field or the wall at the end of the drag strip.
Obviously, such an edition will have a print run worthy of its exceptional status. Only 3300 copies will be produced, including 300 for the Canadian market. We bet that they will take much more value than the starting price in Canada, set at $130,890. The end of a crazy era to probably give way to an electrical sector that already promises to be extremely efficient, but less charismatic in mechanical terms.
