The Hellcat is the code name for Dodge’s new 6.2 liter Supercharged Hemi V8. Placed first in the 2015 Challenger SRT, the engine cranks a massive 707 horsepower and 650 lb/ft of torque.
Dodge tested the quarter mile on street-legal-drag radial tires to be a 10.8 second sprint, and threw Brembo brakes on there for good measure. A 0-60 MPH time of 3.6 as stated on CarandDriver and a top speed of 199 MPH.
The new car is refined yet bulked as a true muscle car. One of the fog lights on each side is open to let air directly into the engine.
The new automatic gearbox is an 8-speed and the Challenger is the first to get it. For a starting price of $59,995 this, is best purchase of dollar to horsepower ever.
However, add practicality in as a factor and perhaps the Challenger’s brother is the better choice.
The 2015 Dodge Charger SRT, starting at $63,995, is nothing for what you get out of it. The 6.2 liter Supercharged Hellcat V8 has been given to the new charger along with most other components on the Challenger to make, as confirmed by business insider, as “the fastest production sedan ever built.”
The quarter mile is 11 seconds, the 0-60 is 3.7, and the top speed is 204 MPH. Oh, and it looks just about as badass as a charger can get.
The styling on the car is new and the hood scoop is a nice touch.
But realistically, to get another car with about the same power you would need to get a slower German competitor, like a Audi RS7 or a Mercedes S class, or a British competitor, like a Jaguar or an Aston Martin, and it would run you one hundred grand or more. The car would surely be luxurious, but it would be slower, and that is the essence of the new Charger.
It may seem to most that I am focusing more on the Charger than the Challenger, and you would be right. The Challenger is a great car, it is a retro muscle car, but it doesn’t have the spot light in this occasion. The Challenger is simply not as practical as the Charger. Nor, for what it is, does it hold any accomplishments, but the Charger does.
Finally there is something in the market that expresses the values of American motoring. The car captures pure America in every sense. It is a sedan, and while it is in the sixty grand range, it will have a basic interior, nothing too fancy, and that’s just fine. Leather seats, not too many colors, a dash with a bit of tech, and that’s it.
The four-door sedan is perfect for everyday, family, friends, going out, and going to work, but the speed for cost is the core of muscle ideology. When you put your foot into it, for whatever reason, it answers and there is no questioning it.