A few days ago, was unveiled the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat world’s most powerful muscle car, and the fastest ever built. But Dodge wasn’t satisfied with that, it went greedy to beat another impressive record, held by Mercedes Benz for years, the world most powerful sedan. Dodge unveiled yesterday the car that dethroned the S65 AMG, its Dodge Charger Hellcat SRT. Here is the official video by Dodge
Powered by the same Hemi Hellcat engine, a supercharged 6.2L V8 powertrain that produces the same monstrous 707 bhp and 881 Nm of torque, the new Dodge is impressive. In fact it goes from stand still to 100 km/h in just 3.6 seconds, 0.2 faster than the coupe Challenger, and the almost same time for a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta in the quarter mile : 11.0 seconds (the test was made on street tires, so it could have been better if they tested the car using race tires). Engine performance make it not only the most powerful sedan ever built and one of the fastest to rival with S65 AMG, Audi S8, BMW 760 and the 5 series, it has the most powerful torque couple produced by a muscle car. It is fitted with an automatic 8-speed gearbox that channels all power to the rear wheels, and has an exhilarating gear change time: just 0.160 seconds. Another record for Dodge, the car goes from 0 to 100 mph in 13 seconds and tops 328 km/h. It is the only production sedan that tops 320 km/h, besides of the Bentley Flying Spur, and the S65 AMG Brabus. All the others are electronically limited to 250 or 260.
On the outside, the car is inspired from the 1969 Dodge Charger. And to make the car have its own looks, engineers have redesigned body panels, fitted it with the following : all new front bumper, a new grill, new modified LED headlamps, a new bonnet, having now new air traps: one big central and two smaller on the sides, back air extractors, and a new rear bumper. The front and rear bumper impose higher aerodynamic performances, and give higher downforce when the car reaches high speeds.
On the inside, the new Hellcat does not differ much from the regular Charger, it does not present many luxurious features: Two sport front heated seats, and heated rear bench, regular not sport. A new feature is the Uconnect system that manages the driving mode. The Hellcat has 5 driving modes : default (nothing so interesting about it), sport (electronic car management for a dynamic driving), Track (maximum car performances), Eco (everything goes economic) and for those who really know their car, they can use the SRT performance app to manage horsepower distribution, traction control, transmission shift speed, steering effort and suspension firmness. It has also a 900W Herman Karton audio system with 18 speakers.
Dodge did not reveal any price yet, sales will start in 2015
Sources : auto123.com ; guideautoweb.com ; blogautomobile.fr ; blog.cars.com