Somebody outside the car world, but still packing minimal knowledge on what horsepower means, would imagine that the 707 ponies of the Dodge Challeger Hellcat are more than enough to tickle any driver's funny bone.
Well, the guys and gals from the drag racing side of the industry will obviously disagree, and we're here to see the kind of progress the Hellcat has done so far.
Don't worry, we won't waste your time with useless statistics about which tuner gifted the blown 6.2-liter motor with a pulley upgrade first. Instead, we're taking you straight to the top by showing you the new Challenger Hellcat 1/4-mile world record.
We're dealing with a 9.29s 1,320 feet run - for the record, the factory car can deliver 10.8s runs when gifted with drag radials, or 11.2s runs on street rubber.
The car behind the feat comes from a label called HHP Racing, with its V8 now delivering north of 1,000 ponies. And yes, nitrous was involved in the run, with the crew turning to a modest 75 shot.
Just like the team beat its previous record by 0.2 seconds, it will probably do it again, so the ET mentioned above isn't that important. Instead, we want to focus on the fact that this Hellcat still packs its factory motor, supercharger included. And we can say the same about the 8-speed transmission.
This says something about the kind of reliability that allowed Dodge to mix its amazing 707 hp package with a warranty. After all, people have been strapping superchargers to Hemi for years, so the warranty is one of the most important parts of the Hellcat.
As we mentioned above, the team has even bigger plans, with the crew now aiming for a (you guessed it) 8s quarter-mile run. Nevertheless, going below the 9s mark might take some time, which could mean this will happen next year.
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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