What's better than a bone-stock Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat? If you ask Hennessey Performance Engineering, a 1,000-hp upgrade would be the company's answer. However, ridiculous output figures aren't everything to a performance vehicle.
The clip below stands as proof that curb weight has a negative effect in a quarter-mile showdown. We also have to remember that a Durango has the aerodynamic qualities of a four-wheeled brick. The green-painted coupe on the drag strip is a BMW M4 Competition xDrive, which uses a similar eight-speed automatic to the Hennessey H1000 SRT Hellcat Durango.
There is a small difference between said transmissions. Rather than maximum input torque, the difference in question is how the German automaker calibrates the ZF 8HP. The launch control in BMWs equipped with this transmission is brutal, and the M4 Competition xDrive is even more so due to its trick all-wheel-drive system. The German automaker calls it M xDrive, and – if you so wish – it features a rear-only drive mode for smoking the tires to your heart's content. Pretty neat, huh?
Tipping the scales at circa 3,800 pounds (1,724 kilograms) compared to the just around 5,715 pounds (2,592 kilograms) of the 1,000-horsepower sport utility vehicle, the Bimmer uses a six-cylinder lump with a couple of spinny lads. By comparison, the Durango rocks a V8 with nearly twice the displacement.
Said V8 will soon go the way of the dodo as FCA US LLC pivots to a six-cylinder engine. A twin-turbo affair with 3.0 liters to its name, Chrysler's new Hurricane powerplant has already been deployed in the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. These Jeeps employ the Ram 1500 platform, which is why the half-ton pickup is also expected to receive the TT I6 engine.
The pokiest Hurricane that money can buy as of June 2023 makes 510 horsepower and 500 pound-feet (678 Nm) on full song, outshining the 503 horsepower and 479 pound-feet (650 Nm) for the M4 Competition xDrive. Numbers on a piece of paper don't mean a thing in real-world conditions, though. Bear in mind that inline-six engines from BMW also happen to be underrated, with the M-specific S58 belting out a bit more power and torque than advertised by the Bavarian marque.
From a standstill, both the Hennessey-tuned Hellcat and Bimmer launch impressively well. The M4 Competition xDrive quickly catches up to the 'Rango, then crosses the finish line ahead of its unlikely rival. This drag race is more apples to oranges than apples to apples, but entertaining nonetheless.
It also proves that the M4 in Competition tune and with the M xDrive system is hard to match in terms of bang for the buck. As a brief refresher, this configuration retails at $84,940 (excluding the destination charge) in the US market. As for the Durango SRT Hellcat, make that $97,740 right off the bat, plus a few more bucks for Hennessey's H1000 upgrade package.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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