The 2015 Challenger Hellcat has managed to pull yet another trick out of its supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi hat and, as usual when it comes to this engine, we’ll be talking about the muscle. The Challenger Hellcat has recently enjoyed its first intimate experience with a dyno and, as it turns out, Chrysler lied. The devil is even more powerful than advertised.
Motor Trend strapped the Challenger Hellcat to K&N’s dyno, with the muscle car’s result sitting at 635 hp and 591 lb-ft (801 Nm) at the wheels. Since automatic trannies constantly see their efficiency increase, a 12 percent drivetrain loss was factored in. Do the maths and you’ll notice the Challenger actually has 722 ponies and 672 lb-ft (908 Nm) at the crank.
It is also mathematics that tells us the aforementioned numbers represent a noticeable premium over the figures advertised by Dodge - officially, the car packs a SAE-certified 707 hp and 650 lb-ft (881 Nm).
While they were at it, the crew also pushed the Challenger Hellcat to the max, with the muscle coupe showing a top speed of 225 mph (362 km/h). Sure, aerodynamics are not exactly the car’s strong point, so the car won’t climb that high on an actual road.
Nonetheless, the fact that SRT engineers didn’t fit the car with a top speed limiter, as well as the extra muscle, demonstrate something the Hellcat’s rivals lack. Motor Trend also happened to dyno a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, whose results were just as expected.
In the same respect, talking to Ford Mustang Chief Engineer Dave Pericak at the 2014 Detroit Motor Show, we found out that, with the Mustang, the Blue Oval doesn’t want to let any unexploited performance for the tuners to take advantage of. The engineered refereed to the 2015 Mustang, but things are no different with the previous model, since we all know the rather strict speed limits most of these feature.
How can you not love the Challenger SRT Hellcat for being such a muscle altruist then?
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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