707 horsepower, end of discussion. Dodge is using this catchline to advertise the most powerful muscle car to be mass produced - the Challenger SRT Hellcat. But are 707 HP and 650 lb-ft (881 Nm) enough?
Apparently not, as the adjacent videoclip shows us. What we’re dealing with is a Sublime Green-painted Hellcat-ified Challenger wearing 20-inch matte black forged aluminum wheels and 275/40 Pirelli performance tires. Looks stock, doesn’t it?
You’re not far off from the truth. The owner only performed a chip tuning for better performance. Nothing mechanical, no new programs for the ECU, just the adjustment of some parameters and voilà - 740 ponies and 671 lb-ft (909 Nm).
That’s 33 HP and 21 lb-ft (28 Nm) over the box standard SRT Hellcat, which is not shabby for a run-of-the-mill chip tuning. Regarding the dyno, you’ll like what you hear next. From the 707 HP and 650 lb-ft promised at the crank, 646 HP and 585 lb-ft (794 Nm) go through the rear wheels.
That’s an 8-and-something percent loss from crank to wheels, which is simply astonishing considering this American muscle car costs only $60,000. As for the chip tuning’s oomph, 680 RWHP and 616 RWlb-ft (835 Nm) are on the menu. You know what this car is missing though? Street-legal drag radials!
For an extra $995, the Dodge brand is happy to offer Hellcat owners with another accesory that enhances the look of the meanest, baddest and fastest muscle car out there - a menacing satin black aluminum hood.
Speaking of factory options, please don't go for the $95 red seat belts for a simple reason - Porsche 911 owners with red belts look like boy racers, not gentlemen racers.
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
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News