When Dodge came out with the original SRT Demon back in 2017, everyone gasped at what looked like a rocketship, at least on paper. That thing would put down 840 horsepower on 100 octane fuel and would only need around 2.3 seconds to hit 60 mph. Years later, the Demon 170 would answer the call, raising those stakes even higher.
It’s not that the standard Demon was ever slow. It could cover a quarter mile in just 9.65 seconds, officially. Not even Dom Toretto could have envisioned such a beast back in the year 2000, when he used to race 10-second cars.
The thing is this isn’t the year 2000 anymore, and every time the Earth goes around the sun, someone else seems to come out with some crazy fast new car. Speaking of crazy fast, leave it to Dodge to upstage themselves by creating the ‘170’ variant of the Challenger SRT Demon, a vehicle that’s said to produce the highest launch force of any production car – 2.004 Gs.
When it came out in March of last year, it was also said to be the fastest-accelerating production car in the world, with a claimed 0-60 mph time of 1.66 seconds. What, you think the Rimac Nevera is quicker? Nope, at least not “officially”. The Nevera can rocket to 60 mph in 1.74 seconds. Hey, those decimal points matter to drag racers.
So, how does this massive 2-door Challenger manage to do all that? Well, its 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8 engine can produce a staggering 1,025 horsepower and 945 lb-ft of torque on E85 fuel. It’s no wonder these cost roughly $100,000 when new – and Dodge only made 3,000 of them for the U.S. market.
Now, what we have here is a 2023 Challenger SRT Demon 170 in Pitch Black, with just 31 miles on the clock. It’s up for grabs to the highest bidder and with roughly a day left to go in the auction process, the highest bid has already surpassed $200,000, which is kind of a lot.
I realize this is a somewhat rare car, and it’s pretty much brand-new still, but double the MSRP? You could get a Lamborghini Huracan for that money, which is technically slower on a prepped drag strip, but I guarantee you that it’ll feel just as quick if not quicker the rest of the time.
Photo: Bring a Trailer
The Demon 170, like any other Hellcat-derived Challenger, is only at its best when the conditions are perfect. If you just line up against one at the light, on a regular day, in regular conditions, you’re probably going to smoke it in just about any supercar with all-wheel drive, as the Dodge will undoubtedly struggle to put its power down.
Anyway, let’s see what else there is to like about this Demon 170. Well, it’s got the Air-Grabber hood, SRT Performance rear spoiler, forged alloy wheels (has 315/50 Mickey Thompson ET Street tires at the rear), Drag Mode suspension with adaptive-damping shocks, a black leather and Alcantara interior, carbon fiber accents, suede headliner, an 18-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, and loads more.
When new, this car (Demon 170 #1,416 of 3,000) cost $118,951. I think it’s definitely worth way over MSRP today, but double? No. That’s too much. In day-to-day traffic, you’ll hardly notice any difference between this and something like a Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Jailbreak.
Sergiu got to experience both American and European car "scenes" at an early age (his father drove a Ford Fiesta XR2 supermini in the 80s). After spending over 15 years at local and international auto publications, he's starting to appreciate comfort behind the wheel more than raw power and acceleration. Full profile
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