The latest 'cat' is out of the bag at Dodge with the arrival of the all-new Charger and its return to traditional two-door fastback coupe form, but over across the Old Continent, the last iteration of the Challenger still reigns supreme among fans.
Sure, you could say that progress is unstoppable and Stellantis just aligns with the current times, but the company is quite quirky in some ways. For example, the new Dodge Charger is coming to America because the L-bodied Charger sedan and Challenger coupe production ended in December 2023. Still, Dodge Europe probably didn't get the memo.
Instead, they also don't know the Hemi V8 is heading into retirement, too, if we are to believe their latest partnership, where they act as official friends of the WorldSBK championship for the 2024 season with a couple of Challenger SRT Hellcats acting as official Safety Cars, one Challenger SRT Hellcat as an Expo Car next to the podium, and two Dodge Durango SRTs going around as Race Direction and FIM Safety Officer official cars.
Anyway, the aftermarket European scene is also deeply in love with the Challenger – including when it comes to American-style quarter-mile drag races. As per tradition, the good folks over at Drag Car 4K are always eager to show us that traditional yet quirky quarter-mile drag racing is also deeply beloved on the Old Continent, hence the two videos we are about to show you.
One is a general compilation featuring a cool Shelby or AC Cobra equipped with a 7.0-liter V8 and going about its merry way during an unprepped racing event taking place on an airstrip. The other is from the same location, if we note the mobile Christmas tree and general setup, but focuses solely on the encounter between an orange Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and a first-generation F32 BMW 4 Series Coupe identified in the description as a 440i xDrive.
Because the latter has a 3.0-liter B58 turbo inline-six engine under the hood with a little over 320 ponies, you would think the mighty 6.2-liter supercharged V8-equipped Mopar doesn't mind chewing its opponent and spitting it out way behind it. Alas, we all know that BMW loves to underestimate its engine ratings and that high-powered Dodges are notoriously sketchy to launch if you don't know what you're doing behind the wheel.
With this BMW also an xDrive model and the Mopar acting out on an unprepped surface, we could reckon the odds were pretty much even. Alas, the Dodge driver showed off his skills with a controlled rolling burnout even before the race started, followed by an exemplary launch off the line, which almost negated the entire AWD advantage of the blue BMW. Well, in the end, the latter's driver chose the color exactly right, as he turned out sad to lose this close, but not close enough race (12.24s versus 12.85s).
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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