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Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Production to Begin This Fall

Just a few months after taking the wraps off the new Dodge Challenger 392 HEMI Scat Pack Shaker at the New York Auto Show, the newly consolidated Dodge and SRT brands have launched the most powerful stock muscle car the world has ever seen - the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. It will go into production at the Brampton Assembly plant in the third quarter and it will sport a $60k MSRP for the base model, so what do you get for the money?
2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat 35 photos
Photo: Dodge
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First and foremost, you get a retro-modern of the iconic Challenger body shell, but with contemporary paraphernelia outside and in. Capable of running the quarter mile in 11.2 seconds with the stock Pirelli performance rubber or 10.8 second with drag radials, the 2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat draws its oomph from a beastly engine - a gloriously ridiculous 6.2-liter supercharged V8 that shares only 9 percent of its bits and bobs with the naturally aspirated 6.4-liter Apache V8 propelling the less powerful 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT.

The 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft (881 Nm) of torque produced drive the rear end for proper ol' school hoonage, while all that kick is handled by a Dodge Viper SRT-derived Tremec six-speed manual tranny as standard or an optional TorqueFlite heavy-duty eight-speed automatic box with paddle shifters on the steering wheel. A Drive Modes features enables the driver of the Challenger Hellcat to set the car in pre-configured Sport, Track and Default settings, while a Custom Settings option offers complete liberty over tailoring the vehicle's performance and dynamics to suit one's needs.

The godlike power figures can be unleashed only by using the red key fob. A black key fob is also offered, which limits the engine's output and transmission settings. This "Valet Mode" limits the supercharged mill's punch to only 500 ponies and 4,000 rpm shift points, while the transmission locks out access to 1st gear and all the electronic safety gizmos are fully on. At 707 horsepower, the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is very high in the top 10 most powerful production vehicles currently made, sitting behind the Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder and Ferrari F12. Naturally, that sort of potency produces a lot of heat which needs to be taken care of by an ultra capable cooling system.

At the front, the Hellcat gets an aluminum hood with a big thumping air scoop in the middle flanked by two serious heat extractors. But the coolest cooling feature on the most powerful Hellcat ever is most definitely the Air Catcher inlet ports, feeding ram-air directly into the engine's air box via the driver-side parking lamps. In terms of stopping power, the largest front-brake package offered in an SRT vehicle is fitted to this Challenger - 390-mm (15.4) inch Brembo two-piece rotors with six-piston calipers to be more precise. The 2.75-inch exhaust system that uses electronically controlled valves at the back and resonators provides appropriate levels of burble whether you're in track attack mode or just cruising on the highway.

The 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is available in no less than 11 exterior finishes: B5 Blue Pearl Coat, Billet Silver Metallic Clear Coat, Bright White Clear Coat, Granite Crystal Metallic Pearl Coat, Ivory White Tri-Coat Pearl, Jazz Blue Pearl Coat, Phantom Black Tri-Coat Pearl, Pitch Black Clear Coat, Redline Tri-Coat Pearl, Sublime Metallic Pearl Coat and TorRed Clear Coat. As for the cabin, the driver is welcomed by a new trapezoidal shaped stamped aluminum center console, lots of leather-wrapped surfaces and French-seamed accent stitching running back to front. An 8.4-inch Uconnect touchscreen infotainment system dominates the dashboard, while the instrument cluster includes a neat 7-inch DID screen flanked by analog speedometer and tachometer gauges, similar to those of the 1971 Challenger.

“The new 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is the most powerful muscle car ever,” d
eclared Tim Kuniskis, president and CEO of the Dodge and SRT brands. “With 707 horsepower and 650 ft.-lb. of torque, we have unleashed a true GT car with an all-new driver-focused interior, the TorqueFlite eight-speed transmission and the first supercharged HEMI® engine Chrysler has ever produced. The Challenger Hellcat has been released!”
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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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.
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