Currently, the most powerful and drag-strip-ready incarnation of the third-generation Dodge Challenger is the SRT Hellcat Redeye. It is said to be capable of running the quarter-mile in around 10.8 seconds without breaking a sweat. So, there must be a secret to this sky-like blue Hellcat Challenger to come up with low ten-second passes all day (and night) long, right?
We could easily speculate that perhaps the good folks over at the Drag Racing and Car Stuff channel on YouTube forgot to mention this is a Redeye. Or it could be the description is entirely accurate and this is a lightly modified supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine running under the hood. Either way, it’s impressive to see the consistent low ten-second runs... even when others have the upper hand and a head start.
The reality is that we really cannot be sure of what happens under the closed hood of the Challenger. All we can do is enjoy the series of passes it delivered in front of the camera (video embedded below) during the Street Car Takeover US 131 event held in Martin, Michigan about a month ago. And we have to say they’re all entertaining, precisely because the blue Challenger driver wasn’t exactly the most constant of the bunch on the green light...
First up, the Dodge lines up with a Cadillac CTS-V, and the Challenger’s head start gives it enough leeway to clear the win by a good margin, with 10.29s to 10.76s ETs. From the 0:40 mark a Charger comes up for the challenge (pun intended) and we see how easily the tables can turn. This time around the head start belongs to the Charger and it secures the victory with a 10.11s pass to the Challenger’s 10.20s result.
Now it’s time to see what happens when both sides react fairly quickly to the light, and from the 1:25 mark, the Challenger meets an Infiniti Q50 S. On the other hand, this sedan doesn’t pose a real threat for the Dodge, so the results speak for themselves: 10.17s versus 12.31 seconds. A much more interesting foe is the crimson Pontiac Trans Am from the 1:57 mark, which delivers a swift 10.24 to 10.37s beating to the unsuspecting Challenger.
After a solo run delivering a 10.09s ET to show what it’s really made of, the Challenger fights a very traditional battle against a Cobra Jet enthusiast, a matching blue S197 Ford Mustang. This time around, even with the head start, the Blue Oval is no match for the Dodge, so the Challenger delivers its best result yet for a resounding 10.01s to 10.34s victory.
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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