Hennessey Pits Demon 170 Against Ferrari 812 GTS; Exorcism Works Best in V12 Sermons

Many things can be said about the merry boys from Hennessey Performance, but that they don’t know how to build and drive extremely fast cars is not one of them. In fact, they’re so eager to prove it that they plan to make a helluva fast car out of the Demon 170. Like proper fast, not that legal-eagle small-print ‘Only Ifs’ promise that the brawny Challenger is now.

Dodge made some very bold statements about the greatest Challenger of them all last spring when they unveiled it in Vegas. 1,025 horsepower, 945 Ib-ft of torque (1,039 PS, 1,281 Nm), 8.91-NHRA-observed seconds at 151.17 mph (243.23 kph) over the 1,320-foot yardstick. All when E85 is used on a prepped surface, in optimal weather, and with warm tires.

Alternatively, the Demon 170 is good for 900 horsepower and 810 lb-ft (913 PS, 1,098 Nm) on E10. The car can tell the difference between fuels by itself and adjusts the horsepower output accordingly (best of luck when the sensor has a bad day). According to Chrysler, the mean Demon 170 is optimized for one purpose: to possess the dragstrip.

However, when it puts on the day-to-day overalls, this Demon isn’t that scary anymore: 797 hp and 707 lb-ft (808 PS, 959 Nm), according to Hennessey’s Alex Roys, who just dragged one against a Ferrari 812 GTS.

Unfortunately, Ferrari is from Italy, and you know what else is in Italy, right? The world headquarters for the anti-Antichrist army – the Pope’s exorcists. The Italians are lords of fashion, elegance, good food, and great supercars, with the Prancing Horse spearheading the motoring cavalcade for 85 years.

That’s probably why this utterly indifferent 812 GTS absolutely smacks the muscle Demon 170 over the head in both standing quarter runs and rolling start races. Yes, Mopar fanatics will say that the car was not on a prepped surface – just like the Ferrari wasn’t – and it wasn’t running on E85. I deduced this last bit from the specs offered by the Texas-based performance tuner Hennessey in the YouTube video's description (watch it below).

Another argument in the 170’s defense would be its bulky body that pulls 4,280 lbs (1,941 kg), severely mauling its power-to-weight ratio compared to the slim Italian. The final excuse would be that the driver isn’t doing the mighty muscle car justice, but then again, isn’t this the case with every single automobile roaming this planet? Any car is only as good as its driver can make it.

The 812 GTS is essentially an 812 Superfast with a detachable roof: 6.5 naturally-aspirated liters of V12 prancing horsepower equate to 789 hp (800 PS) and 530 lb-ft (718 Nm). The screaming 65-degree twelve-cylinder motor revs up to 8,900 RPM, and the 13.6:1 compression squeezes 121 hp (123 PS) from every liter of displacement.

The streamlined Ferrari scores 2.8 seconds in the 0-62 mph, thanks to a 3,600 lbs. dry weight, and keeps the pace up to 211 mph (340 kph). Pound for pound, the agile European cherub of speed punches 483 hp/ton (486 PS/ton), far above the Dodge’s 410 hp/ton (416 PS/ton). That’s probably the main reason for the muscle car’s disappointment in this event.

I look forward to the moment when the mighty Mopar (most probably John Hennessey’s personal Demon 170) gets the Demon 1700 twin-turbo upgrade to 1,700 hp (1,724 PS). That’s going to write a new muscle car quarter-mile gospel for a new speed religion – be it a hellfire-worshipping one. After all, Lucifer is the primordial angel, isn’t he?