The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 would need a bit more power, said absolutely no one ever. The reason is that this is an ultra-punchy muscle car and the most potent factory-spec ever made.
Nevertheless, Hennessey decided there's room for an oily upgrade, so they're currently prepping a massive power boost for the devilish machine. Their newly-formed HSO (Hennessey Special Operations) division, which will make between 15 to 20 vehicles annually, has been tasked with giving it a jaw-dropping amount of power.
As you already know from our previous coverage, the Hennessey Demon 1700 Twin-Turbo, which is the model's new given name, will have a targeted 1,700 horsepower (1,724 ps/1,268 kW) when running on E85. With the extra oomph up and running, the Lone Star State tuner believes it will break into the sub-8-second ¼-mile, running it in 7.9 seconds at 175 mph (282 kph).
How does that compare to the stock Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170? Without any outside intervention, it can deal with the quarter mile in 8.91 seconds at an exit speed of 151.17 mph (243.28 kph). The 0-62 mph (0-97 kph) sprint takes an incredible 1.66 seconds. As for the firepower, a supercharged 6.2L V8 supplies it, pumping out 1,025 hp (1,039 ps/764 kW) on E85 and 945 lb-ft (1,280 Nm) of torque, or 900 hp (913 ps/671 kW) and 810 lb-ft (1,097 Nm) on E10.
Photo: Hennessey
Hennessey won't be bothered with squeezing out almost 700 hp more from the factory V8, as they will replace it with a new motor featuring a pair of large turbos. The original lump will be shrink-wrapped and placed inside a crate for safekeeping, meaning that owners who choose these goodies can revert their muscle cars to the OEM configuration should they want to.
Details surrounding the new power unit are yet unknown, so we reckon the tuner will release them in a few weeks or months. What we can tell you is how much it costs to turn the Demon 170 into the Demon 1700. You may want to sit down before reading the magic number, as it is out of this world. For the conversion, Hennessey is asking around $200,000, which excludes the donor vehicle, and they will only modify 12 of them.
The Demon 170s that hit the used car market occasionally tend to fetch roughly $200,000. We've seen copies changing hands for $300,000, so if you don't own one, you will have to pony out some half a million dollars to park Hennessey's Demon 1700 in your garage. This model is probably a future collectible, but even so, it's still an old muscle car, albeit one that can eat blue-blooded exotics for breakfast. Would you spend that much money to own one?
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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