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POV Drive: Is the New Dodge Demon 170 the Best Muscle Car Ever Made?

Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 14 photos
Photo: Screenshot Youtube | Vehicle Virgins
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Well, it is certainly the punchiest factory-spec and the fastest to sixty. Moreover, the SRT Demon 170 was one heck of a sendoff for the demised Dodge Challenger series, whose production ended last month, alongside that of its four-door sibling, the Charger, and the rivaling Chevy Camaro.
It's been almost an entire year since the Stellantis-owned marque presented the mighty Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170, and people still cannot get enough of it. All you have to do is look at the spec sheet, and you will instantly understand why it keeps enthusiasts up at night and sends shivers down the spines of supercar and hypercar owners.

An almost-new supercharged 6.2-liter V8 supplies the firepower and churns out a massive 1,025 horsepower (1,039 ps/764 kW). That's more than the first Bugatti Veyron. The Demon 170's thrust is rated at 945 pound-feet (1,280 Nm), and there is a catch, as it needs E85 in the tank to achieve those numbers. Fill it up with E10, and the output and thrust will drop to 900 hp (913 ps/671 kW) and 810 pound-feet (1,097 Nm).

In its top form, the Challenger SRT Demon 170 goes like a bat out of hell. Dodge claims the naught to sixty miles an hour sprint takes an out-of-this-world 1.66 seconds. This makes it the fastest-accelerating car ever made. Since it was born on the drag strip, it is an eight-second car, with the quarter-mile taking 8.91 seconds on a good day at a 151.17 mph (243.28 kph) exit speed. Thus, it is clearly a dream ride and one that proves you don't necessarily need an EV's instant thrust to break in the sub-2-second barrier.

Only 3,300 copies of the fabulous Challenger SRT Demon 170 were made, with 3,000 being sold in the United States and the rest in Canada. The limited production makes it a true collectible, which was available for under $100,000. More recently, various copies have been listed online for two, three, and even four times over the initial starting price. For roughly $100k, it was worth every penny, yet we don't think it's worth changing hands for three or four times as much.

Nevertheless, we won't stop anyone who wants to blow as much as a nice home in a very civilized area for what is still an old muscle car, albeit one that goes like stink. And if you want to experience what it's like to hold that SRT-badged steering wheel while occasionally abusing the right pedal, then you have come to the right place, as the video below is a POV drive of the Demon 170. Mind you, it is sprinkled with the occasional comment from the driver, but hey, it is what it is.

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About the author: Cristian Gnaticov
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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.
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