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Stock McLaren 620R Faces Insane Dodge Viper With Hellcat Swap in a Straight Line

Drag racing against a modern supercar is a bet that many lose before they even place. There is an exception, though, which is using a heavily modified car against a modern supercar. In that position, you may consider that you have a shot. Well, it depends on the supercar, as well as on your car, but there is a shot, which you did not have if you attempted a drag race in 'stock versus stock' condition.
Hellcat-swapped Dodge Viper faces stock McLaren 620R 7 photos
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube video by Hoonigan
Hellcat-swapped Dodge Viper faces stock McLaren 620RHellcat-swapped Dodge Viper faces stock McLaren 620RHellcat-swapped Dodge Viper faces stock McLaren 620RHellcat-swapped Dodge Viper faces stock McLaren 620RHellcat-swapped Dodge Viper faces stock McLaren 620RHellcat-swapped Dodge Viper faces stock McLaren 620R
The McLaren 620R is not slow by any means, as it comes with 612 horsepower (620 ps) and has a seven-speed dual-clutch automated gearbox that is good enough for a 0-62 mph (100 kph) time of just 2.9 seconds. Top speed is 200 mph (322 kph), so it is no slouch, no matter how you look at it.

Facing the British super sports car, which is the last road-going incarnation of the Sports Series and limited to just 350 units worldwide since its debut in 2019, is something that is more of a people's supercar in America. We are referring to the first-generation Dodge Viper.

At the time of its debut, the first Viper was an insane project, as it was a make-it-or-break-it deal for Chrysler. The firm had decided to send a truck-sourced V10, along with other parts of similar origin all the way to Italy, to Lamborghini, which was owned by the American conglomerate for a while, and then make a supercar out of the whole deal.

The V10 was based on a Chrysler-developed V8, called Magnum, and it was also offered in the Ram 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks of the time. The motor was the most powerful ever offered in a pick-up truck at the time, and the V10 stayed in the line-up until 2003, when the last of the second-gen Ram 2500 and 3500 models were built.

Well, this Viper is no stranger to the channel, as it comes with an engine swap, which came in the form of a supercharged V8 crate unit. While it is still a Mopar, the V10 has made room for a Hellcat Redeye motor mated to a Tremec T56 transmission in a first-gen Viper.

The project was completed in less than three weeks. It comes without any electronic nannies, and it drives accordingly. If you are not scared of it at all, you should not get behind its wheel, as it may snap at a moment's instance.

No matter how much you prepare yourself for something as mad as this, it can still be a handful. Neglecting to consider that may lead to increased risk while driving something like this, as well as more profound consequences. Some say that the first-gen Viper had many owners crash their vehicles on their ride home from the dealer, but this is yet to be confirmed on an official level.

The McLaren's owner claims to have had it for about a month, which may have been correct at the time of filming, but it would also mean that the episode that the folks of Hoonigan have just shown is a few months old.

It is understandable, as editing takes more time than filming, in case you were unaware, and releasing too many videos in a short timeframe will leave most of them without too many views, so they are often spread out across several days, weeks, or even months, as you can observe.

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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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