We've always said that if you're going to straight-pipe a car, at least make sure it features a great V8 under the hood, preferably wrapped in a muscly package. After all, no one wants to hear a noisy four-pot, and a six-cylinder engine doesn't sound that good either with this mod.
Fortunately, one of the latest vehicles to have received this treatment started life with the mighty Hellcat motor. It is a 2022 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody, meaning that it boasted 797 hp (808 ps/595 kW) and no fewer than 707 lb-ft (959 Nm) of torque when it rolled off the assembly line. And it should still have them all, as the odometer indicated a little over 10,000 miles (16,100+ km) in the video embedded below.
Courtesy of this much power supplied by the 6.2-liter supercharged V8, it is a hair quicker to 60 mph (97 kph) than the mighty Ferrari Enzo. The sprint takes 3.6 seconds, and mastering it is tricky, as laying down all that horsepower requires a skilled driver at the helm. This is a pure rear-wheel drive model that packs an automatic transmission with eight gears and Brembo brakes with four-piston calipers at the rear and six-piston at the front.
In perfect conditions, Dodge's Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody is a 10-second car, with the Stellantis-owned brand quoting 10.6 seconds required to complete the quarter mile at 129 mph or 208 mph. Mind you, due to the straight-piping mod, this yellow copy, which features a wrap, black and white racing stripes, a custom ducktail spoiler, and privacy windows, has become slightly more powerful, with the output likely exceeding the 800-horsepower mark at the crank.
Despite being ready to have some fun at the drag strip, where it would simply humiliate some previous-gen supercars, as well as certain new ones, the muscly sedan remains the same practical four-door model that we all know. Therefore, it is a family-friendly machine that's a great daily. Thus, it doubles as a school bus and grocery-getter, and we cannot help but wonder (okay, I can't) why some people spend more money on a crossover when they do not need the (often optional) AWD system nor the extra ground clearance.
Now, back to the main topic of this story: straight-piping a Hellcat – and not just any Hellcat, but a Redeye model with the OEM widebody makeover. Was it a good idea to do it? In a word, yes, though we reckon the owner's neighbors aren't going to love it every time he takes off or pulls in the driveway, especially at night. Do you think it sounds good? And would you ever do this to your ride (or maybe you already have)?
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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