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Tuned Hellcat Races Tuned BMW M4: Both Get Surprised

These two sports cars, the Dodge Charger Hellcat and the BMW M4 are among the most hallowed by their own brands' faithful fans, but we didn't see them pitted against one another until this race.
Dodge Hellcat Vs BMW M4 6 photos
Photo: Via CanIBeFrank
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That's exactly what we're blessed with today, though, and thanks to some modifications and tuning, it's a lot closer than most would expect.

The BMW M4 features a rear-wheel-drive platform, two doors, and at least 473 horsepower. The Dodge Charger Hellcat is also rear-wheel-drive, but it features four doors and 707 horsepower. On the face of this race, it seems to be no contest.

What makes the BMW a true rival, though, is the plethora of aftermarket performance parts available. Combine that with a nearly bulletproof engine, and it makes for a lot of power.

FBO stands for "Full bolt-on." In other words, every part that can be installed without requiring serious modifications is installed. From what we can gather, most M4's running that kind of kit make in the neighborhood of 600 wheel horsepower.

From the factory, the Hellcat makes anywhere from 590 to 650 wheel horsepower. But the Hellcat in this video isn't stock. All we're told is that it has some "bolt-ons." Both cars run E85. Why? It's basically a cheap race fuel.

It allows for higher boost pressure without the same likelihood of engine knock that regular 89,91, or even 93 octane gasoline exhibits. Head to head, this race is incredibly close.

From a 60 mph (97 kph) roll, the BMW shocks everyone by slowly but surely walking away. At 105 mph, the progress slows. The Hellcat takes a larger gulp of air and slows its loss of ground.

At 150 mph (241 kph), the Charger starts to gain ground quickly. No word on if the BMW driver backed out of the throttle. It doesn't look that way, though, as he continues to accelerate past 170 mph (273 kph) though. It doesn't matter, though, because, by 165 mph (265 kph), the Dodge Charger has shown the Autobahn cruiser the business end of a supercharged V8.

If anything, we would've expected the opposite. The BMW is better known as the high-speed monster. The Charger is well respected as a stop-light drag racer. Nonetheless, this race proves that tuning can really change the way a car drives.
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