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We try not to blindly re-post content created by OEM PR teams, but Dodge has thrown down the gauntlet here.
According to them, the all-new Challenger SRT Hellcat will knock off a 10-second quarter mile time, and we’re not about to let that claim slide. Our own EIC Jack Baruth will be off next week to test out those claims, on a drag strip at the 2015 Challenger launch event. Let’s see what JB is capable of pulling off both there and the road course. Anyone care to take bets?
106 Comments on “You Owe Me A 10-Second Car...”
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Someone get BTSR a box of Kleenex.
I’m guessing the only reason he hasn’t responded yet is because he just snapped off his caps lock keys in excitement.
I’d be pumped too if I wanted such a thing. What a hilarious car. Pretty happy it exists.
+1
The polar opposite of what I enjoy, but good on Dodge for building it. May also serve as a halo car for other Challenger models.
I was busy in the office.
Next time I’ll post on-time.
You have my word!
LOOKS LIKE THE JEEP SRT IS GOING BACK…
HELLO CHALLENGER (or Charger Hellcat).
I think I need a new pair of undies.
Driving a Hellcat through Manhattan with all those civics, elantras,Camries, Accords,. GTI’s and other lame, boring cars…
It’s as if the Lord himself has answered my prayers.
Ralph Giles: But BTSR, don’t forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted.
BTSR: What happened?
Ralph Giles: He lived happily ever after.
Wait, did God assume the form of Ralph Giles?
Haha
I adapted the line from the Gene Wilder Willy Wonka movie. Ralph Giles is Willy Wonka and BTSR is Charlie Bucket.
I always saw BTSR as more of a Mike Teavee.
Just stay away from the full dinner gum when you tour the plant.
4500 lbs, wouldn’t get too excited.
Are you talking about the Dodge or BT? Better watch out or he’ll review your cat (the taste and texture thereof, I mean have you SEEN the man?!)
The machismo smugness has reached critical mass. We have full blown doucheness! But really, Manhattan? A place where traffic crawls and your hellcat will be sideswiped by a Sienna uberX driver?
It’s great it will be amazingly fast and probably cost 70% of a 911. But you’ll still be seen as a petulant man-child, deserved or not.
Well, there was that guy last year who claimed a 24:07 lap of Manhattan in a Z4. A Hellcat should crush that. Gauntlet thrown, please pack your GoPro.
When I’m not tearing up the pavement in a HEMI, I’m flying in a Cessna Skyhawk or ViperJet. A 200+ mph takeoff is as fun as doing a burnout past a bunch of soul-less Japanese econoboxes.
…and now we’re fully across the line into Internet buffoonery.
80 mph stall speed, 200 mph takeoff. Suuuuure.
Lol, Cessna Skyhawk, the Toyota Corolla of the sky. The only way a Cessna 172 could do 200mph is if you point the nose straight down. Maybe.
The average cruise I’m at in a Skyhawk is 135 knots.
Viperjet at 200 knots.
Don’t worry – I’m posting more videos and I’ll even get an instrument closeup for ya!!!
You may notice the Skyhawk video I posted had crappy quality. I’ve ordered a pair of 720p glasses to replace the crappy VGA glasses I wore last time.
Cessna Citation video coming soon!
Plot Twist: BTSR is Ralph Gilles.
Mandalorian
If I was Ralph Giles there would be a Magnum SRT HELLCAT AWD in production and every single SRT would have 1001 HP.
Wonder which of the 5 operational Viperjets in the world he managed to get his type rating in.
beastpilot
I’ll assume you’re a pilot from your name (I shouldn’t assume anything though)
Don’t worry. I couldn’t make claims like that without videos so you just stay tuned for em. The last video I put up was a Skyhawk video and I’m waiting on new video equipment.
Half my video was iPhone5 and the other half was VGA. When I get my 720p recording glasses..you’ll see.
Just be sure to watch!!!
TTAA (The truth about airplanes?) Brought to you by BTSR and HEMI along with special consideration by HEMI.
DID I mention THAT its’ BROUGHT TO YOU by HEMI? Well, IN CASE YOU missed it, it’s TOTALY brought to YOU BY HEMI! HEMI HEMI HEMI!
Well isn’t Farago doing Truth about Guns?
If there is a Truth about Airplanes, I wanna be Editor-in-Chief-in-HEMI.
>> Wonder which of the 5 operational Viperjets in the world he managed to get his type rating in.
The cockpit is only 30 inches wide and 49 inches high. If he shoots a video, the ingress/egress segment might be entertaining to watch.
LOL – the fuel guys were laughing at me each and every time I get into any of these planes. They are probably like: “Yup – it’s gonna crash”
LOL/
10 seconds is fast. Someone will need some sophisticated launch control, some wrinkle walls, or both to accomplish it in a street legal car…. not that wrinkle walls are street legal. Is this with open or closed headers?
Mickey Thompson ET Streets are DOT legal wrinkle walls. I used to drive to the strip on them at 20psi, then make my passes at 10 – 11 psi. Got caught in an thunderstorm going home from the strip one evening and almost soiled my underwear – had to go about 25mph in a 55mph zone.
As a commenter alluded above, a cage is necessary if it runs under 11 secs (NHRA).
Still, a sub 11 factory car is awesome.
I know people have no idea how quick a sub 14 car is much less sub 11. My LS1 240z has run 11.8…..it’s a handful on the street after driving my Mazda5 daily for a while.
Yep. I can’t imagine driving a 10-second car on the street. My G8 GXP is a low 13s car and feels overpowered in just about any street situation, although it’s not usually scary.
Just curious, where do you live? I saw a 240Z on the street a few days ago, and by the sound of it had to have had a V8 under the hood. I’m in DC.
I ran with a friend who had a turbo civic R that was low 13s and it was squirrly on the streets. I can’t imagine sub-10 cars that can do it with DOT legal tires…
I thought they changed that? In a newer car I think its 9.99/135 mph or faster.
Gotta check with my buddy on that? He has a Terminator and needs a cage where my GT500 doesn’t.
Go go magic google…
*By NHRA rules, a roll cage is not required in a full bodied car until 9.99 or 135MPH. The 2009 NHRA rule book shows that a roll cage is required between 10.99 and 10.00 only at speeds of 135 or higher.
I thought a stock Nissan GTR could do 10-second passes on street tires. No?
That’s mostly because of the AWD though… I have no doubt that the Hellcat can run in the 10’s, but being able to launch it with street tires on a suspension not set up for drag racing is what’s going to make or brake it. Lot’s of high performance street cars post trap speeds that could go along with 10 second cars, but they have a hard time breaking into the mid 11’s due to traction and launch issues.
Kmoney
+1
My 300 came with Eagle F1 tires (non staggered).
Only with those tires or better do you hit advertised times.
All-Season Eagle RSA2’s don’t give you anywhere near advertised numbers.
These cars need staggered rears with good summer tires.
Is that even possible for a production car on street tires? I am just thinking, traction…. No way it hooks on street tires.
Not a Challenger hater, just a thinker.
10.8 was on drag radials. It ran 11.2 on street tires. NHRA certified times, they say.
Godzilla runs an 11.2 on street tires.
And has AWD. 11.2 is kind of amazing for a RWD car on street tires just because it implies an excellent launch.
With John Force driving I assume.
There was a time, not too long ago, when everything running under 12 seconds required a roll bar. At least that was the case at Englishtown.
I’ll also be covering this event for Hooniverse, but at a different time than Jack. That’s a shame… Another missed opportunity for me to school his ass.
Those are NHRA rules. Either it was an unsanctioned track, or someone was bribed.
I think that the NHRA relaxed the rules for factory stock cars that are slower than 9.99. With exception of tires, we are looking at a factory stock vehicle, that is within its design parameters.
“NHRA DRAGS: STREET LEGAL STYLE PRESENTED BY AAA (Page xiv) (5th paragraph) Additionally requirements and specifications for Street Legal are the same as those for the Summit Racing Series with the following exception: Unaltered 2008 OEM model year and newer production cars running slower than 9.99 and 135 mph do not have to meet the requirements and specifications for the Summit Racing Series except for the following: Convertibles and T-tops must meet Summit Racing Series Roll Bar and Roll Cage requirements, All drivers must meet the Summit Racing Series Helmet and Protective Clothing requirements.”
Looks like that rule may be to be altered soon. Damn, we’re are living in some amazing times.
These are going to bottom in value at exactly the time I’m ready to have a mid life crisis! YAY!
I wish, they’ll sell a few dozen a year at most. They’ll hover in the 20s and 30s for the rest of their existence as they get wrecked and the owners resell them through auctions.
As a Hot Rod Magazine reader I look forward to the flood of hot rods (5 to 10 plus years from now) that have Hellcat drivetrains taken from examples totaled in t-boning and rear-ended.
I have a feeling that these will all be totalled from front end impacts.
I think it’s safe to assume more than a few of them will meet their ultimate fate going off the road sideways or backwards at a high rate of speed after the driver insisted that traction and stability was for wusses, or something to that effect. Don’t worry, he’s got this, bro. Right up to the point he doesn’t.
Can a car with an automatic transmission still be considered a muscle car?
Is that a troll comment? All else equal, an automatic equipped car will beat a manual on the drags every time. Every. Time.
I am not an apologist for automatics. I used to think like all of you closed minded manual troglodytes and only ever owned manuals for 20 years. Guess what, technology knocked down the damn door.
You can row your own gears all you like. All you’ll ever see are the tail lights of those who have stepped into the modern age.
There are other reasons to own a manual. Not everyone has ETs-at-all-costs as their first priority.
I agree 100%. I like driving manual cars. No, I love driving manual cars. However, for me there is a time and place. I was commenting about the manual uber alles mentality that is pervasive with “enthusiasts”. I apologize to the OP as that seems it was not his intent.
I’m about 99% sure I’m going to buy one of these things, and this is the first time in my life where I’ve had the choice of a manual transmission and I’ve not been completely convinced that it was the right choice for me. I’ll probably get the manual anyway, but no slushbox has ever tempted me as much as this one.
ktm is correct.
Maybe for dragracing. There are no auto-cars near what I’m willing to pay that can outdo a manual on a roadcourse. Not to mention the extra wear on brakes etc. Autos are nice for short distance driving and cruising though.
On the other hand, I bet most ‘real’ muscle cars (1964 to 1971) were autos.
I don’t like automatics myself, but there have been automatic muscle cars for longer than the term muscle car has been in use. They started dominating Super Stock drag racing in 1962.
Absolutely true. The only way the MOPAR 413 and 426 Max Wedge B-Bodies of the early 60’s could get down the track was with a Torqflite. Those engines would blow the tires off in an instant with the 4-speed.
Don’t mean to troll, and appreciate the responses. I ask because, for me, a sports car is defined by as a two seater (2+2 OK), MT, RWD, light weight and sporting character. Ragtop is a big plus. But we aren’t talking sports car here, we’re talking muscle car.
I was just wondering if there is a common definition of “muscle car” and how that is different from a “pony car”. My take on the Challenger is that because it is so heavy and is more ride than handling focused is that it is more of a personal luxury coupe with a big engine.
I would appreciate further explanation of the definitions of muscle car, pony car and personal luxury coupe.
Well, there are probably about as many definitions as there are different muscle cars, but usually ‘muscle car’ is any sedan or similar,with a massive engine, that is not a luxury car or sports car.
‘Pony cars’ are usually smaller more sporty cars, named after the niche the Mustang (and technically Barracuda) started, itdoes not need to have a massive engine, but must look sportier than a regular sedan.
‘Personal Luxury’ coupe is when you try to make a sportscar out of family sedan parts, but end up with a massively heavy car because you try to save money, and just have to make up a name for it (Thunderbird)
All three of the factory built NHRA drag racers, the COPO Camaro, the Drag Pak Challenger, and the Cobra Jet Mustang come with two speed automatics based on the Chevy Powerglide. Most people would consider those muscle cars.
The 2011 GT500 came out, and I said, “550hp? This is the ultimate muscle car and will never be topped.”
Then they boosted it to 662hp. And I said, “OK, THIS is the ultimate muscle car and will never be topped.”
And now comes the Hellcat.
I hope I keep being proved wrong. Maybe GM has a 750hp Camaro up their sleeve?
JACK BARUTH
tell me when and where you are going to test this car.
and what happened to my reviews?
10.8 @ 126 on drag radials, 11.2 @ 125 on street tires, both with the 8-speed automatic.
I’m skeptical that Chrysler will have a car equipped with drag radials at the press event. (On the other hand… maybe they will, this IS Chrysler.) If so, I bet Jack can get it into the 10s.
Drag radials are street tires.
They’re street-legal. I contest your assertion that they are viable street tires.
Also, you know what I meant and you’re splitting hairs.
Late reply. They now make street viable drag radials. Google “Nitto drag radials”. I believe the difference lies in the aggressiveness of the drag radial tread pattern (of any).
This vehicle is totally, utterly, stupidly impractical, but boy would I love one.
I think it has the potential to be entirely practical, and I plan to test that assertion by buying one and daily-driving it.
Challengers in general are very comfortable cars for long trips, with a smooth ride and plenty of trunk space. The back seat is big enough for actual adults — my six-foot-plus-and-still-growing teen sons tried a 2014 and had plenty of room. Ralph Gilles posted a dash photo the other day of a Hellcat he was driving that was getting 22 mpg on a long highway trip (to Carlisle, I think). That’s not Prius mileage but it beats most pickups and big SUVs (and it beats my current car, a CTS-V). It’ll be no worse than my CTS-V in the snow — which is to say, workable with good snow tires. Long story short, a Camry would surely be more practical, but this will be practical enough — and it’s a zillion times more fun than a Camry.
Jack, be nimble
Jack, be quick
Jack, cross the line
Before the 11th tick!
I’m a certified hater of this car (and any coupe weighing two tons) but I have to admit the drag times are impressive. Now let’s see if it can beat a M235i with less than half the power around a road course. My money’s on the BMW.
You sound like the old Subaru fan-bois. “But, but, but let’s see him beat me in the rain or snow.”
Or any other make fan-boi railing against an AWD dig…….”I’d take him from a roll…..”
Let’s just appreciate it for what it is.
Hardly a fanboi. Just someone who doesn’t like absurdly porky cars.
As a Challenger owner, the size isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. On the rare occasions I have rear seat passengers, they have comfortable seats with shoulder and leg room. And cargo space like an SUV.
If I’m going to put up with that much size, I want four doors. But that’s just me.
But you like BMWs?
On drag radials? BMW for sure. Street tires are a different matter, there is a point where sheer power just starts to cut down on suspension in the corners. If the BMW still beats it by time it won’t be much by that point.
My money is on BTSR buying the first Hellcat and getting the following vanity plate:
HELLCAT1
Lol
Depends on the road course, the portly 2013 GT500 had more than enough to crush an Elise Exige S by more than 3 seconds at VIR and bested the Cayman R by more than 2 seconds on the same track as well and was just a tab bit more than 2 seconds behind the C6 Z06.
As long as the Hellcat is sorted out well and can meet/beat the M235i in braking and beat it in acceleration on a track with a fair bit of space to use that 707 horsepower the BMW will lose.
Conversely anybody taking a Hellcat to an autocross will certainly look foolish.
On the contrary, one of these monsters at an autocross would be awesome. It won’t turn great times, but assuming that the driver knew what he was doing, it would be a blast to watch (and hear).
I find it enlightening that this car has about NINE TIMES the horsepower of my last car, a 1984 Volvo 245Diesel, and SEVEN TIMES the power of my current car, a 2005 Scion xB. Someone feels this car is necessary.
It scares the crap out of me.
I share your awe at the Hellcat’s power (it’s laying down SIX TIMES the horsepower of my 1.6 Miata), but why does it scare you? Aren’t you glad to live in a country where, if you had the money and the desire, you could buy a muscle car so staggeringly powerful?
In case you’re wondering, I am not at all kidding, or being hipster-ironic (screw those guys).
This car is not necessary – and thats the point of the car. If all auto builders built ‘necessary’ cars, we would all be driving Priuses (Prii?)
So why build a car that is not necessary ? Because ‘MURICA!! (HELL YEAH!!)
You’ve got me wrong. I don’t begrudge anyone the right to buy or own this car. I just can’t fathom why anybody would WANT to.
But there’s a lot about people that I will never understand.
Because racecar.
Sounds like someone needs to go start “Mothers Against Hellcats”.
The car DOESN’T scare me. The driver with insufficient skill/judgment to safely handle that much hp DOES.
My Leaf is a 10-second car… to 60 mph.
Can’t wait to see Jack’s report.
It is just awesome that I will be be able to buy a used one right as I will be hitting my mid-life crisis!
And it will have been gently driven by a little old lady.
…. from Pasadena
Do tire manufacturers make drag radials for wheel diameters that large? If the rear brake rotors were a little smaller in diameter it would be possible to get more tire sidewall flex for a better launch.
What geographic location would give the Challenger the best reported ET? I assume they will want to demo it at some place with cold air near sea level.
Yes, the Nitto NT05R for example ranges from 17-20″ rim fitments and the Mickey Thompson ET II can be had in 14-20″ rim fitments as well.
“No Dart GLH? Lame.”
I think the GLH moniker will be consigned to the dumpster of history, but… Dart SRT arrives 12/16 as a 2017 model, says the five-year plan. AWD turbo, details to follow.
This is so fantastic. My 240z 351w ran mid 11’s on slicks. The hellcat has AC, a back seat, airbags etc. and runs faster 1/4’s without dumping half burnt fuel at idle. 2014 rules
Being born in 1977, I concur. Mazda’s Skyactive 2.5 makes twice the hp of the Iron Duke in my first car. Technology is awesome whether it is a 2 ltr turbo diesel in a Cruze or a hairy chested multiple cylinder engine.
I’m just wondering who at Chrysler was foolish enough to greenlight something like this with a factory warranty.
As long as they beefed up the tranny and the rest of the driveline enough to take the torque I don’t see why it would be any worse than an SRT in that regard.
Considering that it’s a low-volume expensive car, it’s totally worth it for advertizing alone even if they have to do expensive repairs like replace transmissions, differentials, axles, etc. because the Hellcat engine is too powerful. What do “Hellcat is too powerful” recall notices do for Challenger sales and Mopar bragging rights?
Completely with you on this. It will be a small cost for FiatShler to fix the low-volum cars under warranty.
But I guess as they replace the broken parts, they will also ‘recommend’ that you check out Mopars aftermarket program to find suitable replacement/upgrade parts if you like to spend more money instead of constantly having it repaired for free under warranty.
And, if you take ‘Hybridkiller’s comment under here into consideration, there probably are no ways to break any part of the Hellcat drivetrain under any sort of ‘street-legal’ activities…
Torque management is most certainly part of the package along with upgraded driveline parts.
“I’m just wondering who at Chrysler was foolish enough to greenlight something like this with a factory warranty.”
Somewhere in the warranty docs for this car there will be a paragraph that reads something like this:
“This vehicle is not intended for use as a competition race car of any kind. Any use of this vehicle in speed-related activities including, but not limited to, amateur or professional drag racing, amateur or professional drift competitions, or anything else that leaves visible rubber on the pavement will void this warranty in its entirety faster than you can say ridiculous insurance premiums”
I really like the new model performance cars, and would consider a Hellcat for weekend duty…but I am worried we are approaching a HP/price bubble and someday soon the market will crash for new ones. Only so much money around for such narrow scope cars.
I wouldn’t worry about new ones getting cheaper, it’s an awful lot of performance for the money – especially when you consider what it would cost to build a 700hp drag car (that’s also street-legal) from scratch. And they’re not going to turn out enough of these things to where they have to discount leftover/unsold units. But anyone who does buy one should definitely plan on taking a pretty large hit if/when they go to sell it.