How to destroy a set of tires in minutes with a 707 hp Dodge Challenger Hellcat
By Alex Lloyd of Motoramic (For Yahoo)
.
Drifting a 707-hp Dodge Challenger Hellcat
There I was, aboard the ferociously barbaric 2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat, ready to restrain all 707 horsepower and execute a stellar lap time on our autocross course. By the first turn, however, I'd given up.
This car doesn't want to go straight. It doesn't do polite, or graceful. It does sideways. All of the time. Dropping grandma off at the hair salon? Sideways. Driving home after a painful vasectomy? Sideways. Carrying a trunk-full of explosives to an off-the-grid location somewhere in the deserts of Arizona? Sideways.
Achieving a clean lap is pointless; this car just isn't meant for that. The Challenger Hellcat is a proper unadulterated muscle car, something that doesn't exist elsewhere -- even in Mustang GT500 or Camaro ZL1 trim. Today's ponies are tamed and refined for modern use, whereas the Hellcat sticks its middle finger up at society. It's basically Keith Moon with a license plate, only conceived from the depths of Detroit.
The moment you touch the throttle (even in third gear), the tires spin. It roars like James Earl Jones nursing a hangover. To say the Hellcat is fast would be a gross understatement. Sixty miles-per-hour arrives easily within four seconds; completing the quarter mile on stock tires takes just 11.2 seconds. A 6.2-liter HEMI V-8 resides under the scooped hood, massaged into the beast that it is via a Titanic-sized supercharger. Even by Dodge's own admission, building a machine like this makes little sense from a business perspective. But creating something special seldom does.
After just a couple of laps on the autocross we had to swap the rear tires with the fronts. Two laps later, all four were down to the cords. Of all the cars I've driven sideways, none are as easy to control as the Challenger -- and none do skids as extensive outside of a purpose built drift-car. For that we must thank the immense torque on tap and rear tires that simply aren't nearly large enough to cope with an extreme engine like the Hellcat's.
That engine. It's simply an expensive tool to destroy rubber, and a more efficient way of emptying your bank account than, say, sending your wife to Saks Fifth Avenue for an afternoon with six of her best friends and a bucket-full of margarita.
But you don't care. For $60,000, the Hellcat is a riot. I'd re-mortgage my house to own one, but first, I may need to befriend Mr. Pirelli. And buy my wife a bucket-full of margarita.
What do you expect with 707 horepower? 50k miles out of the tires?
The car was built for a purpose and not to save on rubber!
I wonder if people with Hellcats will talk about their "MPT" - Mileage Per Tires? :D
Think the tire companys had anything to do with building it. ;D.
Coming soon to a junk yard near you...drive trains for your classic car! ;)
Do these things come with a manual 6 speed? I need a donor trans and it's only a matter of time before these get wrapped around telephone poles. :D
Quote from: Dino on October 29, 2014, 07:58:54 PM
it's only a matter of time before these get wrapped around telephone poles. :D
Funny, I was just talking about that exact same thing this afternoon with a buddy,.... the availability of Hellcat drivetrains is almost a sure bet. :D
The Big 3 just keep upping the HP/TQ with no end in sight.
Shame on me for saying or thinking this but I can't help but wonder when or if the government or insurance industry starts getting their panties twisted. :shruggy:
I just hope we're able to have one in the driveway before my Mom, (comptroller 4 big dealership), retires.
Quote from: TUFCAT on October 29, 2014, 09:33:58 PM
Quote from: Dino on October 29, 2014, 07:58:54 PM
it's only a matter of time before these get wrapped around telephone poles. :D
Funny, I was just talking about that exact same thing this afternoon with a buddy,.... the availability of Hellcat drivetrains is almost a sure bet. :D
Yeah, but the posers will want them for nothing. What will they pay on ebay?? You'd need all the electronics to go with it... :Twocents:
I say a complete, running power train with electronics will go for $20K easily...
Quote from: myk on October 30, 2014, 04:52:51 PM
I say a complete, running power train with electronics will go for $20K easily...
I agree--at least for awhile. So who is looking forward to putting that power train under a 2nd gen charger?
And further would that be for drag racing or more like what Stevearino is doing?---The whole deal---
It's easy to fantasize (and I just did) about a 69 charger performing like a hellcat. :cheers: :slap:
so, how many do you think will be built?
Yes
Looks like Fiat almost killed the Hellcat: http://www.autonews.com/article/20141104/BLOG06/141109956/how-chryslers-hellcat-engine-almost-died
Little surprise there.
Gimme the drivetrain and tranny and sh#$can the rest of the car. That pig is way too tall and narrow for a ponycar. And 275's for tires with 707hp? Really? Kind of like putting 15" polyglass tires on a 69 with a HEMI.