[1]Back during the musclecar wars of the 1970s, running a ten second quarter mile meant you had a full on race car. It was unheard of that you could drive a car to the strip, run a ten second quarter mile, and then drive that same car home.
President and CEO of Dodge and SRT Brands, Tim Kuniskis, reminds us that in 1970, a person could go to a Dodge dealership and buy a 1970 Dodge Challenger with a 425 horsepower 426 Street Hemi. Back then, the wicked power of the Street Hemi took down the 1320 in 13.2 seconds with a trap speed of 108 mph. The Hemi cars were a force to be reckoned with, but don’t think for a minute that Dodge has been resting on their laurels lately.
Dodge is racing to the front lines of the horsepower wars. -Tim Kuniskis
When the ponycar horsepower wars were revived with modern musclecars, you could once again walk into a Dodge dealership and pick up a 425 horsepower Hemi Challenger. But Mopar fans wanted more – so Dodge responded to those demands with 470 horsepower.
As you might guess – that still wasn’t enough, so Dodge upped that power to 485 horsepower for the current 392 Hemi. For those that still want more, Kuniskis brings us the Hellcat Hemi Challenger with 707 horsepower from 6.2 liters of fury.
[2]Kuniskis says, “This is Dodge’s first supercharged Hemi – ever. This is Dodge’s most powerful engine – ever. Also, this is the most powerful musclecar – EVER!” If anyone ever wondered if Dodge means business, that question has been answered with the Hellcat Hemi Challenger.
[3]Chrysler has been secretive of their kitty from Hell, and slowly we get to see a little bit more each time they talk about it [4]. We learned about the supercharger, then the design, the intake system, the big brakes, and then the elephant-sized news was released [5] that the supercharged Hellcat produces 707 hp and 650 lb/ft of torque. Now, in the video above [6] from Chrysler, we see a 2015 SRT Hellcat Challenger take on its nemesis, a 1970 Hemi Challenger, in the quarter mile – and smoke it.
Imagine taking your daily driver out for a quick sprint down the 1320, and coming back with a timeslip that says: 10.8 @ 126.18 (on drag radials), as you casually head out the gate and take the same car our for burgers and fries. Check, and mate, Bowties and Blue Ovals. Your turn – if you care to accept the Challenger… er, challenge.
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