Review: 707-HP Challenger Hellcat snubs nose at high end supercars
Get supercar-level performance for luxury car price.
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Several months ago, I was asked what I thought about the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. Its 707-horsepower supercharged V8 had been making headlines for quarter-mile times. I was not a fan.
“Who needs that much power?’’ I responded. “It’s not how most folks drive.’’
Boy, was I wrong.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has managed to get a lot of mileage out of existing vehicles in its various brands. There have been special editions of the Chrysler 300, numerous variants of the Jeep Wrangler, and quite a few performance models of the Dodge Charger sedan and Challenger coupe.
The Challenger has received incremental updates through the years, but at its core, it is long in the tooth, first arriving in its current generation in 2007. So how do you keep hype going for an aging model? Stuff more power under the hood than a Corvette Z06, Dodge’s own SRT Viper, or the new Ford GT, that’s how. Heck, this car has more power than the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, Ferrari 488 GTB, McLaren 675LT, Audi R8, or Aston Martin Vanquish.
Rival muscle/pony cars Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang have moved on from the retro vehicle design craze of the 2000s, but Dodge has stuck with it, making the Hellcat all that more impressive when it thunders by.
The Challenger is a standout for having always looked the most like its throwback counterpart, and on the Hellcat, that is turned into something menacing. There’s an all-black lower front valence, off-black 20-inch wheels wrapped in Pirelli P-Zero performance summer tires, a large black spoiler, and power dome hood with heat extraction vents. The vents are functional, highlighting the need to extract the massive amounts of heat generated by the fire-breathing supercharged powerplant.
Under the dual-striped hood lives a 6.2-liter V8 with a supercharger fitted atop its intake, which can shove more air into the cylinders and thus raise compression and increase output. To feed that supercharger, the driver’s side halo headlight is actually hollow in the middle and acts as a hidden air intake.
It allows the engine to reach peak 707-horsepower and 650 lb.-ft. of torque. That power is put to the rear wheels through either a 6-speed manual or 8-speed automatic transmission with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters.
Helping to keep the Hellcat in a straight line is performance equipment like an anti-spin differential rear axle, SRT-tuned Bilstein competition suspension, and Brembo high-performance brakes.
According to Dodge, the Hellcat will do 0 to 60 in 3.6 seconds. It can also do a quarter mile in 11.2 seconds at 125 mph on stock tires and hit a top speed of 202 mph. Suffice it to say, we didn’t test to confirm the latter claims.
What this means for the everyday driver is that tires will squeal through multiple gears as you step on it from a red light. Many new cars employ tons of traction control technology to make sure there’s no slip. Dodge lets you get the thing lose. The traction control does its job, but so much power is being made that it has to go somewhere. You’ll look forward to every upcoming stoplight for the opportunity to accelerate again when the light turns green. Though there’s a bit of body roll and the steering is somewhat soft, the Hellcat actually handles corners well, feeling much lighter than its 4,469-pound curb weight would ever let on.
BESPOKE TUNING: SRT’s performance pages app lets drivers tune the Hellcat to their preferences, including an Eco mode, which drops output to “just’’ 500 horsepower.
You can tune the output, transmission shift points, suspension stiffness, traction control sensitivity, and other driving characteristics with Dodge’s performance pages app in the large 8.4-inch touchscreen. Incredibly, there is even an Eco button, which reduces power to an anemic 500 horses.
The touch screen is the centerpiece of a terrific interior that takes on a much more modern look than the exterior. Climate and radio controls have conventional dials, and a lot of the rest is controlled in that same 8.4-inch Uconnect screen. It is one of the best infotainment screens on the market, with an iPad-like layout. It has large home icons for radio, media, navigation, apps, Bluetooth-connected phone, and more.
The cabin of the Challenger Hellcat is far more spacious than the Mustang or Camaro, with a larger back seat and a much larger trunk. Standard features on the Hellcat include backup camera, park sensing system, navigation, heated and cooled front seats, blind spot monitoring system, and 18-speaker Harmon/Kardon premium sound system with dual subwoofers.
You’d think supercar-level power would command at least six-figure pricing, but the 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat starts at $62,495. With the automatic transmission, the price climbs to $65,490. Our test model, which featured options like remote start, dual carbon racing stripes, Pirelli summer tires, and 20-inch Brass Monkey SRT forged wheels came in at $70,770. By comparison, the cost of the Lamborghini Aventador? Almost $400,000.
Perhaps the most astounding thing about the Hellcat is that it even exists. With automakers’ focus on hybrid powertrains and getting the most out of a drop of fuel, a snarling muscle car like the Hellcat seems like the farthest thing down on any volume automaker’s “to do’’ list.
But the folks at Dodge know that producing minivans and commuter cars alone is not enough to stoke the fires of passion for a brand. To get people really excited about your vehicles, you need something aspirational. Seven hundred horsepower for about $70,000 is something to which many drivers can aspire.
2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat
THE BASICS
Price: $62,495. As tested: $70,770. Fuel economy, EPA estimated: 13/22; Globe observed: 15.8 mpg. Drivetrain: 6.2L supercharged V8, AT, rear-wheel-drive. Body: 2-door coupe.
THE SPECIFICS
Horsepower: 707. Overall length: 197.7 in. Wheelbase 116.0 in. Height: 57.0 in. Width: 75.7 in. Curb weight: 4,469 lbs.
THE GOOD
More power than you’ll ever know what to do with; plenty of cabin and trunk space; hitting starter button results in incurable permanent grin.
THE BAD
Waking the neighbors, receiving scowls from police, and 16 combined mpg.
THE BOTTOM LINE
You won’t find another car for this price with this much power, that’s this much fun, and is this easy to live with and drive any day. Period.
ALSO CONSIDER
Skydiving or running with the bulls.
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