- 1. The Power Of Muscle
Seriously? Does this even need an explanation? Officially 707bhp, unofficially somewhere rather further north of the 700bhp mark.
And what’s more, we’re not talking 700 horses straining at the leash, subdued, tempered or kept under control with over-eager electronic nannies. No. When SRT promises power, you get the full-force, unfettered, frankly unhinged lot of it, without dilution or caution.
And what’s more, we’re not talking 700 horses straining at the leash, subdued, tempered or kept under control with over-eager electronic nannies. No. When SRT promises power, you get the full-force, unfettered, frankly unhinged lot of it, without dilution or caution.
- 2. The Way It Drives
From behind the wheel (with the red key that unlocks the all the go-juice – instead of the valet-parking black key restricted to 500bhp) the experience is brutal, shock and awe, on-the-edge, gob-smacking, jaw-dropping, eye-popping, terrifying, nerve-jangling, and hanging it all out on the wrong side of the limits of tyre-to-tarmac friction – and that’s with everything set on ‘Street’ in the SRT mode selector!
Only the brave wonder into the ‘Sport’ territory, and the foolish find that the last mistake they’ll ever make is switching this into ‘Track’ mode or switching off the traction control altogether.
Traction Control on a Hellcat? Well that’s a joke all by itself. ‘What’s that ya say?’ asks the Hellcat. ‘Traction Control? Oh yeah we got some of that stuff lying around here somewhere.’ In fact if you do find the system buried deep within the expansive presence of the Hellcat, it’ll probably be cowering away in some corner, traumatised and whimpering something about having lost all sense of purpose.
This is not a sports car – don’t take it to the twistiest road you can find – its talents would be wasted there. I have driven the Hellcat on track, and it does handle, there is grip there when the speeds rise, but you have to trust it enough to go exploring that far (which is probably too far on a public road). And Hellcat never heard of no ‘safe understeer’.
Only the brave wonder into the ‘Sport’ territory, and the foolish find that the last mistake they’ll ever make is switching this into ‘Track’ mode or switching off the traction control altogether.
Traction Control on a Hellcat? Well that’s a joke all by itself. ‘What’s that ya say?’ asks the Hellcat. ‘Traction Control? Oh yeah we got some of that stuff lying around here somewhere.’ In fact if you do find the system buried deep within the expansive presence of the Hellcat, it’ll probably be cowering away in some corner, traumatised and whimpering something about having lost all sense of purpose.
This is not a sports car – don’t take it to the twistiest road you can find – its talents would be wasted there. I have driven the Hellcat on track, and it does handle, there is grip there when the speeds rise, but you have to trust it enough to go exploring that far (which is probably too far on a public road). And Hellcat never heard of no ‘safe understeer’.
- 3. It's Epically Cool
You may find this hard to believe, but the Dodge Challenger, in its present guise, has been around for eight years! There was even talk of killing it off a couple of years ago. But here it is at the tail end of 2015, and it remains just about the coolest muscle car you can buy.
Not only that, but by some amazing feat, Dodge has pumped new life into it. It’s virtually the car of the moment, despite its main rivals going for a major overhaul of their models. If you have an ounce of octane in your blood, you cannot NOT like this car.
The retro-styling the magnificent presence, the overt aggression, all wrapped in a cohesive contemporary skin has that inexplicable quality that most modern cars completely fail to comprehend, never mind offer – it’s got Star Quality by the spades and oozes that indefinable X-factor.
Yes the Hellcat is available in Charger guise too – an equally majestic car in every way. However there is just something fittingly appropriate about the Challenger being endowed with Hellcat malevolence. It just seems to fit the two-door coupe better – it is the muscle car to end all muscle cars.
Not only that, but by some amazing feat, Dodge has pumped new life into it. It’s virtually the car of the moment, despite its main rivals going for a major overhaul of their models. If you have an ounce of octane in your blood, you cannot NOT like this car.
The retro-styling the magnificent presence, the overt aggression, all wrapped in a cohesive contemporary skin has that inexplicable quality that most modern cars completely fail to comprehend, never mind offer – it’s got Star Quality by the spades and oozes that indefinable X-factor.
Yes the Hellcat is available in Charger guise too – an equally majestic car in every way. However there is just something fittingly appropriate about the Challenger being endowed with Hellcat malevolence. It just seems to fit the two-door coupe better – it is the muscle car to end all muscle cars.
- 4. Practicality
Sure it’s a little less practical than the four-door Charger, but don’t forget it’s built on the same platform albeit fractionally shorter and lower but slightly wider. So as with any Challenger, there is plenty of room up front, and even enough to carry two adults in the back, plus a generous boot to… well boot.
It also benefits from the excellent interior upgrade afforded all 2015 Challenger models which is just so much more stylish and appealing than the previous iteration. Apart from the overflowing machismo to contend with, and perhaps the perception that it’s such a big thing (it’s only 24cm longer and virtually the same width as a new Ford Mustang), it can be used as a real-world car.
But there’s a whole other aspect of practicality when it comes to the Hellcat. You can’t just leave your LaFerrari, Lykan or P1 anywhere on the street, and even with the F12 you’d be nervous about where and how you park it.
The Hellcat on the other hand doesn’t feel out of place whether you leave it in a grotty side street or in front of the poshest hotel. There is one issue though, and here’s an important tip – DO NOT ever give this car to a valet parker (even with the black key) – it’s like asking your babysitter to look after the pet lion!
It also benefits from the excellent interior upgrade afforded all 2015 Challenger models which is just so much more stylish and appealing than the previous iteration. Apart from the overflowing machismo to contend with, and perhaps the perception that it’s such a big thing (it’s only 24cm longer and virtually the same width as a new Ford Mustang), it can be used as a real-world car.
But there’s a whole other aspect of practicality when it comes to the Hellcat. You can’t just leave your LaFerrari, Lykan or P1 anywhere on the street, and even with the F12 you’d be nervous about where and how you park it.
The Hellcat on the other hand doesn’t feel out of place whether you leave it in a grotty side street or in front of the poshest hotel. There is one issue though, and here’s an important tip – DO NOT ever give this car to a valet parker (even with the black key) – it’s like asking your babysitter to look after the pet lion!
- 5. It's An Investment
The situation for the moment, and quite possibly for the foreseeable future, is that you can’t just walk into a dealer and pick up a Hellcat. Demand for both versions is crazy, and they aren’t able to build the bespoke supercharged engines fast enough. Supply and demand is keeping prices high, and values strong in the short term.
In the longer term, I’m going put my neck out and suggest that these will be worth a lot of money in years to come, simply because there won’t be any more cars like these. It’s looking like HEMIs will be killed off in a couple of years due to legislation and litigation, which will put a stop to wild unruly metal like this. The new Mustang is more modern sportscar than musclecar and I suspect the new Camaro will be too, which in the greater scheme of things is probably the right way to go.
So if you are lucky enough to get one of these, once you’re done having a laugh with it, wrap it up in some cling film and put it away. Your grand children will never believe that such crazed machines ever existed, never mind were actually sold to unsuspecting Humans 1.0. ‘And besides, why would you not just use the teleporter?!’
In the longer term, I’m going put my neck out and suggest that these will be worth a lot of money in years to come, simply because there won’t be any more cars like these. It’s looking like HEMIs will be killed off in a couple of years due to legislation and litigation, which will put a stop to wild unruly metal like this. The new Mustang is more modern sportscar than musclecar and I suspect the new Camaro will be too, which in the greater scheme of things is probably the right way to go.
So if you are lucky enough to get one of these, once you’re done having a laugh with it, wrap it up in some cling film and put it away. Your grand children will never believe that such crazed machines ever existed, never mind were actually sold to unsuspecting Humans 1.0. ‘And besides, why would you not just use the teleporter?!’
So still dubious about this one muscle???
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