The Hellcat gets some Demon blood.
The Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat was quite the beast of a muscle car when it first came out. It was then trumped by the utterly insane 840-horsepower Dodge Demon. With the popularity of these cars, Dodge has expanded the lineup and given the Hellcat a bit of Demon flavor with wider fenders, new custom wheels, and a few other goodies to create the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody.
“The new Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody completes our strongest Dodge muscle car lineup in history,” said Tim Kuniskis, Head of Passenger Cars – Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and FIAT – FCA North America. “Our brand, engineering and design teams poured a ton of effort into making the new SRT Demon the world’s fastest quarter-mile production car, so now we’re leveraging that know-how, and some of those vital elements and transferring them to the new Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody for improved performance on the street and a bolder, more aggressive new look.”
The new Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody essentially bridges the gap between the two models and serves up a bit more performance thanks to the new wider design. It also creates the most powerful muscle car lineup ever for the 2018 model year.
The Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody features the same flared fenders that seamlessly integrate into the body work as the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. These new fenders add 3.5 inches of width and make room for larger custom wheels that offer up more grip for the 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 powertrain.
The wider fenders house the new 20 x 11.0 front and rear “Devil’s Rim” split five spoke aluminum alloy custom wheels that have 305/35 ZR20 Pirelli P-Zero tires boasting a new tread pattern for better grip. With that better grip comes better performance than the standard bodied Hellcat. The ¼-mile time was cut by 0.3 seconds with a 10.9-second run; lateral acceleration is up by .04 G (0.97 G); and the 0-60 mph acceleration time is down by 0.1 seconds with a 3.4-second time compared to the standard 3.5-second time. Even the road course time is improved by approximately 2.0 seconds per lap on a 1.7-mile track.
Driving those new custom wheels is the same 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 engine that produces 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft. of torque. That’s sent through either a Tremec six-speed manual or TroqueFlite eight-speed automatic. A new Electronic Power Steering (EPS) steering system is also used for the first time on the Hellcat for better handling performance.
Visually, the new Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody gains a few new goodies aside from its flared fenders and custom wheels. The hood boasts a power bulge with center intake and dual heat extractors while illuminated Air-Catcher headlights and quad projector headlamps sit beneath. The Demon’s front splitter and Hellcat rear spoiler give the muscle car a more aggressive look.
The new Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody will be available in 15 exterior colors and carry an MSRP of $71,495. Orders will begin in July with the cars arriving at dealerships in the third quarter.
Source: Dodge
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