Push the dash-mounted start button and the 6.2-liter V-8 barks like Cerberus, its deep exhaust accented by a subtle whine from the supercharger. Combined, they produce a visceral and foreboding effect, the automotive equivalent of dropping the needle on a well-worn vinyl copy of The Stooges’ Fun House. Cowland tells us there was prolonged internal debate over how loud to let the blower wail. The quiet vote lost.
Pulling onto the 4.7-mile oval at Chrysler’s Chelsea proving grounds, the exhaust takes a solo, its pitch rising with engine rpm. The volume, however, is predicated not only on rpm, but also the valves plumbed into each leg of the dual exhaust tubes, nearly three inches in diameter. The electrically actuated valves are tuned to operate in concert with the engine calibration, ultimately arriving at the fully open, fully fortissimo position.
Launching the Hellcat at the strip is an exercise in restraint; anything more than half-throttle and the rear Pirellis just fling rubber globules like beads from a Mardi Gras float as the car disappears in a veil of smoke. A Dodge engineer, who said he’d taken “hundreds” of passes in the car, reported knocking out a quick 11.2 as meas*ured by the drag strip’s timing equipment. On street tires, mind you. Activating launch control via the dedicated console button reels in the wheelspin but also hurts the ET. Though it’s perfectly calibrated to keep stoplight heroes from embarrassing themselves, even a well-trained feline will bite, as Siegfried & Roy can attest.
Read more
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2015-dodge-challenger-srt-hellcat-first-drive-review
Pulling onto the 4.7-mile oval at Chrysler’s Chelsea proving grounds, the exhaust takes a solo, its pitch rising with engine rpm. The volume, however, is predicated not only on rpm, but also the valves plumbed into each leg of the dual exhaust tubes, nearly three inches in diameter. The electrically actuated valves are tuned to operate in concert with the engine calibration, ultimately arriving at the fully open, fully fortissimo position.
Launching the Hellcat at the strip is an exercise in restraint; anything more than half-throttle and the rear Pirellis just fling rubber globules like beads from a Mardi Gras float as the car disappears in a veil of smoke. A Dodge engineer, who said he’d taken “hundreds” of passes in the car, reported knocking out a quick 11.2 as meas*ured by the drag strip’s timing equipment. On street tires, mind you. Activating launch control via the dedicated console button reels in the wheelspin but also hurts the ET. Though it’s perfectly calibrated to keep stoplight heroes from embarrassing themselves, even a well-trained feline will bite, as Siegfried & Roy can attest.
Read more
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2015-dodge-challenger-srt-hellcat-first-drive-review