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Hellcat First Drive Review

6K views 46 replies 14 participants last post by  MCaesar 
#1 ·
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
 
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#3 ·
Motor Trend's review

With a 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 making 707 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque, the Hellcat finally gives Mopar fans something to brag about in the upper echelons of the musclecar battle, which has essentially been a two-man show featuring Mustang and Camaro. The Hellcat is more powerful than almost everything on the market today, even SRT's own halo car, the Viper. Sure, there are cars that make more power, but those are limited to a handful of exotics such as the Porsche 918 Spyder and McLaren P1 hyper-hybrids that cost up to 18 times as much. Dodge has priced its new musclecar at $60,990 (including destination and gas guzzler tax), which caused a bit of sticker shock for many, but in a good way. If you're obsessed horsepower and prefer your cars out-of-the-box stock, you'll agree that it is an absolute steal.

That said, the Hellcat still handles like a Challenger. Navigating the Challenger through curvy parts of the road or track is, ahem, challenging, while straightaways are a breeze. The Hellcat just does the latter much, much faster. We had our first go in the Hellcat at the Portland International Raceway (PIR).

The Hellcat loves straight lines. No surprises there. And Dodge provided the opportunity to solidify this fact with one run on the dragstrip. Activating the Hellcat's launch control system is wonderfully simple. Push the "launch" button on the center stack, step on the brake pedal with your left foot, mash the gas with the right, let go of brake, and voilà. Better yet, pulling up the SRT Performance Pages app in the Uconnect infotainment system will automatically time your run. After our run, the app revealed a 0-60 mph time of 4.1 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 12 seconds at 117 mph. Dodge says the best time it achieved was 11.2 seconds on the quarter mile with street tires (Pirelli P Zero), so we'll see if how close we can get to that time once we snag a Hellcat for testing. We rounded off our Hellcat experience with a quick drive in a car equipped with a six-speed manual. Here, the SRT team snagged the Viper's robust gearbox to handle the Hellcat's 650 lb-ft of torque. That said, the clutch is heavy, but the shifter is fine. Aggressive shifts from first to second had the tires holding on for dear life.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests...lenger_srt_hellcat_first_drive/#ixzz38LK5sNni

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests...lenger_srt_hellcat_first_drive/#ixzz38LJmyJVa
 
#4 ·
After our run, the app revealed a 0-60 mph time of 4.1 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 12 seconds at 117 mph. Dodge says the best time it achieved was 11.2 seconds on the quarter mile with street tires (Pirelli P Zero), so we'll see if how close we can get to that time once we snag a Hellcat for testing.
Huge difference between 11.2 and 12.0!

I would expect to get close to 12.0 with the 6.4!

We shall see

The plot thickens
 
#9 ·
And a huge difference between an automotive journalist with maybe three or five passes in the car and the development engineer with, as noted in the C7D article, "hundreds of passes", and as noted above, the 11.2 was the strips time, while the mag used the performance page app.
 
#6 ·
"Dodge provided the opportunity to solidify this fact with one run on the dragstrip. Activating the Hellcat's launch control system is wonderfully simple. Push the "launch" button on the center stack, step on the brake pedal with your left foot, mash the gas with the right, let go of brake, and voilà. Better yet, pulling up the SRT Performance Pages app in the Uconnect infotainment system will automatically time your run. After our run, the app revealed a 0-60 mph time of 4.1 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 12 seconds at 117 mph. Dodge says the best time it achieved was 11.2 seconds on the quarter mile with street tires (Pirelli P Zero), so we'll see if how close we can get to that time once we snag a Hellcat for testing."


Funny that they chose to publish the "App" times but failed to publish the official drag strip time as measured by the track they ran on.

I wonder why that is? :dunno:

Hmmm...could it be that the real track numbers confirmed that the car is as fast as Dodge says it is and they cherry-picked what numbers they reported? Do they simply want to build doubt before they do their own "test" to bias it toward their paid sponsors...which doesn't include Dodge?

Yep, the plot thickens indeed.
 
#7 ·
I am certain that my 2013 SRT8 Charger could do 0-60 better than 4.5 seconds with bigger and stickier tires. I am currently running on Michelin 245-45-20's. They are wonderful tires. :banana:

What size of Pirelli's is Mopar using to get all of that lovely torque and HP to the pavement?

BTW I drool every time I read about the Hellcat. :bowdown:
 
#10 ·
They only use the app on a preview drive.

For real testing they use scientific methods.

What worries more than the time, which we know can be bad with too much wheelspin, is the 117mph trap speed. THAT is scary bad.

My feeling is the car will end up being between 11.5 and 11.7 once the car mags get real tests on it. That is a little faster than the GT500 but a little slower than the Viper and ZR1.

I will be shocked if once the production examples come out they turn 11.2

I can't get past the physics of it.

1000 pounds heavier than a Viper with smaller tires is not offset by 67HP and 8 speed automatic.

I just don't see that.

But we all know I have been wrong before so we shall see.

I doubt 11.2 is the norm
 
#14 ·
They only use the app on a preview drive.

For real testing they use scientific methods.

What worries more than the time, which we know can be bad with too much wheelspin, is the 117mph trap speed. THAT is scary bad.

My feeling is the car will end up being between 11.5 and 11.7 once the car mags get real tests on it. That is a little faster than the GT500 but a little slower than the Viper and ZR1.

I will be shocked if once the production examples come out they turn 11.2

I can't get past the physics of it.

1000 pounds heavier than a Viper with smaller tires is not offset by 67HP and 8 speed automatic.

I just don't see that.

But we all know I have been wrong before so we shall see.

I doubt 11.2 is the norm
Of course it wont be. But I'll bet you see it from hotshoes at low tracks in the fall.
 
#11 ·
I have found that Car & Driver's 1/4 mile tests are very accurate - especially when you compare them against other cars they tested.

For example, my car ran a 13.2 in their testing and I find that cars they tested that ran 13.5 or better I beat. Cars that they tested that run 12s, like the AMG CLS63, pull on me.

They ran ~11.5 for the Viper/ZR1 so I expect the Hellcat to be slightly slower than that.

10.9 is GT-R territory
 
#13 ·
CVP posted more Hellcat tests and this is really getting ugly - not liking this at all:

Agree, but this is pretty pervasive;


Lacking the sharp reflexes of the Camaro ZL1 and the hair-trigger insanity of the Mustang GT500, the Hellcat shows best on the street, with its gobs of tractable power, a comfortable interior, and its full-size Hot Wheels styling.
-Car and Driver


The car leans heavily as we enter turns, but it's not sloppy...But yeah, man, it drives like a muscle car. It's heavy and it swings through corners with the leading edge of the bulging hood leaning low. Forget delicate work: That would be like whittling with a pole axe.
-Automobile Magazine


Not surprisingly, the Hellcat's tail end started to wag. Smooth brake and throttle inputs are a must...After our run, the app revealed a 0-60 mph time of 4.1 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 12 seconds at 117 mph...They [buyers] might, however, wish for more when it comes to distinguishable visual treatments that set the car apart from the 392.
-MotorTrend


Instead of seeming like it’s going to tip, the body stays flat enough to inspire a little confidence, letting the 9.5-inch-wide Pirellis out back do their job...But unlike the big-power Camaros and Mustangs, the muscliest Challenger doesn’t have a ton of styling differentiation compared to a base V6 car.
-Road&Track


The Challenger gets a lot of grief for its weight, and at 4,449 pounds, the 2015 Challenger is a heavy car. You can feel this while driving, it’s a pleasant thing on the highway, giving the car a solid, smooth ride, even in the firmest “Track” mode setting of the three-way adjustable suspension. In corners, the heft of the car is noticeable, especially if you’re used to a lighter machine, but the Challenger handles well...We brought the car to barely off-idle (about 1,200 rpm) and applied the throttle with the same caution as you’d use while walking barefoot in the dark through a room full of Legos. We didn’t have the car fully floored until after the second gear shift. Result? 12 flat at 118 mph.
-Hot Rod Magazine


The long, wide coupe still has a lot of body to be piloted from corner to corner on the really tight sections of the road, but the truth is that it responded with neutrality and quickness at a moderate pace. "Nimble" wasn't the word that sprung to mind after turning more than 100 miles on public streets, but "confident" would be a fair one...Even with plenty of grip available most of the time, there's so much weight constantly desirous of changing direction that hustling the Dodge in the twisty bits left me either too slow or out of sorts upon exit. The steering is quick enough, but numb, which didn't help speed me up, either.
-Autoblog
 
#15 · (Edited)
I don't find anything in this ugly at all. In fact, it makes me very happy. It's exactly what I expected from the car...

The Hellcat shows best on the street, with its gobs of tractable power, a comfortable interior, and its full-size Hot Wheels styling.
-Car and Driver

The car leans heavily as we enter turns, but it's not sloppy...But yeah, man, it drives like a muscle car.
-Automobile Magazine

Smooth brake and throttle inputs are a must...
-MotorTrend

Instead of seeming like it’s going to tip, the body stays flat enough to inspire a little confidence, letting the 9.5-inch-wide Pirellis out back do their job.
-Road&Track

The Challenger gets a lot of grief for its weight, and at 4,449 pounds, the 2015 Challenger is a heavy car. You can feel this while driving, it’s a pleasant thing on the highway, giving the car a solid, smooth ride, even in the firmest “Track” mode setting of the three-way adjustable suspension. In corners, the heft of the car is noticeable, especially if you’re used to a lighter machine, but the Challenger handles well.
-Hot Rod Magazine

We brought the car to barely off-idle (about 1,200 rpm) and applied the throttle with the same caution as you’d use while walking barefoot in the dark through a room full of Legos. We didn’t have the car fully floored until after the second gear shift. Result? 12 flat at 118 mph.
-Hot Rod Magazine
And that is how you wind up only trapping at 118 mph and only pull a 12.0 1/4 mile time in a 707 HP supercharged car that develops 411 lb-ft of torque at 1200 rpm.

Note that they also said...

We have no problem believing this thing could run low 11s on a real track.
-Hot Rod Magazine
 
#20 ·
My PB doesn't make sense based on these DA's.......The hellcat is for real and I wont challenge one, now the 392's.....I will pick on
 
#21 ·
Well your PB of 12.38 is with a tire set and a lot of engine work, which has made that Daytona a beast! A 392 Super Bee with a tire will run a high 11. So be careful which 392 you pick a fight with. My PB of a 12.43@115 was stock on a Eagle F-1 and a 2.007 60ft. I think bone stock I could have gotten a 12.3 out of it if I was a better driver. Now it's canned tuned and has exhaust, not sure if that will make any difference, probably not but I can't call it stock any more.
:beerchug:
 
#23 · (Edited)
summer testing numbers alway suck

magazine writers getting a couple whacks at the throttle are not going to achieve times that are a accurate representation of the cars capabilities

"soft pedaling" a car like this on street tires absolutely results in what is being written. i drive a car that runs bottom 10's and have tried driving it on a track with street tires....... car ran in the low 12's because of having to drive the car like the writer reported.

when the cooler weather comes, the car will perform like what is being reported by dodge by those that competent drivers on adequately prepped surfaces.
 
#24 ·
SIMPLY AWESOME

The Hellcat leaves the line with all the subtlety of a punch to the gut. After our acceleration run, the in-car performance meter gave us an estimated quarter-mile time of 11.4 seconds. This supports the NHRA-certified 11.2-second run that SRT achieved on street tires. With racing slicks, that time dropped to a dizzying 10.8 seconds, crossing the line at 126 mph. We're told that the top speed is 199 mph and it's not electronically limited.

Trying to achieve these times without launch control will likely be a lesson in futility. There's a razor-thin line between adequate wheelspin and a massive burnout billowing white smoke. Speaking of burnouts, we witnessed an SRT representative epically roasting its tires all the way into 4th gear. It was adolescent, wasteful and yes, absolutely awesome.

http://www.edmunds.com/dodge/challenger/2015/road-test.html
 
#27 ·
SIMPLY AWESOME

The Hellcat leaves the line with all the subtlety of a punch to the gut. After our acceleration run, the in-car performance meter gave us an estimated quarter-mile time of 11.4 seconds. This supports the NHRA-certified 11.2-second run that SRT achieved on street tires.

http://www.edmunds.com/dodge/challenger/2015/road-test.html
Wait, does this mean an independent test of the car has shown that Dodge didn't cherry-pick the numbers they published and didn't skew their results???



Imagine that. :grin:





.
 

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#26 ·
I am not claiming that my 470 hp 2013 SRT8 Charger can beat the 707 hp Hellcat.

However, I routinely get 0-60 times of 4.5 to 4.7 seconds. Once, on a really cool day on a very nice stretch of road I go it in 4.3 seconds!!

I will bet that if I put the Hellcat's 275-40-20 Pirelli Tires on my Charger that I could shave a few tenths of a seconds off of my 0-60 times. :beerchug:
 
#29 ·
MT review didn't seem to like its track prowess....they said it's a straight line car. What is this, 1970? The SRT products (other than the Viper) have always been decent on a track or road course. They're not sports cars, of course, but handle very well for what they are. What's with the haters at MT?
 
#30 ·
Because there are cars like the Cadillac CTS V-Sport and V that handle much better for a little more money
 
#32 ·
Heck, even the Chevy SS runs circles around teh SRT8 cars in handling:

Take solace in the knowledge that the SS handles like a Camaro on pain meds. The Bridgestones hug the earth to the tune of 0.95 g, body roll is nicely restrained, and there’s just a touch of understeer at the adhesion limit. Thanks to dampers that might have been pilfered from a BMW factory, the SS never falls apart over imperfect pavement. It jogs with a supple stride and, except for tread noise over patches and expansion joints, is a model of refined comportment. The body structure is solid and rattle-free, and the electrically assisted power steering is calibrated for quick turn-in and a linear rise in effort. The 153-foot fade-free stopping distance from 70 mph is only two-thirds of a car length greater than the best C7 Corvette performance we’ve measured.
You have never seen a stock SRT8 in any shape approach 0.95gs on the skidpad
 
#35 ·
Thought this was a good write up on the Challenger Hellcat. http://www.allpar.com/reviews/15/hellcat-track.html They Got .93g's out of it on the skid pad. Also by reading the article it sounds like there are some real budgeting restraints that are making it real difficult for SRT to make not only interior upgrades, performance upgrades, but needed suspension upgrades as well. I for one am not as troubled by the handling department my self. I really don't care that the V can do .95g's on a skid pad, I'm never going to do that in my Super Bee. It handles plenty great for me, I drive it to and from work and the ride is smooth. I don't road course the car and there are a couple of sharp turns (on the highway) I have to take to get to work and I take them at 60-65mph on the inside lane and the car could take them faster, but I don't trust my driving ability through turns like that so I don't. If you road course your car, or have in the past I can see where handling could be a sticking point and could steer you away. I think for most people they look at appearance and how fast 0-60 and in the 1/4 it goes. I however also understand that some people feel like when they are buying a top performance car that it should handle as well even if they never use it.
 
#36 ·
I am in between

I wish these cars handled like the Vs but they handle good enough for me what I do. I am not a canyon carver and if I was this would not be my choice. I am a highway man and these cars have enough handling for highways.

I wish it could be better but that won't stop me from buying either a hellcat or a 300 with the 6.4

BTW, the 0.95 is the V Sport (which is not their top model).
 
#37 ·
The only V I am familiar with is CTS V, I don't keep up with the different Caddys. I honestly think that SRT looks at it from the stand point of application and price point. So they could give you a fast car that handles like a sports car but now you are talking 65K or so for a muscle car, I honestly think nobody wants to spend that for a muscle car (HellCat excluded). So maybe they are sticking "closer" to the muscle car roots, fast in a straight line and handles just good enough but not great and in a street application thats really all you need from a muscle car. Just a thought, and maybe it really is as the AllPar article eluded to about tight budget restraints.
 
#38 ·
Agree. My Bee handles pretty well for me, and for what it is. I too take curves in my Viper that I know the car could handle much faster, it's just that I'm not a good enough driver for that. Same with the Bee - these same curves in the Bee, I'm always surprised at how well it does handle them. But as stated, these are true GT cars, made to be fast, comfortable machines that won't fatigue you over long distances. And if you have to make a quick maneuver - well, they can probably handle that as well!
 
#39 ·
Agree. My Bee handles pretty well for me, and for what it is. I too take curves in my Viper that I know the car could handle much faster, it's just that I'm not a good enough driver for that. Same with the Bee - these same curves in the Bee, I'm always surprised at how well it does handle them. But as stated, these are true GT cars, made to be fast, comfortable machines that won't fatigue you over long distances. And if you have to make a quick maneuver - well, they can probably handle that as well!
exactly my type of driving
 
#41 ·
If you attend the SRT Track Experience you will quickly learn that the Charger is able to handle tuns and maneuvers at very high speeds that would promptly get you arrested and hauled off to jail if you tried them on the street.

Even though I and other amateurs pushed these cars from morning through late afternoon to our own limits and beyond, by the end of the event our professional driving instructors took us on Hot Lap rides that we could never even imagine trying.

The SRT Chargers, Challengers and Chrysler 300's truly are street legal race cars with capabilities far beyond the amateur and even professional drivers. :bowdown::banana: :locked:
 
#42 ·
I would agree with this. When I did the experience back in 2007, I was quite impressed with what they could do. And remember, the cars' handling has been greatly improved since then.

Now, that being said, these are not Vipers or 458s. But for their size and weight, they do pretty well, but as the CTS-V really does set the bar here however.
 
#43 ·
The SRT8

1. Can have handling that is good enough for you

2. Not be the standard for good handling like the CTS

The two can both be true

Handling is not this car's best asset

Similarly, the CTS is too small to fit my kids in the back so it is not even on my radar

Each car has strengths and weaknesses - or even less strong
 
#44 ·
I wish my dad had your mindset - I got crammed into the back of a '74 Datsun B210 hatchback (what a POS!!!) when I was a kid!
 
#45 ·
...by the end of the event our professional driving instructors took us on Hot Lap rides that we could never even imagine trying.
I agree - I think these cars (charger, challenger, cts-v, Camaro SS, etc) are (handling-wise) far more capable than the average driver (ie: most of us reading this). I can say with some certainty (note: I've done laps at nurburgring/nordschlief in my charger) that my skills are far, far below what my car (or any of the others mentioned above) is capable of.

that being said - handling really is important. many/most of us know how to handle our cars if they "get away from us." (ie: when things get "above" our - or our car's - limits) and I think we all agree that in those situations, we want a car that we can be confident with. would any of the cars listed above serve us better/safer? possibly. my point here is that even though we do not always push the boundaries/limits of what our cars can achieve, there are times when we could find ourselves at those limits regardless of intent.

would my concern for those limits sway me from purchasing a hellcat? or persuade me to buy a Camaro/cts-v instead? not likely. as has been said many times here already, it's the total package (and what the customer wants out of a car) that determines our satisfaction. what do I want in a car? I want straight line acceleration (check, double check) handling that won't leave me stranded on the side of the road (check), interior large enough for me to be comfortable (check), and all at the best possible price (check). do all the previously mentioned cars offer those same things? mostly (with some exceptions in size and comfort), but (it is my humble opinion) I think the charger (I'm speaking more to the future hellcat charger here) simply does it best for what I want.

my 2c.
 
#46 ·
Handling is not about at limit grip

It is about feel

These cars have a dull, heavy helm whereas the GM cars have a lighter helm with a better ride/handling compromise.

There are cars in this market that handle better than the SRT8

it is not the end of the world

The size, power, and price more than compensate for it
 
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