2015 Dodge Charger Hellcat Review

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2015 Dodge Charger Hellcat Review Posted: 30 Oct 2014 05:00 PM PDT Share this Article Mike Schlee Oct. 31, 2014 Photos by Mike Schlee and Dodge Someone upstairs has it in for the Hellcat. Maybe the demonic name draws scorn from the powers above, because for the second time in as many Hellcat lapping opportunities, it poured rain. FAST FACTS Engine: 6.2-liter Supercharged V8, 707 HP, 650 lb-ft. Transmission: Eight-speed automatic Fuel economy: Who cares? Price: 2015 Charger SRT Hellcat starts at $64,990 First it was the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat this past summer in a thoroughly drenched Portland International Raceway and as I approached Summit Point Motorsports Park this week in the 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, the clouds opened up and begin to douse the land. I have no issue lapping in the rain and actually quite enjoy it as it teaches a lot more about car control at lower speeds. But I'm not there to drive an agile lightweight sports car. I'm sitting in an automotive Patriot missile. This is meanest Dodge Charger to ever obliterate rubber on American soil. Forget the Hemi and 440 Chargers of the 1960s, the 2015 SRT Hellcat will embarrass them in every possible performance measure. Supercar Performance Top speed is listed at an insane 204 MPH. The quarter mile has been NHRA-certified to take just 11.0 seconds. A 0-100-0 MPH run can be performed in less than 13 seconds. All of this from a vehicle that is equally at home taking a family and their luggage on a weeklong getaway as terrorizing the local drag strip. And the price? Just $64,990 after destination charges which is far cheaper than any of the German super-sedans. At the heart of the SRT Hellcat is a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 that blasts 707 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels. To prevent this engine from Hulk Smashing the driveline to pieces, a beefed up TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic transmission has been installed, sending power to an upgraded rear differential and reinforced axles. The Power and Sound of Glory The numbers don't lie. Power in the Charger Hellcat is endless. The torque is insane. Hook up the rear tires on a standing launch and the Hellcat pounces forward with the noise and violence usually reserved for a purpose-built race car. I have never felt acceleration this intense in a rear-wheel drive production road car before. SEE ALSO: 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Review To make sure everyone within 100 miles knows that this is indeed a Hellcat Charger, twin 2.75-inch, straight-through exhaust pipes emit a sound that will make any man, woman or child with octane coursing through their veins weak in the knees. At wide open throttle on the front straight of Summit Point, it sounds more like NASCAR qualifying than a pack of street legal family sedans roaring by. Inside, the sounds of glorious supercharger whines mixed with V8 bellows from the exhaust are addictive. Wasting gas becomes a game as opposed to a concern because all I want to do is blip the throttle and let the 6.2-liter beast explode into a muscle car symphony at every opportunity. If freedom and liberty have a sound, this is it. Not an Unwieldy Beast Reigning in the massive string of ponies are upgrades to all other aspects of the SRT Hellcat's chassis. At 4,575 lbs., the Hellcat is more Andre the Giant than Floyd Mayweather Jr. when it comes to athletic responses. To stop this super heavyweight, a pair of 15.4-inch Brembo front rotors have been equipped, squeezed by six pistons calipers. Even in the rain, the instant bite and no-fade operation of these brakes are apparent. Keeping body motions in control, all SRT models, including the Hellcat, feature adaptive shocks at all four corners. Although there are various programmable settings available through the SRT pages, I found the differences between the dampers settings less noticeable than the ones offered through the adjustable transmission, stability control and throttle mapping. SEE ALSO: Charger SRT Hellcat Rips a 2.9 0-60 Time Unlike every other Charger model including the SRT 392, the SRT Hellcat ditches the electronic rear differential for a mechanical asymmetric limited slip to help prevent oversteer during heavy and/or trail braking. I found the lack of programmable steering that can be found in the SRT 392 to be odd. Whereas the 392 can be cycled through default, sport and track settings, the Hellcat steering feedback and effort is set to a singular mode somewhere between the sport and track steering of the 392. Full Attention Required Handling is better than I expected thanks in large part to grippy 275 mm high performance Pirelli tires fitted to all four corners. It's still a big heavy car that doesn't feature sports car balance, but for a large full-size sedan, the Charger Hellcat flowed through corners of Summit Point with surprising composure for a platform that can also be had as a rental-fleet special with a V6. But full attention is required at all times. The tail-end will snap out under throttle and the car allows quite a bit of sideways fun even in the sport and track ESP settings. On the streets surrounding the racetrack, I found the Charger to be more tail happy in the rain than the six-speed manual Challenger Hellcat, which may be attributed to the Charger's longer wheelbase and downshift-happy automatic transmission. To combat the latter, I found driving the car using the paddle shifters was the best method to stop the transmission from downshifting and breaking the rear tires loose at ill-advised times, like mid-corner or when cresting a hill. Style to Match the Substance In case passersby can't figure out the Charger SRT Hellcat is special on sound and eye-blurring acceleration alone, there are a few visual clues. The Hellcat comes with a unique hood that adds a pair of heat extractors on either side of the standard SRT cold air scoop. A pair of 20-inch wheel packages are available with Hellcat-specific finishes. Unlike the Challenger, the intake to the eight-liter air box is hidden within the grille of the Charger instead of protruding from the center of a headlight. SEE ALSO: Dodge Charger Hellcat Actually Faster than 204 MPH Being a proper Hellcat, the Charger comes with two key fobs, one black and one red. The red key unlocks all 707 HP while the black key limits the fun to just 500 HP. If that's still too much fuel wasting horsepower, there is an eco-mode that official reduces the Charger Hellcat's power output to the amount of "Eco," whatever that means. The Verdict The Hellcat engine doesn't make much sense in this Charger, but who cares? It's such blatant overkill to shove 707 HP into a full-size sedan that I love it. This is a muscle car in the truest sense. Dodge has ignored modern car building conventions, flipped the middle finger to its competitors and made a car that looks, sounds and feels like America. LOVE IT Acceleration Sound Looks Price LEAVE IT Could it be too much power? Needs more rear tire Gasoline addiction

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