Stellantis will stop producing the Dodge Challenger and Charger after the 2023 model year. But that does not mean that Dodge will cease to be a brand that focuses on selling muscle cars. There will be an all-new Dodge muscle car arriving soon, but this one will not have a HEMI or a Hellcat engine. Instead, it will be an electric vehicle.
There is a likelihood that the new Dodge EV muscle car can put out more horsepower than the vaunted HEMI or Hellcat engines. It is also possible that the EV will be faster than any Hellcat-powered Dodge Challenger or Charger.
But there is one thing that an EV cannot do. No matter how powerful or fast an EV might be, it will never emit as sweet of a sound as an internal combustion engine. The sound coming from an ICE at WOT, or when rowing through the gears is a sound that will be greatly missed when EVs take over the roads and racetracks.
One of the best-sounding cars is the Hennessey Dodge Challenger Hellcat. You can see and hear it in action in a video that Hennessey Performance has posted on their YouTube Channel.
Hennessey Makes The Challenger Hellcat Even More Ferocious
The Dodge Challenger Hellcat sounds and drives like a beast straight from the factory. But Hennessey Performance makes some adjustments that make this muscle car into an even more ferocious animal.
Thanks to engine mods including an upgraded supercharger, the HPE1000 Hellcat puts out an astounding 1000 hp and 948 lb-ft of torque. This all gets sent to the rear wheels by a six-speed manual transmission.
The headers and upgraded supercharger also enable the engine the sound even more visceral than the stock unit. The sound of the engine during gear changes is especially melodious. It is also a sad reminder that ICEs and manual transmissions are also becoming extinct in the near future.
Watch And Listen To The HPE Hellcat On A Road Course
The video shows the HPE1000 Hellcat Challenger going through the motions on a road course. There is the requisite wheelspin and tire smoke that comes with any rear-wheel-drive car with a Hellcat motor.
The driver shifts through the gears as the car maneuvers around the course while beautiful sounds come from the engine and exhaust. This is something that no EV can or will ever replicate.