A Dodge Charger Daytona Edition takes on a Challenger Hellcat Redeye in a very heated drag race.
It was heated because it was hot. Apparently, this race took place in Las Vegas where it was 104-degrees F at night (40 degrees C), which is not a temperature that plays well with supercharged engines trying desperately to stay cool. But it being Vegas, high temperatures are just a fact of life and doesn’t stop anyone from racing cars, even when they’re not performing at their best.
On the left, we have a 2019 Dodge Hellcat Redeye, the successor to the legendary Demon. It has the same engine and drag-specific technologies but makes 797 hp instead of the Demons 840 horses. On the plus side, the Redeye also has all the creature comforts that make a car worth living in, including air conditioning. That’s something that most drivers are going to make a requirement when living in a desert.
On the right, we have the Dodge Charger Daytona Edition. If this were the recently announced 2020 model, it would have been based on the Hellcat and given 717 horsepower from a 6.2-L supercharged V8 engine. Sadly, this is not the 2020 model--it's a 2018, which means it either came with a 377-hp 5.7-L V8 or a 485-hp 6.4-L V8. Neither of which really holds a candle to the Redeye, so we're hoping some serious tuning has been done to that Charger.
But no, that's a bone stock Daytona Charger. Even though the Redeye squeals off the line thanks to having forgotten to perform a burnout, the Redeye still handily leaves the Charger in its proverbial dust. Or literal dust--again, desert climate.
Neither vehicle puts up a solid quarter-mile time owing to both the poor weather conditions and the Redeye driver not wanting to risk their tires. The final time for the Redeye was 12.55 seconds at 121.78 mph, while the Daytona Charger finished in 14.04 seconds at 104.78 mph. We've seen 6.4-L Chargers and 6.2-L Hellcats post far faster times in the past, but we'll likely have to wait for Vegas to cool off in the winter before we can see those quarter-mile times come down.