Watch a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat take on a custom hotrod at the drag strip.
Before you ask, we have no way to know what exactly that hotrod is running. Since there’s no hood, we can tell by looking that it’s got a big, supercharged V8 engine and a set of drag-ready radial tires, and it probably weighs next to nothing given how small it is, but performance figures weren’t given in the video description. We’ll just have to see how it rides to see how much power it hides.
The Hellcat, on the other hand, is a known quantity. A 6.2-L supercharged HEMI V8 makes 707 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque normally, but this particular car has been tuned to run on E85 racing fuel. That likely puts power closer to 800 horses and torque over 700 lb-ft. Zero to sixty is now faster than the stock model’s 3.6 seconds, and top speed is probably a few miles over 199 mph.
Bone stock, a Hellcat can run a quarter-mile in the high 10-second range. This thing will probably give a Demon a run for its money. The only question is what that hotrod is hiding.
As it turns out, it’s hiding what is most likely close to 1,000 horsepower. That hotrod takes off like a rocket and leaves a very powerful Hellcat in the dust. It seems to top out and the Hellcat is able to maintain the distance, but it’s not able to close.
The mad hotrod finishes in 9.39 seconds at 140.55 mph, while the Hellcat runs a very respectable 10.10 seconds at 137 mph.
As a bonus round, we get to see the same Hellcat take on an old Pontiac Trans Am. Judging by how the Trans Am is able to keep up with the Hellcat, we’re thinking it’s been given a supercharger of its own to match the Hellcat’s. It’s a much closer race, so check out the video above to see how it ends.