See How Much Faster The Dodge Demon Is Than the Challenger SRT Hellcat

HotCars

By Sean Murray

Published Apr 1, 2019

The Hellcat is obviously slower than the Dodge Demon, but by how much? And is the extra $20,000 really worth it?

via FCA

How much faster is a Dodge Challenger SRT Demon than its little brother, the SRT Hellcat?

Turns out, quite a bit.

So this isn’t really a test to see who’s the fastest--we all know the Demon is the fastest muscle car that money can buy--but is the Demon worth the additional $20,000? How much better than the Hellcat is the Demon?

To find out, we turn to Track Day TV (by way of Motor1). Our host heads to an airstrip to see how the two cars compare in a ½-mile drag race.

It should be noted that this isn’t quite the comparison that would be ideal. The Demon is a drag monster, but taken out of a prepared drag strip, the Demon tends to have more power than it can effectively put to pavement. The Hellcat is still an immensely powerful car, but as the video shows, it can actually grip the tarmac a little easier than the Demon thanks to street tires and having a bit less torque.

Not by much, mind you.

There’s very little difference between the two cars, save for a few notable exceptions. Both have a 6.2-L supercharged V8, but the Hellcat has a 2.4-L supercharger while the Demon has a 2.7-L supercharger. The Demon also has drag radials, a widebody kit, takes 100 octane racing fuel, and has a few other doodads to allow it to take off from a standstill with maximum acceleration.

The Demon has 840 hp, while the Hellcat makes do with 707 hp. As the video whos, that extra 133 hp can make a big difference over a half mile.

In the early parts of the race, the Hellcat seems to get ahead of the Demon as the more powerful muscle car spins its wheels off the line. But then the Demon starts to catch up and surpasses the Hellcat by several car lengths by the time the finish line arrives.

Max velocity at the ½-mile mark was 156.35 mph on the Hellcat and 164.23 mph in the Demon.

But the Demon clocks in at $88,885 while the Hellcat is roughly $20,000 cheaper. The Hellcat also comes with all the amenities you’d expect from a modern car, while the Demon is a bit more barebones in the name of faster quarter-mile times.

Whichever car you choose, don’t expect to get much in terms of fuel economy.

NEXT: RAM REBEL TRX SPOTTED WITH HELLCAT ENGINE AND RAPTOR-FIGHTING SUSPENSION