For the past three years, fans of YouTube Channel ThatMoparRacing Guy have followed the personality's exploits on a number of circuits from Bald Mountain to Pacific Raceways, driving an assortment of vehicles from a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk to a 2017 Subaru Outback 3.6R. On Saturday, our Mopar Man headed to the scenic track of Ridge Motorsports Park to find out how his 2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye, the model that replaced the old Dodge Demon, would perform under rainy conditions.
Ridge Motorsports Boasts A 16-Turn Track
Located near Olympia Washington, Ridge Motorsports Park is so scenic, it's tough for competitors to keep their eyes on the road on this 16-turn, circuit racetrack, given the spectacular scenery of the Olympia National Forest that surrounds the complex. And since it rains frequently in Washington, Mopar Man was prepared for the elements.
Granted, our Mopar Man admitted he doesn't have a great deal of experience driving in the rain. However, he ensured his Hellcat would be able to handle the wet surface with a set of BFGoodrich G-Force Comp 2 A/S Plus tires, designed to improve the car's handling in rainy weather. He also added Powerstop track day pads and stock rotors engineered for heavy-duty braking.
The Redeye Takes On The Rain
Mopar Man's Redeye boasts a 2.7-liter supercharged V8 to generate 797 horsepower and 707 pound-feet of torque, attributes that wouldn't be handy in this case, simply because the rain would slow him down. The first run went slowly as our driver switched into sport mode as opposed to track mode just to find out how the wet weather would affect the traction. He also wanted to throttle through the circuit smoothly so steering and braking would be easier.
On a few occasions, he fishtailed a few times, missing the braking zone at corners, having to power down to as low as 47 mph in turns. But a few runs later, once the rain let up and the track started to dry, his performance improved. On one straightaway, he even managed to drive more than 130 mph.
Fifth Session Was The Challenger's Fastest
At times, Mopar Man got a bit overconfident and wound up overshooting a few corners or oversteering on other turns. But in the end, his fifth session was the fastest, covering a 2.47-mile lap in 1:55:24, just more than 77 mph.
Source: That Mopar Racing Guy