Dodge is sincere about the Challenger SRT Demon. Starting with the already-outrageous 707-horsepower Challenger Hellcat, the company is tossing whatever it can at the big-body coupe to create a drag strip terror. We are referring 315-width Nitto NT05R drag radial tires– the closest thing you can get to a real slick tire on a street-legal car– a stripped-out interior, and a huge box of goodies to take with you to the drag strip.
And it’s package of add-ons that can lead one to think. Because if you have a look at what we understand so far about the SRT Demon and what it features, something becomes exceedingly clear: This is probably going to be a 10-second car, straight off the showroom floor.
A few of this is simply obvious: The regular Hellcat cuts a quarter-mile time in the mid-11s, with a lot of traction concerns. Add the grippiest drag tires you can discover, an adaptive suspension tuned for perfect weight transfer, and an assumedly considerable bump in power, and you’re going to start trying that ET.
However anybody who’s brought a high-horsepower vehicle to a local test-and-tune understands that with speed come new rules. A lot of drag strips require a committed racing harness in anything that runs faster than a 12-second quarter-mile; dip below 11 seconds, and numerous tracks will turn you away if you do not have a cage. People with new 11-second supercars, or those with tuned daily motorists, typically only get a single run before track authorities shut them down for not having the required equipments.
Which is why, when Dodge revealed the SRT Demon will feature a four-point harness and all the hardware had to snap it in place with absolutely no modifications, it stimulated our interest. It sure sounds like Dodge anticipates this street-legal, bone-stock muscle vehicle to run hard enough to need additional safety equipment at some drag strips.
According to a report by Road & Track, it is clear that between the tires, the chassis adjustments, the gutted interior, and the factory-designed harness bar, this is a car ought to very decisively run in the tens at the drag strip.
And maybe even a little faster than that. The SRT Demon will be fully unveiled on April 11.
