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Dodge Demon Looks to Destroy Cars a Quarter Mile at a Time

We’ve been very lucky lately to have some incredible cars thrown at us. The Bugatti Chiron being the highlight so far with its top speed of a limited 260mph and 0-60 of 2.5 seconds. But there has been a demon lurking in the shadows. Behind all the excitement and enthusiasm of the Chiron reveal, the boys in Michigan have been working silently behind the scenes to create the quickest car in the world.

Finally the curtains have lifted and the tyre smoke has cleared, ready for us to cower in fear. This is the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon.

Capable of doing 0-60 in a tarmac shattering 2.3 seconds and 0-100 in just 5.1, the Demon is now the quickest production car in the world. Faster than the Chiron, faster than the Hellcats, faster than everything. It achieves this via the most powerful V8 to ever be fitted in a production model, producing 840hp and 770lb ft from its 6.2 litres.

This car has so much traction from its Drag Radial tyres it pulls 1.8G off the line, as well as a wheelie – another first for a production car, measured at 2.92 feet by the Guiness Book of World Records.

Now, what we’re all waiting for, its quarter mile time. Not surprisingly it’s broken another record with a time of 9.65 seconds. It’s so fast however, that it’s been banned from the drag strip by the NHRA.

So what do you do with a car that’s built for the drag strip, but also banned from said drag strip? Just lift off towards the end! As long as you don’t hit the magic number of 136mph and keep your time above 9.99 seconds, you’re good to go. If you go at full chat, you’re going to have to get a license, install a roll cage, and probably wear a reflective jacket (okay, maybe not the last one). Silly, I know. But you know what health and safety is like!

 

To achieve these crazy numbers, there’s plenty of revolutionary technology going on under the body panels. For example, it’s the first ever production car with a TransBrake, which locks the transmission output so the vehicle can achieve higher torque numbers and a quicker response while working in conjunction with its torque reserve system. It is the first car to use a ‘drag mode’ as well, which intelligently limits the torque going to the rear wheels to help reduce slippage. According to Dodge, this system can react almost immediately.

215 pounds have been stripped from the car by implementing lightweight wheels, lightweight slotted brakes from Brembo, and lightweight swaybars… Anything that could be removed has been removed to make it the most drag strip ready car ever to be sold to the public.

Dodge says:

“We are completely different. We are not trying to be a sports car, we’re not trying to be pony car, we’re trying to be a street stripped muscle car and there’s no one else in that space.

“You can completely modify it. You can make it to be as comfortable or as crazy as you want it to be.”

Dodge have a habit of making the meanest cars on the planet. When they unveiled the Hellcats they were criticised. ‘Why would you put that much power in a factory car?’ people said. Because they can. And they’ve just outdone themselves again.

The Chiron has certainly surprised us with its immense power and speed, but where the Chiron is fast, the Demon is record breaking.

Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: [email protected]

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