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Science & Technology

The absurdly beastly 797-horsepower Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye

2018-12-17

[Chicago Tribune] Why? This was the response of nearly everyone who encountered the 797-horsepower Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye. From the group of men clustered in the cold to hear that hellfire supercharged V-8 engine come to life, to the kids sprawled out on the wide rear seats of the retro muscle car, to the new owner of a 392-horsepower Challenger SRT: Why? Why build something so powerful for the street? Why buy something so powerful that you can only use it for all its worth on the drag strip?

The same interrogators came up with the same answer: Because you can. Because bigger, faster, more. Because America. Because 707-horsepower, which is now 717-horsepower for the 2019 Hellcat, is not as big as a 797-horsepower Redeye.

Because Dodge did. The lovely lunatics in the Street and Racing Technology (SRT) team at Dodge seem to have no end to squeezing more and more power out of the aging muscle car. If the Challenger were a dog, it would be due for its last trip to the vet before it ran off to the great field in the sky. The third-generation Challenger got its last full redesign in 2008, and a new one isn’t expected until 2020 or 2021, so it is riding on some old architecture. The Chevy Camaro has been redesigned twice in that time span, and maybe will get a third next year. Same with the Ford Mustang, if you count the 2010 model that used the same platform as the 2005.

Posted by:Besoeker

#12 (coming from a guy who once had a 300hp 6 cyl. Maverick......but now races lawn mowers) Quote from USN, Ret

OMG

Posted by: jvalentour 2018-12-17 22:57

#11 "I didn't know the motor was positioned sidewise?"
"It wasn't...before"

Posted by: Frank G 2018-12-17 20:37

#10 I am amazed at the high hp offerings coming out from all manufacturers; and they corner better, stop better and have all kinds of creature comforts only dreamed of back in the 'good old muscle car 60's'
but there is still something viseral about solid lifters chattering before the oil gets pumped up to them and the smell of M & H Racemacemasters laying down a streak.

AND NO NITROUS!

(coming from a guy who once had a 300hp 6 cyl. Maverick......but now races lawn mowers)

Posted by: USN, Ret. 2018-12-17 20:23

#9 Actually for a old Mopar the first modification would need to be hefty brakes and a real suspension

Actually we used to grab old Mopar posi rear-ends and axles for modified GM products. As it was said at the time "Almost new as they have never been stressed".

Posted by: Mullah Richard 2018-12-17 16:07

Posted by: 3dc 2018-12-17 15:00

#7 Actually for a old Mopar the first modification would need to be hefty brakes and a real suspension.
If FWD a new trany not Mopar.

Posted by: 3dc 2018-12-17 14:56

#6 Saw a guy that once had a vette LS-1 motor in a Saturn Sky Redline. How he shoe-horned it in I don't know. As you say, USN Ret., a heavily reinforced frame and drivetrain.

Posted by: Warthog 2018-12-17 13:04

#5 wow..that much motor in a frame not built for the torque..It'd be "Plug and Pray"

Is that another way to say spin-and-grin?

Posted by: gorb 2018-12-17 10:05

#4 re#2: nah: thats what a welded up subframe is for; besides only a 1/4 mile at a time....

Posted by: USN, Ret. 2018-12-17 10:00

#3 Companion article.

Posted by: JohnQC 2018-12-17 09:47

#2 wow..that much motor in a frame not built for the torque..It'd be "Plug and Pray"

Posted by: Warthog 2018-12-17 09:16

#1 if thats not enough, you can toddle on down to the local dodge store and buy your very own 1,000 hp 426 hemi Helephant crate motor, street legal in any 25 year old or greater mopar.
grammas 69 aliant sedan? super sleeper, and thy have adspter kits and wiring harnesses to make it plug and play.

Posted by: USN, Ret. 2018-12-17 08:38

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