Originally written in 2015.
Ever since Dodge announced that it would be selling 707hp versions of its Challenger and Charger, I’d been chomping at the bit to drive one. Each time I read about one, saw one in traffic, watched a video of Ralph Gilles doing a standstill in one, or heard personal accounts of how fast they were, my eagerness rose. It had become safe to say that I was lusting at the idea of speeding through a city in a Hellcat.
Fortunately, I can finally report that I have drank the Hellcat wine, and that I’m still drunk. I did some of the things that I’d been fantasizing about in a Charger that was blessed to be made into a Hellcat when it came down the assembly line, and, to paraphrase Denny Green’s infamous Monday Night Football tirade, “IT WAS WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS!” Dressed in all black like a hitman, the Hellcat (pardon me if I repeat this name too much—I love how strong it sounds every time I say it) I was in looked like it was on its way to assassinate some other cars that thought they were the fastest things on the road. As pointed out by my co-pilot for the afternoon, the black paint seemed to conceal some of the added bulges and contours that differentiate the Hellcat from its Challenger and Charger bretheren, but it still looked undeniably mean as it sat at rest. If one mistook its demeanor for all “show” and no “go,” a push of the start button quickly quelled the idea of friendliness, for the rumble at idle sharply turns to an echoing roar with a prod of the throttle. From the driver’s seat, the hood bulge was huge, the steering wheel was substantially padded, and the seat provided ample bolstering to keep one buttoned down in a fit of massive acceleration. Visibility out the front and side windows is not of concern, and, though it is tight looking out the rear, that becomes of no concern once underway.
Surprisingly, cruising through neighborhoods and sitting in traffic is completely ordinary in the Hellcat when equipped with Dodge, 8-speed TorqueFlite automatic (I have yet to sample the six speed—that is next on my list to drive), and this ordinary comfort can be heightened or made to disappear completely by changing settings in the SRT Drive Mode that, according to Dodge, allows more than 125 configurations. Cruising slowly is wasted time in a Hellcat, however, and it wasn’t long before I was leaning on the throttle at every break in traffic I saw. Here is where cries of “HAVE MERCY,” accompanied by school-girl laughter took over the sounds in the cabin. Simply put, the Hellcat makes ridiculously fast speeds attainable anytime, anywhere. We hit (censored) miles per hour on Northside Drive heading towards the Georgia World Congress Center, and on an entrance ramp we were into triple digits long before we merged into traffic—so much so that I had to brake hard to blend in. What makes all this speed better is the sounds that accompany it. Loud, deep, bass rumbles from the exhaust, only to be joined by thousands of revolutions of high pitched whines from the supercharger. To put icing on the 700+ horsepower cake, the shifts bang off with the quickness and immediacy of an expensive import, but the sound they create is unmistakably American (in a Vince Carter dunk over that European dude in the 2000 Olympics sort of way). My co-pilot and I simultaneously came to the conclusion that it feels like driving in a real-life video game—a game that the driver always wins.
After my drive was over, I left with a few conclusions that I’d like to share. The first is that I feel like driving one of these on a regular basis would result in me having a very elitist attitude in almost every environment I entered. I would feel entitled to have whatever I wanted, when I wanted it, and exactly how I wanted it solely because the Hellcat gives one so much obnoxious confidence that it spills over to life outside of the car—in a very bad way. Next, it is baffling that Dodge’s SRT division can sell this much performance at the price point that they do. That is not to be taken as a complaint–it is, instead, a Fourth of July-like celebration!
Shout out to DR for providing the Hellcat for this piece. I appreciate you always having my back.
