After a long wait, Dodge has finally unveiled its fastest muscle car ever: the Challenger SRT Demon.
Specially designed for drag racing, the Demon is the first street-legal production car that can lift its front wheels off the street while under hard acceleration. The supercar boasts 808 horsepower (hp) and 717 lb-ft of torque on 91 octane gas for the road, and a whopping 840 hp and 770 lb-ft of torque on 100-plus high-octane fuel for the race track. To give enthusiasts an idea on how fast it could go, the newest Challenger can hit 60 mph in 2.3 seconds and 100 mph in 5.1 seconds. At 140 mph, it can blitz the quarter-mile lights in just 9.65 seconds. It is so fast that it has been banned from racing on a track without a roll cage.
In addition, the Demon is the first production car with a transbrake — a mechanism that locks the transmission to hold the race car stationary as if the foot brake was applied. Motortrend notes that it is also the quickest quarter-mile production car in the world, as certified by the National Hot Rod Association. The company is now planning to build 3,300 Demon units at its factory in Brampton, Ontario. Of these units, 3,000 will be allocated for the U.S. market while 300 will be for sale in Canada.
It is worth noting that the Demon is far less exclusive than the Ford GT. The latest offering from Ford will be limited to 1,000 cars within four years and will retail for over $400,000. That price is not even close to how much the Demon will cost because it will not hit six figures when pre-order begins in a few months.
Professional drag racer Leah Pritchett worked with Dodge engineers to develop the car, and she said the hardest part of working in the project was keeping tight-lipped about it. "It is fast, it is quick . . . this car is the epitome of power," Pritchett shared. "Everything has been beefed up. [It's] sturdy, [it's] stout."
The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon will go on sale this coming fall.
