By: IOL Motoring Staff
Auburn Hills, Michigan - The super-saloon realm has a new king. Dodge has just unleashed its monstrous new Charger SRT Hellcat and is claiming it to be the fastest and most powerful series-production sedan in the world.
The furious four-door borrows its 6.2-litre supercharged Hemi V8 heart from the recently announced Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat . Hammering out 527 killerwatts and a thunderous 880Nm of twist, the Charger Hellcat is allegedly capable of reaching 328km/h.
Dodge also claims an 11-second quarter mile and while no 0-100km/h sprint time has been quoted, Dodge is promising that it'll screech from zero to 160km/h and then back to a standstill all in under 13 seconds - about the time it takes an average small hatch just reach 100. That all-important anchorage is provided by a set of 15.4-inch Brembo two-piece rotors with six-piston calipers.
The engine is mated to a heavy-duty TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic gearbox that can swop cogs in a claimed 160 milliseconds and aid acceleration with its rev-matching technology.
The Hellcat is an imposing sight, with Dodge having pimped up almost every single body panel and then plonked it onto a set of 20-inch alloys to give it some grip around corners. On that note, and besides the three-mode adaptive damping system, Dodge makes no mention of any suspension modifications. Scared yet?
Like most modern performance cars, the Charger Hellcat is willing to adapt itself to the driver's whims through a range of drive modes - five in this case - that tailor the engine management, gearbox, suspension and traction control systems.
Cabin pampering comes in the form of a Nappa leather/Alcantara suede seat trim combo and a Uconnect infotainment set-up that features a 900 watt, 18-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system. Whether you'll want to crank that up in a car with a grumbly Hemi under the hood is another question.
Yet with all that power underhood you're not going to be very comfortable handing the keys to a valet, mechanic or family member. Which is why Dodge sells this with two sets of keys - a red one that liberates full performance potential and a black one that detunes the engine with one twist of the key. The owner can also active a 'valet mode' through the car's control system.
Sadly for muscle car maniacs, this lump of beastly American metal is LHD only and therefore not making a run for our shores.