Dodge

After many delays caused by the difficulty of development, the last piece of the final “Last Call” series, the seven farewell variants of the Dodge Challenger coupe, is in the world. And if anything is the definition of a “muscle car,” it’s him. It’s called the SRT Demon 170 and its parameters are breathtaking.

Let’s start with the engine. Under the hood works – how else – a supercharged eight-cylinder Hellcat with a volume of 6.2 liters, which has increased the volume of the compressor to exactly three liters compared to the 2.7 liters of the “regular” demon. The diameter of the throttle valve has also increased from 92 to 105 mm and the boost pressure of the compressor has increased from 1.05 to 1.47 bar.

The result of these and several other modifications is a maximum power of 1039 hp and a torque of 1231 Nm, if you fill up with E85 fuel, i.e. a mixture of 15% petroleum gasoline and 85% ethanol. For standard E10 fuel, which has a lower octane number and with it a lower resistance to detonation, the figures are significantly lower, but still extremely high – 912 hp and 1098 Nm

The car can tell what proportion of ethanol is in the fuel that flows from the tank to the injectors. The proportion of ethanol is even shown to the driver on the display. It then adjusts fuel delivery and ignition timing accordingly to prevent detonation. The highest performance is available when the fuel contains at least 65% ethanol.

What do such performances mean for the dynamics of the car? Acceleration to the “American hundred” 60 mph, i.e. 97 km/h, takes only 1.66 seconds on a prepared race track with an extremely sticky surface at the start. The Demon 170 then manages the quarter-mile sprint in 8.91 seconds with a target speed of 243.28 km/h. The automaker has not yet announced the top speed, but one of the teaser videos in the past indicated a value of 215 mph, i.e. 346 km/h.

Worth noting is a system called the SRT Power Chiller, which uses air conditioning to cool the compressed air intercooler between the supercharger and the intake. This is so that the engine performance does not decrease due to the rising temperature of the intake air when you race many times repeatedly.

Power to the tarmac is transmitted by Mickey Thompson racing tires, developed specifically for this model. They have a size of 315/50 R17 at the back, 245/55 R18 at the front and are not suitable for cold weather or rainy surfaces. The carmaker will offer both a straight and a second set of tires for the car, which will be more suitable for use on the road.

Bilstein adaptive suspension works with the tires, which has a special mode for quarter-mile sprints. It hardens the front shock absorbers and softens the rear shock absorbers. The car also has softer springs and anti-roll bars for better weight transfer at launch, which demonstrates its primary purpose – to drive straight as fast as possible.

Performance is helped by the TransBrake 2.0 system, which allows the driver to set the specifics of a sharp start in several profiles according to the track he is currently on. The Demon 170 also manages to brake only the front wheels so that the driver can warm up the rear tires by skidding before taking off. There is also a brake parachute, which along with a protective cage inside the car is required on race tracks if the car is this powerful.

Finally, what does the number 170 mean? It is a reference to the seven-liter, thousand-horsepower Hellephant engine, which has been available separately for individual racing car builds for some time. Its designation in the catalog is C170. Also, this number is a reference to the fact that ethanol diluted to 85% by volume would be labeled “170 proof” in stores, just as 40% spirit can be labeled “80 proof” in the US.

The car will be available to order in the US from the end of March for a price starting at $96,666 (2.16 million crowns), and customers will only be able to have one fabric seat in the car to reduce weight. You can also omit the soundproofing of the cabin and the carpet in the trunk, and instead of the normal audio system, you can only have a radio with two speakers. Dodge plans to make only 3,000 for the US and 300 for Canada.