Dodge has been making a lot of headlines lately with the monstrous new SRT Challenger Demon. There is, however, a downside that most seem to miss – only 3300 of these beasts will be made. With quite a few of these sold anyway, Dodge has revealed a plan B for those who missed out on owning the Demon – the new Hellcat Widebody.
The Widebody, however, is not a mere aesthetic paste-job. In fact, it benefits from the new-found racing pedigree from the Demon and presents it in an all-new track focused Hellcat. It carries forward the fender flares from the more powerful twin which makes the car 3.5” wider, further accommodating thicker 11-inch wide 20” Pirelli P-Zero Performance rubber all-around.
This is also the first Hellcat to get SRTs new electric power steering system with pre-tuned SRT drive modes for improved handling and reduced turning effort. The system can be programmed for three different scenarios – Street, Sport and Track.
Also Read: The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon with 840 HP is the World’s fastest quarter-mile production car
While it carries forward the 15.4 inch rotors with the six-piston callipers from the standard Hellcat, it borrows the new Aluminium hood and front splitter from the Demon. It also receives the quad-projector air-catcher headlamps that feed air directly into the air-box and engine bay from the centre of the parking lamps.
Dodge has, however, left the 6.2 Litre HEMI V8 from the Hellcat and it still produces (the relatively saner, as compared to the Demon) 707 HP and a massive 884 Nm of torque.
The increased grip and acceleration owing to all the modifications have caused a significant difference in the on-track performance of the Widebody as compared to the standard Hellcat. Dodge claims to have shaved 2 seconds off each lap of a 1.7 mile track and a 0.3 seconds improvement in the quarter mile run.
The lateral grip has also improved with the Widebody managing 0.97g on the skid pad – a 0.04g bump in the figures of the Hellcat. The new Dodge also completes the 0-96 kmph dash in a mere 3.4 seconds, up by 0.1 second before reaching a top whack of 314 kmph.
The Hellcat Widebody is now available in the USA for $72,590, a $7,300 premium over the standard Hellcat.
