Car Review: 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody – Driving

Phrases actually are insufficient on the subject of describing the explosion that goes off when one applies even a modicum of strain to the Dodge Charger Hellcat’s gasoline pedal. And since emojis don’t at all times translate to the written web page, the perfect compromise I can provide you with goes one thing like this: !!!!!!!! Holy @#$%#*% !!!!!!!!

Positive, I’ve pushed some fairly gnarly vehicles over the previous few many years, together with a number of that really pumped out extra ponies than the Hellcat’s 707-horsepower, supercharged 6.2-litre V8 — the 770-horsepower Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, for example. However neither the Lambo nor some other unique Italian supercar, not to mention something from the Germans, Brits, or Detroit telegraphs such evil intent so successfully as this Dodge. Do you have to give into temptation, it actually overloads your circuits with a visceral kick within the pants mixed with an assault on the ears.

The efficiency figures for the tester — particularly a 2020 Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody — are well-known not simply to Mopar Nation, however gearheads of all stripes. They primarily mirror the “common” Hellcat: the four-door will energy its approach from zero to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds, has a quarter-mile elapsed time in lower than 11 seconds, and pulls .96 g on the skid pad. Probably the most outrageous brag is that, with a prime pace of 315.Four km/h, it’s probably the most highly effective and quickest mass-produced sedan on the planet — and no, I didn’t attempt to affirm the efficacy of the declare.

The one purpose it has so as to add “mass-produced” is that Bentley’s brand-new Flying Spur — at greater than two-and-a-half occasions the price of this well-optioned $96,560 tester — has a prime finish of 333 km/h (and no, I made no try to substantiate that determine, both). Not shabby in any respect for what is actually a dinosaur.

There’s no disrespect meant to that characterization. The Charger, in any of its many permutations, is in automobile phrases one thing from the Cretaceous interval. The seventh-generation model was launched for the 2011 mannequin 12 months and acquired its final main refresh for 2015, when the Hellcat was first launched. We’re speaking outdated bones right here, albeit good ones — FCA’s engineers should have bolstered the crap out of the Charger unibody to stop it from twisting itself right into a pretzel when even a portion of all 707 horses and 650 pound-feet of torque is unleashed. It reveals up within the automobile’s avoirdupois — the new-for-2020 Widebody version spins the dial to an SUV-like 2,080 kilograms.

The efficiency enhancements for the Widebody begin with 3.5 inches of additional width, which makes room for 20×11-inch carbon black solid wheels wrapped with sticky Pirelli 305/35ZR20 tires. So fitted, the Hellcat shows prodigious grip and simple turn-in when cornering at pace, regardless of it being fairly entrance heavy (weight distribution is 56/44 entrance/rear). Definitely, the automobile’s electrical energy steering — with selectable tuning —  helps with the grip, dealing with efficiency, and strong steering really feel. Even the turning effort at parking zone speeds doesn’t require Popeye’s forearms, although the precise turning circle of 39 ft curb to curb makes getting out and in of tight areas a practiced affair.

Naturally, there shall be these old fashioned sorts who decry the shortage of a handbook transmission, however there actually needs to be no complaints levelled on the Hellcat’s TorqueFlite 8HP90 eight-speed automated. Steering column-mounted paddles are included, or you possibly can bang away on the console gear lever. Or you possibly can go away the autobox in Drive and let it do the factor it was programmed to do, which is shifting gears cleanly and crisply.

As for stopping energy, the Widebody fortunately options large 15.4-inch Brembo two-piece entrance rotors with six-piston calipers up frontand four-piston rear calipers. FCA says the automobile will drop anchor in an impressively brief 32.6 metres from 60 miles per hour (96 km/h). Throw in suspension tuning with Bilstein three-mode adaptive damping, elevated entrance spring charges and bigger sway bars, and it’s clear the Hellcat does far more than go quick in a straight line (which, from what I bear in mind of my finest pal’s ’68 Charger, by no means may very well be stated of the now-classic muscle automobile).

In case your sole intention is to take your Hellcat to the dragstrip or observe and have at it, the automobile’s efficiency bona fides are well-documented. However even puttering round city, listening to the deep bass-level burble from the exhaust pipes as you negotiate site visitors places a smile in your face, although the tester’s delicate albeit cheekily named White Knuckle paint job did little to stop getting the side-eye from native legislation enforcement. Sadly, there’s no getting round the truth that with its menacing stance, mail-slot grille, hood scoop, facet sills and rear spoiler, the Widebody is a avenue punk on the lookout for a combat.

And that puttering round city goes to value you dearly at fill-up time. Freeway gas financial system is tolerable at 11.5 L/100 kilometres, but it surely’s completely abysmal within the metropolis — a profligate 19 L/100 kilometres. My 500-kilometre take a look at drive of the automobile, with portion of four-lane highways and 80-km/h regional roads meandered throughout the week, resulted in a mean of 14.eight L/100 kilometres and greater than $90 disappearing from my pockets.

As for inside lodging, the Hellcat’s “race-inspired” inside has all the standard facilities and creature comforts, plus a number of good touches comparable to French stitching on the instrument panel and doorways, a heated flat-bottom steering wheel, and heated and ventilated Laguna leather-based entrance seats. Nonetheless, there’s little sense of luxurious to the cabin — maintaining in thoughts that we’re speaking the higher a part of $100,000 for this Widebody — although forking over $1,495 for the elective Carbon & Suede Package deal perks issues up with the addition of real carbon-fibre accents to the instrument panel and console bezels in addition to a suede headliner, solar visors, and A-pillars.

The Charger Hellcat exists as a result of there are at the moment no guidelines or laws that say it could’t. It exists as a result of FCA has discovered there are sufficient individuals on the market who can pay for the privilege/bragging rights of proudly owning a automobile — whether or not the Challenger, Charger, Grand Cherokee, and now the Durango — with a loopy quantity of energy, approach an excessive amount of for metropolis streets in truth. Extra pragmatically, you would go for the Scat Pack 392 Widebody, with a 485-horsepower Hemi V8 that also guarantees no finish of vehicular hooliganism, and save your self $30,000.

However Tim Kuniskis, FCA’s head of passenger vehicles in North America, described it this manner: “Can you purchase a automobile that’s dollar-for-dollar extra sensible than a Charger Widebody? Completely, however there are additionally greater than 1,000 flavours of ice cream and vanilla is just one of them. If the ‘common’ individual will personal six vehicles of their lifetime, our vehicles want to attach so strongly that folks can’t assist however flip round and take a re-examination earlier than strolling away.”

And when you develop a style for the top-shelf stuff, it’s arduous to stroll away.

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