Motoring Middle East: Car news, Reviews and Buying guides

Weapons-grade muscle is the new king of fast saloons
Imthishan Giado

I almost feel sorry for the Germans.

They go to all the trouble making highly complicated computer systems that can measure and controls dampers down to the tenth of a second, multiple drive modes and turbocharged engines that emit less than a flatulent mouse.

And Dodge? Well, Dodge simply goes and stuffs a 6.2-litre supercharged V8 with 707 horsepower and 650lb of torque into their Charger, that makes the dear old girl sprint from 0-100kph in a ballistic 3.7 seconds, and on to a shattering 204mph top speed. And the world rejoiced. German who?

It sure looks different

The only panels to carry over from the previous model is the roof, the rear doors and the glass – everything else is new, massaged and different for 2015. You’ll note the blacked out lights with the signature Dodge light pipes and the blacked out front fascias. The taillights have been updated to a continuous series of LEDs, continuing Dodge’s ‘racetrack’ pattern.

There’s a ton of minor dress-up details on the V6 and R/T models – I’m just going to concentrate on the Hellcat for now. The hood sports a lightweight aluminium mono-nostril item that’s meant to recall the fearsome Viper, while the extractors are fully functional items. You’ll notice there are no lower fog lights; they’re been deleted to ensure that monster motor gets adequate cooling. In fact, the lower fascia can be removed altogether to improve cooling by a further 15%.

The SRT and Hellcat models are nearly identical, sporting the same 20×9.5-inch wheels; the way to tell them apart is the gold finish on the ‘Cat, both shod with sticky Pirelli P-Zero tyres. Oh, and the tiny Hellcat badge on the side.

I know it looks GOOD, tell me how it drives!

Really, really, impossibly well. For a car that weighs this much, the Hellcat is shockingly agile in the bends. The steering has a wonderful muscle car sensibility to it on the road that makes it pretty easy to place through the corners. With multiple SRT Drive Select modes, you can set the car as you like, going as far as limiting the power to a mere 500bhp if desired.

Power delivery is cataclysmic. Off idle, there is the tiniest, tiniest bit of lag and then you’re walloped with 411lb ft of torque at just 1200rpm. The supercharger screams like a banshee, the sensation is like being rear ended by a 747. No other cars is this non-politically correct, this rambunctious, this eager to terrify you with a display of power.

But don’t be fooled into thinking that this is some uncouth youth. As amazing as it sounds, you can actually sort of control 707bhp when you get to the bends. Turn in is crisp, the chassis is damned easy to control and if you need to adjust your angle, apply throttle! Massive Brembo brakes haul the Hellcat down from speed every time and proved utterly fade resistant, despite not being fancy-schmancy carbon ceramic items.

Can it really put 707 horsepower down to the ground? 

It’s almost too much power. Summit Raceway is not a small track – Paul Newman used to race here – but it might as well be a go kart arena. The Hellcat utterly pulverises the straights into submission – I’ve never seen a car hit 200kph so quickly and feel so planted once it got there, before you know it, you’ve got to slow down. The Hellcat literally shortens your lap times. Back straight speed? An easy 225kph, versus the 190kph of the SRT 392.

Off the track and on the street, the Charger Hellcat is even more of a blast. The car bellows and snorts and covers ground like an axe-wielding madman – it actually damaged the track so we weren’t allowed to do burnouts any more! –holds astonishing grip through the tight Virginia roads. Forget about your Mustang GT500s and your Camaros – you will destroy everything else in your mad wake.

There were other cars launched beside the Hellcat, right?

The Charger that most of you will buy is the regular ‘ol 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 SXT, available in two states of tune: 292bhp/260lb ft or 300bhp/264lb ft, depending on whether you select the Rallye option which adds cold-air induction, a sport exhaust and a different tune. Standard on 2015 cars is the TorqueFlite eight-speed, replacing the old five speeder.

The 370bhp/379lb ft 5.7-litre R/T also gets the eight-speed and like sibling Challenger, there’s a ‘Scat Pack’ model which gets the 6.4-litre V8 485bhp/475lb ft combo for maximum potency. Both V6 and V8 cars get electric steering; it’s good enough for everyday use, if a little mushy on the straight ahead. No idea if we’ll get the Scat Pack car, though.

What we are a dead cert to get is the full-fat SRT 392, sporting the same 6.4 V8 but with Hellcat ‘Slingshot’ wheels, 15.4” front Brembo slotted and vented brakes, adaptive dampers and launch control. In every way, it’s a junior Hellcat; they both share the same hydraulic steering system, superior to the new electric system.

If you can’t afford the mighty ‘Cat, the SRT 392 is a superb compromise. Not slow by any means, on Summit it beat the odds to become a really fun track car to play with, superbly balanced and utterly planted. Looks close enough to the Hellcat that most will be fooled, too.

Verdict

Nothing I’ve ever driven feels like the Hellcat, or as exciting to drive. With its extended wheelbase and more sinewy proportions, it may even be better than the Challenger Hellcat, and it’s certainly more practical. Either way, you’re getting the performance bargain of the decade, and perhaps the century.

Right now, the Charger Hellcat is truly in a class by itself – and if you have the cash, you owe it to yourself to own this legendary beast before cars like it go extinct altogether.