A total of 707 mighty four-letter adjectives of awesomeness.
(Warning, we used some NSFW language to describe our incredible enthusiasm over the new SRT Hellcats. Sorry if this offends you.)
It’s hard to describe my level of enthusiasm and excitement over the new Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcat models without using obscene four-letter words, so I’m just going to come right out and say it – Hell fucking yes.
When the first press release from Chrysler came through my inbox in regards to the upcoming Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat I was pretty excited. A supercharged engine making over 600 horsepower in what I believe is the truest form of muscle car on the market was a great way to start off my day and got me going better than the caffeine-filled coffee I was drinking.
For decades, American automakers have been lost in the performance car market. Not since the 70s (and some of the 80s if you consider the Buick Grand National) has anything really worthy of drooling over come about until the mid-2000s other than the usual suspects. Even then, as the Big Three navigated through financial hardships and an uncertain future pressure was being put on them to produce fuel efficient vehicles for the masses with new hybrid technology, quality materials, and improved build quality. That’s not exactly a breeding ground for performance cars.
But some managed to survive and even prosper with the Mustang staying put, Chevrolet reviving the Camaro with great success, and even Dodge bringing back the retro-styled Challenger to put some money back into their wallets. None really showed off jaw-dropping levels of performance unless you dared to take the keys of the Corvette ZR-1, and other than a few performance variants scattered throughout the model range like the Charger SRT, 300 SRT, or an SS here or there, things we focused on being “green” and “eco”.
Then, The Big Three started to battle in their little horsepower wars with their modern-day muscle cars. But it wasn’t until the new Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat made its tire-shredding debut and the official press release came through saying that it had 707 horsepower that I really got excited for Chrysler and what its mad scientist SRT team was doing. Hell to the yes.
I instantly sent out texts to my car enthusiast friends and observed what the car-crazed forums online were saying about the new badass muscle car from Detroit and it was pretty unanimous: “All Hail Hellcat!”
The fact that SRT shoved an all-new supercharged V-8 into the engine bay of the Challenger and later the Charger was so unnecessary and mind-bogglingly awesome that it essentially gives the middle-finger to other automakers, strict fuel economy standards, and left-lane-hugging greenies while telling them to fuck off with its clouds of tire smoke and shit-talking V-8 roar.
The days where Germans owned the super-sedan marketplace with their RS 6, E 63 AMG, and M5s might be coming to an end, or at the very least, they are getting some newfound competition that always leads to better cars being built. Personally I’ve lusted after the Germans and their twin-turbocharged V-8s and V-10s powering these performance-oriented sedans as they politely battled each other on the autobahn with these luxury rocketships, but nothing comes close to the get-the-fuck-out-of-my-way straight-line monster that is the Charger SRT Hellcat.
These two cars are something that as Americans, we can be proud of. Sure, they don’t have the same refinement as the Germans, British, or Japanese do, but who the hell cares? It’s not supposed to be refined and luxurious, it’s supposed to throw you back in your seat, rip up tires, and be as obscene as possible. In fact, adding in a comfortable wealth of luxury would take away from the overall American muscle experience. And please, don’t give me this “low-quality, American trash” bullshit either. Each of The Big Three have made strides in all aspects of their vehicles, recalls be damned. Go sit in a mid-2000s Chevrolet Impala, Dodge Avenger, or Ford Five Hundred and then tell me that the new cars are just American trash.
There is absolutely no reason why you should hate the fact that Chrysler’s 707 horsepower, 650 lb-ft. of torque engine in the Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcat models are being vulgar with their endless showcases of speed and burnout abilities. If anything, it’s going to ruffle the feathers of other automakers and force their performance-minded engineers to do something crazy of their own. It’s injecting some testosterone and thrill into the automotive world, and it’s making access to this kind of batshit crazy power and speed more accessible than ever before. Instead of shelling out six-figures for something close to that output, you can drop $60,000. Sixty-thousand-dollars. It’s still a high figure for some, but not out of the realm of possibility if you save your pennies.
I want to give Chrysler, Dodge, and SRT a big “Thank You!” with the new Charger and Challenger SRT Hellcats. They’re doing things right now taking a more renegade approach to making performance vehicles compared to others with their ‘I don’t give a shit’ attitude. These two cars are giving the middle finger to quite a few automakers and I cannot wait to see how they respond.
Are you as F*&%ing excited for the new Dodge Charger and Challenger SRT Hellcat models as I am?
