The world of four-door sedans is about to get real, thanks to the 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, unveiled Wednesday at a special event in Detroit. Dodge claims it is the most powerful mass-produced sedan ever, at 707 horsepower, as well as the fastest, with a top speed of 204 mph (328 km/h) and the ability to cover a quarter-mile (0.4 km) in 11 seconds.
"This is a car that no customer has ever asked us to build," said Tim Kuniskis, Chrysler's President of the Dodge brand. "But sometimes you need to build a car that just defines itself. Sometimes you need to build a car that redefines the preconceived definition of practicality."
If you buy that line, then the new definition of "practical" is apparently a HEMI 6.2-liter V8 engine capable of 650 lb-ft (881 Nm) of torque. Among other mind-bending factoids is a specially tuned crank damper tested to 13,000 rpm.
Unlike its brethren, the Challenger SRT two-door unveiled last month, the Charger will only be available with an 8-speed automatic transmission and no all-wheel drive.
At the center of its rolling parts are 20-inch Slingshot wheels in front and back, fitted with huge 15.4-inch rotors and 6-piston caliper brakes in front and 13.8-inch rear disc brakes in back.
A little more practicality does come with those two extra doors and a back seat that Dodge claims comes with enough legroom "for your basketball-playing sons and daughters."
On the outside, the sedan gets an aggressive look in its front fascia that fits the Hellcat moniker well. The whole beefy package weighs in at 4,560 lb (2,068 kg) and should go on sale in the first quarter of next year with pricing details still to come. You can watch the entire product reveal below.
Source: Dodge
@Milton A couple people asked that in the QA and the MPG hasn't been EPA certified yet but they said they were hoping the challenger would get 20 MPG highway. The Charger is a tad heavier but has a tad better (~18%) drag coefficient so that's probably ballpark for highway.
Not really - not for 707 bhp. It'd be a damn' sight faster if it didn't weigh as much as my house.
Thanks, I missed that in the video (didn't watch the Q&A).
20 mpg highway is likely to mean 12-15 mpg city. Ouch!
But I guess if you are buying this thing MPG isn't much of a factor. I just cracked-up that the spokesman kept calling it so "practical".
A Charger ( or ChargeD, if you prefer) with the 8 speed auto would have gotten probably 32-34 mpg and still decently fast.
4560 lbs is heavy. A base Bugatti is 4200 lbs and 1000 HP but also about $2.2 million (plus $200k in tires and rims every 10,000 miles) vs about $60k for the charger.