  2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat. Click image to enlarge |
Portland International Raceway is a momentum track, meaning that huge power isn’t necessarily a big advantage. Instead, it’s possible to carry your speed through the corners with smooth inputs and careful unwinding of the steering wheel on apex, and curiously this pleases the Hellcat too. Thanks to big, sticky Pirellis and beefed-up sway bars, the Hellcat has a neutral nature and plenty of mechanical grip. Avoid unleashing the Mount St. Helens underhood when you’re not in a straight line, and it gets around the track really very quickly. And oh, that noise when you do get to walk on the throttle. It goes like hell and it sounds like heaven.
 2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat burnout. Click image to enlarge |
The eight-speed automatic boasts widened gears to take the torque, and is quite a bit quicker than the six-speed manual. It probably fits the king-muscle nature of the Hellcat better too.
But, for the last drive of the day, I ended up in a six-speed manual Hellcat, lined up coming onto the straight in second gear, getting a quick point-by from the guy ahead. Away we roared, the beast and I, with the closeness of the concrete wall firing the sound right back in through the window – second to third, third to fourth, bark, howl, roar, speed and fury.
If I look out my window this morning, metaphorically speaking, I’ll see gas prices at a buck-fifty a litre. I’ll see crowded roads, I’ll read about climate change worries, I’ll know that insurance rates are going to climb ever higher. The future of performance, and it does exist, is in something like the BMW i8.
The Hellcat, while absolutely wonderful, isn’t the way forward. It almost feels like a last hurrah: a raw, loud, unapologetic hooligan. While it handled far better than expected, I’d also be surprised if the heavy-hitter Camaros and Mustangs couldn’t out-corner it and run away on the circuit. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not a truly special car.
The word “awesome” has been misused so much in past years that it now no longer retains much of its former meaning. For instance, when a hymn refers to an awesome God, it is not implying that He has sick roller-blading skills, dude. Awesome once meant something to be feared, awestruck by, wonderment and amazement.
Well, here’s the Hellcat: Awesome, in every possible sense of the word.
Pricing: 2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat
Hellcat: $63,995
Competitors:
Ford Mustang GT500
Camaro ZL1
F-14 Tomcat
