First Drive: 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

That being said, I must applaud the engineers behind the Charger SRT Hellcat’s launch control system, which was able to rocket me to 96 km/h in 4.0 seconds – about 1.1 seconds slower than what the car is claimed to be capable of accomplishing should one swap its 20-inch Pirellis for drag radials.  You’ll also blaze through the quarter mile in 11 seconds with street tires present and accounted for, which is incredible given the sheer mass of the Hellcat.

Looking The Part

The 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat is more than just a collection of electronic nannies married to a fabulously overpowered engine, of course.  Like all other members of the 2015 Charger lineup, the Hellcat benefits from a styling refresh inside and out.  The interior of the sedan is much improved, especially when it comes to eliminating the harder plastics of the previous-generation car, and I really liked the new leather used on the Charger’s seats and interior panels.

On the outside, there are the same LED taillights / LED-wrapped headlight treatment given to the base Charger, but it’s been enhanced by way of a unique front bumper (which hides a number of secret cooling channels), a gaping maw of an air scoop on the hood that sucks oxygen into the supercharger, and a set of slits that extract heat from the engine bay at speed.  Out back you’ll find a special wing treatment that is paired with the front fascia to help reduce lift, an always-important consideration when traveling over 300 kilometres an hour.  Fun fact: you get about 13 minutes of full-throttle fun on a single tank of gas with the Hellcat.

2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, gauges, infotainment. Click image to enlarge

A More Rounded Effort

The 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat is a more complete car than its Challenger namesake, and that’s by design.  Dodge wanted their muscle coupe to feel more unhinged than the refined-in-comparison sedan and its engineers have certainly accomplished that goal, presenting a spacious four-door automobile that’s wild when you want it to be, and well, actually it’s pretty much wild all of the time with bits of civility thrown in for good measure.  This is true even if you drive the Hellcat with its black key, which puts training wheels on the car by restricting engine output to 500 horsepower and forcing you to launch in second gear (the also-provided red key closes the door, welds it shut, and makes all 707 horses available to you).

With an MSRP of $64,495 – a premium of nearly $25k over the Charger R/T – is this car going to connect with more than a handful of enthusiasts?  It’s hard to say.  Currently, the bestselling SRT model is the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT, another similarly priced eyebrow-raising, ultra-fast heavyweight that deserves the adoration it’s been getting from performance SUV fans.  The Hellcat isn’t all that far off from the Jeep’s weight class, and while it lacks all-wheel drive it does provide over 200 additional horsepower and the rights to claim dyno-day superiority over any other eight-cylinder production car on the road.  Think of it as the daily driver that you’ll be parking for a couple of days every two weeks after it scares the living daylights out of you.

Competitors:
Lol. No.