Sibling rivalry is often heated, especially when it comes to the Dodge Challenger Demon and Hellcat. As one of the best-kept secrets in the automotive world, the Challenger Hellcat and the Challenger Demon were developed at the same time. One team was asked to build a 700 horsepower car, and the other was given no restrictions to see how far the 6.2 liter V8 could be pushed.
A Hellcat starts around $65,000, and the Demon is $20,000 more. The first has 707 horsepower and the latter is able to make 840 horsepower on race fuel. To make the Dodge Demon reliable at such power levels, it has 50% more oil sent to the piston squirters, and the block is reinforced inside and out. A stronger transmission includes the world’s first production trans-brake along with other drag-racing essentials.
Hennessey Performance Tests the HPE1000 Demon
To see the differences in action, the YouTube channel Wheels uploaded this battle last night. So far, the fastest Demon time slip is held by Hennessey Performance, but it took them 1,000 horsepower to run a 9.38. That is because the 10-second barrier is hard to reach for street-legal cars. The law of diminishing returns can be seen, in that adding 160 horsepower only counts for half a second for Hennessey Performance. Both of the drivers below deserve props for excellent launches, and the difference at the top end clearly shows the difference in power. Is it worth an extra $20,000? Tell us why or why not in the comments below and stay with us for all your Mopar action!
