Talk about going out with a bang...
Listen to this article
The Demon may be long gone, but Dodge will happily sell you a Challenger SRT Jailbreak with 807 horsepower. Granted, it’s missing that extra pony to match the “cursed” muscle car and its colossal 808-hp output while using regular gas. There will come a time when electric performance vehicles are going to pack more punch than the drag strip monster. In fact, it could happen as early as 2024 when the company’s already confirmed EV will go on sale.
Before that happens, there’s still life left in the ol’ Hellcat yet. According to a new report from Mopar Insiders, the supercharged 6.2-liter won’t be going out without the proverbial bang. The SRT team is apparently working on a modified version of the V8 to run on E85 fuel in a bid to extract even more power. How much? It is believed the engine will push upwards of 850 hp in what will be a limited-edition Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody.
2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody
While the juicy rumor doesn’t say anything about torque, we’ll remind you the Demon generated 717 pound-feet (972 Newton-meters) on 91-octane fuel and a mountain-moving 770 lb-ft (1,044 Nm) when feeding on 100-octane juice. Running on 85 percent ethanol, the HEMI’s finale could have even more pulling power, but that remains to be seen.
If that 850+ horsepower figure turns out to be legit, the engine’s swan song will bring a bump in the output of at least 10 hp compared to the Demon using high-octane fuel. It’ll be interesting to see whether it’s going to match or surpass the 885 wild horses available for the Challenger with the Mopar Direct Connection upgrade.
This new arrival is allegedly part of Dodge’s “Never Lift” campaign and that means it’ll be coming out before the end of 2023. How limited in production it will be is unclear for now, but the Demon was capped at 3,300 units.
Keyword: Dodge Hellcat Swan Song Could Run On E85, Have More Power Than A Demon