The Hellcat is Dodge’s flagship Charger trim. Its engine, supercharged by the SRT team, can make 700+ horsepower. Yet many other sports cars can trounce its 4.0 seconds 0-60 time. What gives? The truth is that Dodge did not engineer the Charger Hellcat for a quick 0-60 time, but built it to pull hard at high speeds.
What is the Dodge Charger Hellcat’s 0-60 mph time?
MotorTrend’s acceleration test of the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye found the sedan’s fastest 0-60 mph time to be 4.0 seconds.
2022 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye fender badge | Stellantis
Many supercars can beat the Charger Hellcat’s 0-60 time. To put that 4.0 second time in perspective, MotorTrend also found the Ram 1500 TRX could reach 60 mph in just 4.1 seconds. What the actual truck!?
The Ram 1500 TRX has full-time 4WD. The Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye lords 90+ horsepower over the TRX, and still can only pull 0.1 seconds ahead in the race to 60. This is because the RWD car is fighting for traction every inch of the way. Below 60 mph, the Hellcat Redeye’s considerable horsepower just isn’t much use. Its limiting factor is its tire size.
So, if the Hellcat’s horsepower isn’t for accelerating to 60 mph, what is it for?
The Dodge Charger Hellcat excels at high-speed highway pulls
2022 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye’s supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI® | Stellantis
SRT’s specially engineered Dodge Charger Hellcat has more top-end than most muscle cars in history. MotorTrend reviewer Duncan Brady put it well when he said, “The Charger Hellcat Redeye feels like it pulls harder from 90 mph than most sports cars do from 40 mph.”
As you push the Charger Hellcat towards three-digit speeds, its huge supercharger rams more air into its 6.2-liter HEMI. The force of the acceleration plants it firmly on its rear wheels (lucky it’s a RWD), and it rockets forward even faster.
Dodge built the Challenger Demon for a quick 0-60 time
2022 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye | Stellantis
The wonderful mad scientists at Dodge’s SRT division certainly know how to make a 0-60 car. The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon excels at off-the-line acceleration, and through the ¼-mile. It can reportedly reach 60 mph in a face-melting 2.1-seconds.
The way SRT accomplished this feat of engineering was to build a very different car than the Charger Hellcat. Both vehicles use the supercharged 6.2-liter SRT HEMI. But their similarities end there.
The Demon is based on the two-door Challenger. Its rear tires are wide racing slicks, its front tire options include narrow units engineered for drag racing. It has no back seat and you can delete the passenger seat if you really want to keep the weight down.
SRT also tuned the Demon’s engine for 808 horsepower. The Dodge Demon is a mean, lean, drag-racing machine. It’s no wonder that its ¼-mile time is under 10 seconds.
Keyword: Why Is The Charger Hellcat’s 0-60 Time So Slow?