If there’s one product revealed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show this week that has grabbed nearly all of the buzz, it’s the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon.
After what may be the industry’s longest teaser campaign, Dodge unleashed the Demon with 840 horsepower and 717 pound-feet of torque when running 100 octane race fuel, thus, making it the most powerful production series V8-powered car ever. And it has the 2017 COPO Chevrolet Camaro in its sights at the dragstrip. Except, you won’t be seeing the Dodge Demon at any NHRA dragstrip.
In fact, the NHRA has already banned the 2018 Dodge Demon. Why? It’s simply too fast for the dragstrip. The Demon will require a special license and additional safety equipment before its demonic ways are given a green light for the ‘strip.
While the COPO Camaro manages 580 hp with a 5.7-liter supercharged V8 engine, the 840 hp is simply too much for condoned NHRA tracks. That’s a bummer because we’d love to see a showdown between the COPO Camaro and Demon. Though the COPO Camaro is down on overall power, it’s still capable of running quarter-mile times in the 8.5-second range at 162 mph. The Demon? 9.65 seconds at 140 mph.
Still, there’s no denying the Dodge Challenger Demon is an ultimate expression of the American muscle car. It remains to be seen if Chevrolet will ultimately challenge the Demon’s power prowess down the road, but right now, the 650 hp 2017 Camaro ZL1 is as close as it gets. If that doesn’t do it for you, Hennessey Performance Engineer can help you ward off the Demon with its Camaro Exorcist, pushing 1,000 hp.
Comments
It’s a real head-scratcher: FCA engineers a street car capable of 9.65 1/4 mile times, only to be immediately banned from tracks for lack of a rollcage. I understand caging a mass produced, street car is odd and many regulations are in place you’d have to conform to, but you’d think it would come standard since the car is labeled as a 1/4 mile monster. Just my $.02.
Roll cage ads too much weight.
It’s banned from NHRA sanctioned events. The dumb ass author should do some research. Plenty of 9 second cars with no cages run at the track local to me which happens to be an NHRA sanctioned track…
Yea and they tell them not to come back without a cage….
I think FCA could have convinced NHRA to grant exemptions to cars that are stock and DOT street legal cars. If it is good enough for Uncle Sam should be good enough for NHRA.
FCA knew the NHRA rules and didn’t want an exemption. They did what the did on purpose for the hype so that bench racers would have something to hang on to!
The Dodge Demon is a copo car that will be given a vin number. As for the performance claimed by Dodge is a joke! To drag a 4200-4300 lbs pig down a quarter mile in 9:65 it will take another 85-100 hp. We have two supercharged Corvettes, we have been running Nitto tire since 2004, and have the 315-40-18, NO-5 on both cars, our cars are 3200-3300 lbs, one makes 650+ the other makes 750+ even on a prepped track a 1.35 60 ft. is a stretch. Only with straight slicks can you get there.
Now the big question who is going to insure the Demon? Haggerty will insure the car for around $2,400.00 a year for a 65 year old male, with no points, no accidents, and no tickets on his license. But the real tough thing is that Haggerty has no “Daily Driver” insurance plan in place. It is considering one but no date is available, so basicly no street cars. LOL! Another Dodge fail like the Hellcat that our 650 hp Corvette gaps by 90 miles an hour. All the noise made on the internet by so called Dodge fans, yet no street cars with insurance? In California they do and will confiscate that car and have it crushed LOL!
Confiscate your property? That sounds like the kind of thing they would do in the Commie state of California!
It’s not banned unless it exceeds. Racing in competition is one thing. Most will be at test and tune events and are not banned unless exceeding the limits. Other street cars also exceed the limits but are not banned from the track unless observed doing so.
It’s all about bragging rights, as impressive as it is.
I’d rather have the other car Dodge put through this treatment, the 2018 Viper SRT-10 ACR,,, ooh wait…
Sales numbers for the Demon will surely cover the cost of development, curious as to the warranty?
Errors again. The Demon makes 808 hp/717 lb ft. When running 91 octane. If you buy the “crate”, you get another ECM which allows 100 octane race fuel and the power ratings jump to 840/770. The COPO Camaro is a race car, track use only, not street legal.
The COPO is actually 1200+ HP. The rating is for the NHRA classes it is built to compete in. The COPO is also not a production vehicle with no VIN. Its direct competitor is not the Demon, but the Challenger Drag Pack.
I’m all for powerful fast cars and I love to race them. However, I’m glad Chevy gave the public the COPO and Dodge did the drag pack for 1/4 mile track fun vs. tearing up a street car with add-ons and street slicks trying to pretend it is something that it is not. The Demon being street legal is a joke. If all Dodge wanted was bragging rights to the horsepower war then they got and I’ll give it too them. Hooray for Dodge pulling together the most powerful and ultimately useless street vehicle. Few tracks will allow it, It can’t turn on a road course or back roads, and the dummies who think they can go and try to run that 9.65 quarter through a neighborhood will ultimately hurt/kill themselves or someone else. Looks cool and would most definitely be a blast to drive for a short time, but I believe the novelty would wear off quickly. But hey, kudos to Dodge and FCA for having the gumption to build it.
Obviously a butt hurt GM owner…
Then there’s this, who would have thought that it would be so easy. (just think if they would have changed a pulley, and ran 100 octane/+ecm). To run a 9 second 1/4 in an otherwise stock ZL1. A car with IRS, you know, so it can turn, as on a road coarse! Bring your mom, she has her own seat!
http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1109855_camaro-zl1-quarter-mile-times-dipping-into-the-9s
That’s right, Dodge fans don’t like long races. It makes their “but hurt”.
Guess GM should have included a roll cage with the ZL1!
Not that hard to find a nice stretch of smooth low traffic road and paint some lines 1/4 apart!
So the COPO I’d down e00 NO but still runs faster quaters…..I think the Demon was banned for being heavier than most NHRA transporters.
Man the NHRA just has gotten pussified! Let it run!
I guess you have never rolled over or crashed?
The rule is to keep you alive at these speeds where this car if it rolled or hit the wall would wad up like tin foil but remain safe with a cage in it.
Rules like this protect bone heads like you from dying. We hate picking pieces of people up before we have to race again.
Well that’s when it’s time to find a nice smooth stretch of low traffic highway and paint some lines 1320 feet apart, NHRA rules be damned.
Yeah, I bet seatbelts and airbags are for pussies too, right? Why, if FCA or GM cut those damn things from their cars, they’d be less complicated, weigh less, cost less, and go faster!
This is to Edward M Pate, those are not new rules ! A car with that amount of power, is suppose to have roll cage for safety and a parachute to help stop at end of the 1/4 mile . Like Challenger Drag Pack and the COPO Camaro .
What this car is would be equal to a cry for help in a market where the standard model has been surpassed by the other brands by two generations as Fiat Starves Chrysler of the new platforms they need dearly.
Chrysler can not afford to make a new car so to garner headlines they make 3000 street legal COPO car that have to be converted to race if needed.
While this is a neat thing in auto history and will be a nice sub note it really fails to deliver what Chrysler needs.
To be honest the future for Dodge is not all that clear. Fiat refuses to do much investment and has literally killed their small cars. The LX platform was to have been replaced in 2016 then 2018 now they say 2021. Rumors are the Hemi may also die by them. These notes are unclear but the more this car is delayed the less likely it will be around unless a new partner or buyer of Dodge should come to save it.
I am not sure what else they can do other than remove the fenders to make it faster? This is not the first gutted car and will not be the last but I do not see Ford or GM chasing this as they have too many other good models that not only go but stop and turn as well and do it on a daily bases.
This car will do the job of getting people talking about Dodge. Odds are it will not make a profit but it may help sell more standard models.
I really feel for the engineers at Dodge as the profits from Jeep have been stolen from them and put into Alfa that is really going no where to solve their lack of volume. Sure they will sell more Alfa models but no where near the 400K increase they need. Now on the other hand Dodge could have delivered it.
Good old GM.how do you say a production street legal car like the demon was built to go head to head with a copo???? I’m lost with this.i have yet to see a copo rolling down the street with a license plate.well that article was good for a laugh.60sec of my life I will never get back.
You do not see them as GM only offer 69 per year to licensed NHRA racers who win a lottery to buy one.
The reason for the limit is they do not need the hey look at our division as the already offer a ZL1and a Z/28 for the media coverage.
Dodge on the other hand does not have the budget or luxury of doing several models due to the starvation of funds from Fiat.
Let’s face it they are stuck with a platform that is 2 gens behind with no chance for a new one till 2021 so they have to work with what they have to attract media coverage.
Let’s face it the road test on the Camaro and Mustang no longer include the Dodge as it lost to the old models and would not do well with the new in road test.
Credit needs to be given to the Chrysler engineers for doing so much with so little for so long. I expect they are not pleased with Sergio and how he has robbed them of the Jeep profits that they should be getting and has been dumping into the pit called Alfa.
The point is a GM could make the COPO street legal if they choose but they don’t have the need. Neither does Ford.
You’re a schmuck, the demon is street legal the Copo is not! Dodge has taken it to Chevy once again by making it available to the everyday car guy. The excorcist is also not track legal without a cage. The demon is still a package that can be bought and driven on the street unlike Chevy copo and Ford super snake both that cannot be street legal. Dodge did this from the factory unlike all the tuners.
Well stated, kudos to the guys at FCA who seem able to do so much with very little. Imagine what they could do with the kind of resources that GM has? GM’s highly bureaucratic and politically correct culture dumbing down a hell of a lot of talent!
Dave:
GM and Ford created “race cars” for the NHRA “race car drivers” that run in there intended class, as FCA very well could compete in themselves (why didn’t they, as [Edward M P states] seem able to do so much with very little)?
Edward M P:
GM, and its highly bureaucratic and politically correct culture, with all the dumbed down talent. Put a “race car” on the “race track” for there fans to “COMPETE” with. Where’s Dodge, bragging about being banned!
Funny how often the statement “able to do so much with so little” is used as if FCA could put out something even better with more funds.
It probably would have cost less to develop a car to compete with the COPO and the Ford had FCA wanted to, but they wanted to be “BANNED” for their press material!