New Widebody Option Gives the Dodge Challenger Hellcat More Pounce
Performance
Sports Cars
Tim Kuniskis, head of passenger cars for Dodge
Modifying the bottom end of a car can add more power to the ground compared to bolting on parts under the hood. That’s the case for Dodge’s newest Hellcat - opens in new window or tab., dubbed the Widebody. Engineers upped the Hellcat pounce ratio with fender flares to make room for larger wheels and tires. This lowers the car’s lap time on a 1.7-mile track by approximately two seconds.
The Widebody is the first Hellcat with electric power steering, adding selectable settings for street, sport, and track. The newest Challenger rides on 20 x 11-inch alloy rims - opens in new window or tab. fitted with 305/35ZR20 Pirelli P-Zero - opens in new window or tab. tires. The bigger contact patches more effectively transmit the car’s 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi engine’s 707 horsepower to the ground.
One of the Hellcat’s soft spots had been traction,” said Tim Kuniskis, head of passenger cars for Dodge. “The wide body enabled us to jump from 275 to 305 tires, bringing our zero-to-sixty time down to 3.4 seconds, and quarter-mile time to 10.9 seconds.”
The Recipe for the Hellcat's New Pounce
The Challenger Hellcat Widebody is 3.5-inches wider than its narrower sibling. Other changes to the exterior include an aluminum hood - opens in new window or tab. with center air intake and dual heat extractors, air-catcher headlamps that feed air directly into the air box and engine bay through holes in the center of the parking lamps, the same front splitter as the demon and Hellcat rear spoiler - opens in new window or tab.. Standard Brembo brakes - opens in new window or tab. include 15.4-inch two-piece rotors and six-piston front calipers.
Is Big Better?
The cost of the Widebody option is $6,000. Dodge will start taking orders in July.
2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody's revised fascia and air intakes deliver more pounce.
“Everyone said that the size and weight of the Challenger was a penalty,” said Kuniskis. “But we like being different than the pony cars, such as Camaro and Mustang. We are the GT car.” He said. "The Widebody is a car people can use as a daily driver with a real-world rear seat that also excels at the dragstrip.”
The Hellcat's Pounce has a Price.
Even if you can’t afford the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody’s $71,495 price tag, there’s a lesson to be learned from the SRT engineers. On the track, what you get from the chassis dyno - opens in new window or tab. is what counts. Reducing unsprung weight in the suspension, stiffening up the body structure with a strut tower brace, adding bigger wheels and tires—even if done by adding some size—are real and immediate ways of boosting performance. It shows that increasing your car’s footprint can provide more pounce per ounce.
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