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I owned a 2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat (Manual transmission), but have also owned a couple 2014 GT500's, a 2016 Saleen Yellow Badge, and currently own a 2017 Z06.
I dont have any real loyalty to brands. I just get what I like and what makes the most sense (relatively speaking) from a financial perspective. The main thing I liked about the Hellcat Challenger was the looks. I also liked the size it was in that it looked intimidating. Whats also fun is you can get away with doing things on Dodge's that is not as easy to pull off on other cars (doing crazy colors or wheels, etc.) so to me its a fun car to be creative with.
The interior quality on the Hellcat, to me, was really good. I had the Laguna leather and its simply supurb! They are decently supportive and really comfortable. All the touchable surfaces feel soft and overall the design is well laid out. The ride itself is comfortable (when not in track mode) but you dont get much road feel at all. From this perspective, its not a fun car whatsoever. You do get the sense that you are sitting on the couch and not engaged with your driving. The Hellcat is insanely easy to control (and I dont put that as a positive) and it really hides the speed you are attaining. This may also be the reason some of you feel disappointed in thinking the car is not that fast. Trust me, its fast.. But the size, weight, and fact this is a Mercedes chassis masks whats really going on.
The fit and finish of the Hellcat (and Dodge in general) is really pretty poor. I have no reservation in saying that Dodge has the worst quality of all American car companies. I am not a **** when its comes to panel alignment in that everything has to be "exactly perfect" but while mine was much better in this regard to others I have seen; mine still had a decent amount of issues with it.
I have only had my Z06 for a couple weeks, and I dont have a lot of drive time in it yet, but I can tell you the quality of the Z06 is much much higher. I am still in the break in period, so I have yet to really get into the throttle but its immediately apparent you are driving a "sports car" in the Corvette vs. the Hellcat which I would classify more as a GT car. The dealership let me take out a used 3LZ Stingray and I was able to get an idea for what that car can do and it was impressive. I was also able to drive a new Grand Sport, but wasnt able to take it to the limits as I was driving it to go pick up my Z06 (as part of a dealer swap) and had the salesman with me.
Summary: The Hellcats feel slow but in reality are not. Think of them as a GT car, remember the underpinnings of the car is an S class Mercedes and you will understand what Dodge did with what they had. Quality of the Corvette is comparatively higher and performance/driving experience of the Corvette is also much much higher (but less comfortable).
Pictures:
1) Below you can see an example of poor fitment. This is a picture of my car; take a look at the tail light area on the trunk vs. the body and you can see how far it was off:
And here is my Z06:
Last edited by IM3CPO; 04-27-2017 at 01:45 PM.
Reason: Added pictures.
While I was at the dealership I should have driven a Charger as well. I may have liked it better. As far as what driving mode I was in, I'm not sure. It would have been in whatever mode the car defaults to when initially started.. can anyone chime in about experience from driving both the Charger and Challenger? Do they really feel that different?
^^^ They feel pretty much identical. You get different viability, but thats about it. The default settings (with Red key) deal mainly with the suspension, transmissions (if you drove an automatic), and the traction control. To me, the car drives the best when the everything is in "Sport" with traction control completely turned off (you have to turn TC off separately). The traction control management will pull timing, etc., so you wont get a real sense of what the car can do with it on..
Last edited by Steve Garrett; 04-27-2017 at 08:34 PM.
I owned a 2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat (Manual transmission), but have also owned a couple 2014 GT500's, a 2016 Saleen Yellow Badge, and currently own a 2017 Z06.
I dont have any real loyalty to brands. I just get what I like and what makes the most sense (relatively speaking) from a financial perspective. The main thing I liked about the Hellcat Challenger was the looks. I also liked the size it was in that it looked intimidating. Whats also fun is you can get away with doing things on Dodge's that is not as easy to pull off on other cars (doing crazy colors or wheels, etc.) so to me its a fun car to be creative with.
The interior quality on the Hellcat, to me, was really good. I had the Laguna leather and its simply supurb! They are decently supportive and really comfortable. All the touchable surfaces feel soft and overall the design is well laid out. The ride itself is comfortable (when not in track mode) but you dont get much road feel at all. From this perspective, its not a fun car whatsoever. You do get the sense that you are sitting on the couch and not engaged with your driving. The Hellcat is insanely easy to control (and I dont put that as a positive) and it really hides the speed you are attaining. This may also be the reason some of you feel disappointed in thinking the car is not that fast. Trust me, its fast.. But the size, weight, and fact this is a Mercedes chassis masks whats really going on.
The fit and finish of the Hellcat (and Dodge in general) is really pretty poor. I have no reservation in saying that Dodge has the worst quality of all American car companies. I am not a **** when its comes to panel alignment in that everything has to be "exactly perfect" but while mine was much better in this regard to others I have seen; mine still had a decent amount of issues with it.
I have only had my Z06 for a couple weeks, and I dont have a lot of drive time in it yet, but I can tell you the quality of the Z06 is much much higher. I am still in the break in period, so I have yet to really get into the throttle but its immediately apparent you are driving a "sports car" in the Corvette vs. the Hellcat which I would classify more as a GT car. The dealership let me take out a used 3LZ Stingray and I was able to get an idea for what that car can do and it was impressive. I was also able to drive a new Grand Sport, but wasnt able to take it to the limits as I was driving it to go pick up my Z06 (as part of a dealer swap) and had the salesman with me.
Summary: The Hellcats feel slow but in reality are not. Think of them as a GT car, remember the underpinnings of the car is an S class Mercedes and you will understand what Dodge did with what they had. Quality of the Corvette is comparatively higher and performance/driving experience of the Corvette is also much much higher (but less comfortable).
Pictures:
1) Below you can see an example of poor fitment. This is a picture of my car; take a look at the tail light area on the trunk vs. the body and you can see how far it was off:
And here is my Z06:
Nice rides and comparison. I guess I am lucky with the fit and finish. I had a 2010 300 SRT8 which was terrible, but the 17 Challenger is put together nicely.
So first off, I will say that before I even drove it, I noticed on all the cars (new and used) the panel gaps on the exterior panels were horrible. The doors, trunk ect. were all mismatched and the plastic trim panels on the front and rear bumper covers were rubbing against the paint and the paint was rubbing off the panel. I noticed it more on the Challengers than the Chargers. Not that our Corvettes are perfect, but these new Dodges were pretty bad.
What did you expect...its a Dodge! I remember back in 1970 my folks were in the market for a new car, so I rode along with them one evening. They went to a Plymouth dealer. While they were with the salesman, I went and checked out a new orange Roadrunner that was on the showroom floor. I still remember how cheap the interior seemed to me. All plastic and vinyl. I could push the dash in, and the cheap plastic buttons etc were so typical of Plymouth/Dodge products. Nothing has changed in almost 40 years.
I am no brand loyalist and in fact I don't even like Chevy... That being said, I agree on your assessment 100% of the 707hp. The Charger is heavier, sure, but my god the thing was just so damn slow. The sales lady had both keys on her and I kept asking if she remote started the red key or black key.
Screen was all red in performance pages thing and showed all 707 at my disposal. I was completely underwhelmed.
I knew the thing was a pig, but just didn't expect the power to weight to feel this bad.
Last edited by \Boost Monkey/; 04-27-2017 at 05:40 PM.
I had a 15 sRT challenger not a Hellcat but minus some ponies the same car. I can say on the street & everyday car it is a fun car. Mine was a M6 also. The Vette nor Dodge have 70k interiors....Try a bmw or infinity for that.
I will agree the challenger is a fat pig, which is what led me to sell it cause I like the twisty roads but I don't think this review is fair, but to each their own.
I would own another if I needed the room and did more highway driving.
Hey guys, so I decided to test drive a Hellcat yesterday to see if I liked it and form my own opinion. I drove a 2016 Hellcat Challenger (automatic) with 1400 miles. The dealership had about 7 of them on the lot new and used. I know that car is not necessarily a directly comparable car to the C7, but since the price ranges are about the same I guess in a way it is...
So first off, I will say that before I even drove it, I noticed on all the cars (new and used) the panel gaps on the exterior panels were horrible. The doors, trunk ect. were all mismatched and the plastic trim panels on the front and rear bumper covers were rubbing against the paint and the paint was rubbing off the panel. I noticed it more on the Challengers than the Chargers. Not that our Corvettes are perfect, but these new Dodges were pretty bad.
I get in the car and start it up and it sounded great! The seats were extremely comfortable as well! But I guess that's where the excitement and great experiences stopped for me. When I started driving down the road, I was testing the steering feel and the suspension. From reading the forums, people would often tell the skeptics to "Drive the car before making fun of how big it is, because they did a great job with the suspension and it doesn't feel big." Well, I'll throw the BS flag on that.... the car felt MASSIVE and handled like crap. It legitimately felt like I was sitting on my couch at home and driving my living room around on the street.
I tested out the acceleration from different speeds. To say I was let down would be an understatement. 707hp should feel great and make your hands a bit sweaty, but that wasn't the case at all! I've owned two 700+hp cars (both 2003 Cobras with Whipples), and those Cobras would have straight up mopped the floor with this pig.
I returned to the dealer and was examining the interior. The fit and finish was not great and all the materials were cheap plastics and rubbers. It didn't have a $70,000+ interior, not even close. The salesman looked at me and said, "Well, what do you think?" I explained how disappointed I was and the look on his face was like I just kicked his puppy😂
So basically, I was very excited about this car and I was genuinely hoping to love it and possibly get one in the future (I would want a Charger over a Challenger). Instead, I was supremely disappointed and let down after all the hype and attention this car received from media, internet and other car guys. If you're thinking about a ridiculous horsepower car, look elsewhere, because the 4,400+lb weight of that car I think just killed it! If I'm going to cruise around and get 9mpg, I'll drive something stupid fast and worthy of that money spent.
Does anyone else have a similar story to tell? What are everyone else's thoughts on these cars?
Not the same class of car, I had a 2012 SRT , fit and finish were very good , engine sounded like a sewing machine ( Hemi Tick) I have to give Chrysler credit they gave me all my money back they could fix it .
If the price for a used Hellcat goes to the low $40s or even high $30s....what a deal. I like the interior and seats...its a lot of car. Definitely looks badass on the road.
I've driven a buddy's Hellcat Challenger several times. I always enjoy driving it and it is a great looking muscle car. Almost bought a 392 myself a couple years back. However, you can't help but feel like you're driving a hippo when you try any kind of maneuvering in that car.
04-27-2017, 12:37 PM
Love my M1 button 
like i love my track mode on my z51
