C7-Beast

After I sold my C7 I went to a Ford GT350. I love the car but recently Dodge was offering 2016 Hellcat leases for 499 per month with 2900 down. 3 years, 12k per year, no security deposit. I assume with the announcement of the Demon and the 17's already out, Dodge wanted to clear out the 16's. My local dealer had 3 2016 Challengers in stock. I had to have an M6 even though I know the A8 is faster. I went with a Pitch Black M6 with no options. In all fairness, the car is pretty highly optioned even as a base. Trans, Sunroof and Wheel/Tire combos are the only real options.

We all know Dodge rates these as 707 HP. I think many believe Dodge was very conservative with those numbers. I'm about to embark on some mods. I thought I would get a baseline before starting the mods. The only current mods are more for sound than performance. It has an intake and I deleted the mid mufflers. The rest of the car is bone stock. It had 3300 miles when it rolled onto the dyno. I don't put a lot of value in a dyno other than for a tool to see what gains you actually make. I'm not a bench racer.

All the above said, either I have a VERY friendly dyno, Dodge way underestimated the HP, or my car is some kind of freak. We did 4 runs and used the first run and the last for the below graph. The tune is stock. I was very surprised with the results.





Those of you who have spent a lot of time here may know I had modified my C7 with the Novi 1500 S/C, Meth injection, LT headers and a tune done by ECS and it put down 696 RWHP.

I do miss my Corvette but I have to say that I'm having a blast in the Hellcat and the GT350.

Torch FRC

That's a lot of power

Does it feel as fast as the C7?

C7-Beast

In a straight line it seems faster. Likely due to that fat tq curve. The C7 made 613 ft lbs of tq. vs 686. On the track the C7 was faster. The Hellcat is a straight line monster but not really built for the twisties.

I have the GT350 for the track and believe it or not, I feel much more confident with the GT350 than the C7. Likely because I didn't make any suspension mod's. The C7 was all power mods. The brakes are superior in both the GT350 and the Hellcat. Likely due to the 6 piston calipers up front vs the 4 of my C7.

All that said, I still miss my C7. The 2 new cars are easier to get in and out from now that I'm 50. I see a C8 in my future someday.

hawkgfr

Let me say this after I say very nice cars...all of them.





I hate you.

cerino2000

That seems pretty consistent with other's dyno runs. Gotta love the fat torque curve.

JLargo

Nice choice

thegame

Wow I am surprised you sold the ECS C7! I thought you were in love with that car! What happened?

C7-Beast

I got the right offer at the right time. It's in San Diego the last time I saw it. When I saw the Hellcat for 499 a month, it was a no brainer. It's also my daily driver and a tax write off

I still have my 93 Anniversary and I'm sure I'll be back in a new Corvette again at some point.

Richor

is that deal still running?

C7-Beast

I honestly don't know if that deal still exists. It was only on 2016's and I got a base M6. I picked mine up in February,

cerino2000

That's quite a matter of debate. There is a giant thread on the Hellcat forum about it. Obviously you have to find a deadly that genuinely wants to sell the car vs the one trying to hold out for that uninformed buyer.

thegame

wow that is a great deal and hard to pass up! Congrats on the hellcat and glad you're still posting.

sublime1996525

Sounds like you have 2 awesome track beasts.

Ltrain925

Great choice and great deal on lease!! Now that the demon is out Iv been looking to add a hellcat next to my c7z06. I think these cars are an opposite of a c7 or vett in this matter. It's nice to change it up sometimes! Let the moddin beging

UmCanesZ06

I've been looking at hellcats for the past two weeks and am close to pulling the trigger on one. That being said, I rest drove one yesterday with the red key and really wasn't that impressed. I have a stock 2010 zr1 and it feels way faster. Are there different modes that it could have been in or something that limits the power? IIke the way they look buy it just seemed slow.

thegame

Well don't forget it does weigh as much as a small village lol There are videos on line of a stock Hellcat vs a stock C6 Zr1 and the Zr1 definitely is the faster car.

cerino2000

Auto or 6-speed?

thegame

I've driven both and the auto seems faster to me. Would you agree with this?

UmCanesZ06

6 speed.

cerino2000

That's why.

The auto is a different animal. I have had 10 Corvettes (all manuals) and 10 Challengers, the only performance car that I like with an auto trans is the challenger. At 48, born and raised a Motor-head, it took a little bit for me to realize that the 8-speed auto changed the rules on the auto-vs manual debate. They actually made the auto fun and when you put 707hp in front of it and drive it like you mean it, the word ridiculous comes to mind. You don't see too many people bragging about breaking records with the 6-speed cars because the auto is where it's at on these things if you want to really feel it. The Hellcat 6-speed manual has a specific long 1st gear it it to be able to maximize the 0-60 times. (Even different than non Hellcat Challengers) And you really have to learn how to drive it to feel what it can do, but even if you do, the auto version performs better and always will.

The other thing that you would realize in the mopar is the power curve vs the Corvette is very different. In the vette, it almost spins up. As the RPM goes up, you really start to feel it pull. In Mopar land, the camming is very different. It's fat power across the board. It will never be as nimble as the ZR1 but should match the fun factor in its own way.

One other thing to consider if it matters to you is the street presence. I had the 1st auto Hellcat delivered to North Carolina. The only time anyone knew what it was is when they got spanked by it. Otherwise it was just a Challenger. This vs my 2011 base model Corvette where no matter where I was, people just loved. For me I just like the ***** out performance of the Hellcat but street presence does have a bearing for some.