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It's been awhile since I went to the less dark side of a Dodge Challenger Hellcat. So we all want to see as real of a comparison as we can get.
To start, let me say that I've owned 3 Vettes, plus Mustang GT's, so I'm in no way a Hellcat fanboy. As of this time, it's the car on the market that really grabs my attention. Now in all reality, we can't judge a Corvette vs. a Hellcat, like we could a Camaro ZL1 and a Hellcat. And I could care less about the Demon for two reasons, one is that IMHO it's not really streetable, and the other is that I won't pay even a penny over MSRP and it seems like a lot of stealerships are getting at least $5,000 over MSRP.
I view the Corvette as a white collar hot rod, refined, while the Challenger Hellcat is a blue collar hot rod, raw and ready to go.
Earlier this year I found a great buy on a Hellcat at Texas Direct auto in Houston. The Challenger Hellcat was exactly like I wanted it, no moonroof and it had the auto without all the gaudy stripes and it was torred. The car had MSRP of $70,000 and I got it for around $53,500 with only 4,400 miles on the odometer.
So, which is faster in the quarter mile?
First of all, let's get some stuff out of the way.
2016 Challenger Hellcat, auto, Mickey Thompsons 305/35/20 on replica rims is the only mod. The weight with me in it was 4,700 pounds. This run was on a track rental (very good track conditions) at Royal Purple with a DA of -62. The car has 6,000 miles on her.
2016 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, auto, Nitto NT05R 305/35/19 on stock rims was the only mod. The weight with me in it was 3,840 pounds.
This run was on a track rental (very good track conditions) at Royal Purple with a DA of +1687. The car had right around 5,000 miles on her.
Points for Challenger Hellcat
57 more horsepower, DA was a lot better.
Points for Corvette Z06
860 pounds lighter, better aerodynamics, not sure if this matters at the 10.9 to 11.1 level.
Can't tell if Mickey Thompsons or Nitto NT05Rs are better.
What really stood out to me was the way the Hellcat launched to a 1.639 to the Corvette 1.702 for a 60 foot time. I never thought that this heavy car would out 60 foot the Corvette. However at the 1/8th mile the Corvette started pulling away.
Both cars are totally bad ***, especially for the cost. Is one better than the other, well I addressed this earlier about the Corvette Z06 being a white collar workers car, while the Challenger Hellcat was a blue collar workers car. There is absolutely no way the Hellcat could stay with the Z06 on a track, but on a strip it's different.
I got a lot of looks while driving the Z06, however I'm getting looks and it appears more people want to talk about the Hellcat. I do like the safety features in the Hellcat vs. the Corvette. The Hellcat has a cross path detect and a light that comes on if someone is in the blind spot. I do miss the front downward camera on the Corvette, however the Hellcats sits up just a bit higher. For bigger fellers both cars have plenty of room, the difference is you have to shoehorn your way in the Corvette, while the Challenger has plenty of room to enter and exit. The stock tires on the Hellcat are ****, even worse than the runflats. I found a cool place to practice launches, and try as I might, on the stock tires, I couldn't get the Hellcat to launch. This is the one factor that kept me from trying to get a good bone stock time. It just wouldn't happen with the stock all season tires.
Either way, you can't go wrong with either car if you love to haul *** in a straight line.
Lastly, I miss the hell out of the PDR. This being said the time slip app on the Hellcat is a lot closer to the timeslips than the PDR camera is. My 11.02 showed as a 11.1 on the Hellcat, while the 10.92 showed up as an 11.2 in the Z06 PDR. I'm going to attach a view of the Hellcats timeslip which is a part of their performance pages. Don't ask about the Hellcats performance page 1/8 time and speed, as it seems to be way off.
Last edited by OLD_GOAT; Nov 11, 2017 at 09:44 PM.
People want brutal power, stoplight wars are where hearts are won.
I often wonder why GM ignores this and has this senseless obsession with Ring' numbers that only excite magazine racers.
Ford and GM both have lost touch with their consumers. People buy Camaros, Mustangs, and Challengers to do burnouts and drag racr at stoplights. But GM and Ford seem dead-set on pushing them as traditional sports cars like a BMW rather than focusing on what the buying public actually wants.
And even when GM steps up and give the consumer what they want they will often not buy it. Case in point being the SS sedan. 0-60 in 4.5 seconds, 4 doors and a huge trunk.
And even when GM steps up and give the consumer what they want they will often not buy it. Case in point being the SS sedan. 0-60 in 4.5 seconds, 4 doors and a huge trunk.
Ford and GM both have lost touch with their consumers. People buy Camaros, Mustangs, and Challengers to do burnouts and drag racr at stoplights. But GM and Ford seem dead-set on pushing them as traditional sports cars like a BMW rather than focusing on what the buying public actually wants.
Except Ford and GM sell more Mustangs and Camaros than Dodge sells Challengers. That despite Dodge doing crazy cheap lease deals and heavy discounts on the Challenger.
Last edited by Vette_Minded; Nov 16, 2017 at 10:13 AM.
Ford and GM both have lost touch with their consumers. People buy Camaros, Mustangs, and Challengers to do burnouts and drag racr at stoplights. But GM and Ford seem dead-set on pushing them as traditional sports cars like a BMW rather than focusing on what the buying public actually wants.
With the GT500's Ford got it right for a while. GM had the original ZL1, but it was too heavy.
Except Ford and GM sell more Mustangs and Camaros than Dodge sells Challengers. That despite Dodge doing crazy cheap lease deals and heavy discounts on the Challenger.
The challenger has actually outsold the mustang and camaro quite a few times lately. That despite the challenger being basically the same since 2009 while the camaro and mustang are new.
Just curious, why were you running 305/35/19 on the Z when stock size is 335/25/20? Seems like the slightly narrower tire makes less traction and slightly handicaps the Z from its stock size.
Here is my Charger slip (same track). A few ticks behind you...with the baby seat still in the back. LOL. 305-35-20 NT555R.
As a former C6Z owner and current (and past) C5Z owner, I get the road course comments. However...
Anyone who wants to flame the HC should go out to Bondurant and do the SRT experience. Pro driver in the HC Challenger is
YUP....did Bondurant as well.
Most guys haven't a clue how capable a challenger/charger can be in the hands of a pro. I also always wonder how many of the guys who make those "turn comments' have actually been in 100 feet of a racetrack...
YUP....did Bondurant as well.
Most guys haven't a clue how capable a challenger/charger can be in the hands of a pro. I also always wonder how many of the guys who make those "turn comments' have actually been in 100 feet of a racetrack...
YUP....did Bondurant as well.
Most guys haven't a clue how capable a challenger/charger can be in the hands of a pro. I also always wonder how many of the guys who make those "turn comments' have actually been in 100 feet of a racetrack...
None and I will go further to say that those people have never been on a drag strip either.
2016 Hellcat vs. 2016 Corvette Z06
