The automotive industry may be brimming with hybrid tech and futuristic self-driving concepts, but old-fashioned muscle is still alive and kicking.
Well, in America anyway.
Dodge’s Challenger SRT Hellcat and Charger SRT Hellcat have taken the performance world by storm over the last year, and with their 707-horsepower supercharged V8s, 11-second quarter mile times, and 200-mph-ish top speeds for under $65,000, it’s easy to see why.
The Hellcat twins are so popular, in fact, that Dodge simply can’t keep up.
“Due to unprecedented demand for the 2015 Dodge Charger and Challenger SRT Hellcats, we are temporarily restricting orders while we validate current orders that are in the system,” a spokesperson for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles recently told Motor Authority.
As an automaker, there are certainly worse reasons to close an order book.
The 2015 Challenger SRT Hellcat became available to order in September of last year, and in the first five days, Dodge received over 4,500 deposits for the muscle car. Deliveries commenced in November.
The Charger Hellcat variant, with its two extra doors, is actually faster than its lighter Challenger brother. Dodge says the added weight gives the sedan more traction off the line, which gives it an 11.0-second quarter-mile time as opposed to the Challengers 11.2-second time.
The Charger is faster on the top end as well, with a maximum speed of 204 mph. The brand proved this by running the bruising sedan flat out around a 7.5-mile oval in January. Against the wind, the car accelerated to 202.2 mph, but reached 206.9 mph with the air at its back. This a $63,995 four-door, mind you, one that nets 22 mpg on the highway despite the weapons-grade powerplant under the hood.
No wonder these dang things are so popular.
