We will see it in flesh during 2017 New York Auto Show
2017 Dodge SRT Demon Challenger is ready to launch, and Dodge is teasing us with all sorts of visual goodies
Update January 20, 2017
One week left until the official showcase, the Demon surfaces in a Vin Diesel YouTube clip promoting the upcoming Fast and Furious movie. As no Challenger has a comically big hood scoop, we'd say the ones we see in the video are Demons. Plus, despite the video's low quality, what we see on the fender looks very much like a demon head. It may be our brains playing with our eyesight, but we like to believe we aren't wrong with this one.
We still don't know much about the Challenger Demon, aside from the fact that it'll be 200 pounds lighter than the 4,500-lb Hellcat. More to come.
Original article
Momentarily, the Hellcat name describes the Challenger top-of-the-line package: a 6.2-liter V8 engine sending 707 hp to the rear wheels. The 0-60 mph sprint is achieved in 3.6 seconds, and its maximum speed is one mph short of the 200 mph mark. The Demon is going to top that.
The information is scarce for now — all we’ve seen is the 90-second teaser clip — but, as Dodge officials state, it is going be revealed progressively on the www.ifyouknowyouknow.com site, because, you know.
Given the fact the Challenger has an all-wheel-drive setup (available only with the V6), we thought the Demon would be an AWD Hellcat. We’re not past that hypothesis yet, but we’re not strongly convinced of it anymore either. Here’s why:
Tim Kuniskis — Head of Passenger Car Brands FCA North America: “Most cars attempt to be everything to everybody. Then there is the rare few that aim for a single objective, rendering them totally irresistible to a subculture. The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is conceived, designed and engineered for a subculture of enthusiasts who know that a tenth is a car and a half second is your reputation.”
We don’t know many muscle car fans being enthusiastic about an all-wheel-drive car, so we’d rather go with the theory that the Demon is going to be bloated with so much power, the only safe place to deploy them would be a drag racing strip.
The Demon surfaced for the first time in 1971 as a special version of the Dodge Dart for both the 3.2-liter Slant Six and 5.2-liter V8 engines. The V8 version — dubbed Demon 340 — packed 275 hp and 340 lb-ft, enough to launch to 60 mph from a standstill in 7.8 seconds, and to sprint a quarter in 14.56 seconds.
Funny thing about the name: in 1973 it was changed into Dart Sport 340, as a response to Christian groups’ complaints about writing the-name-that-shall-not-be-spoken on a car, along with a logo depicting a cartoonish devil.
A funnier thing about the Demon name: at first, Chrysler’s marketing department though about baptizing it Beaver, but learned that it’s unorthodox to go in that direction. So, naturally, they went with Demon.