707 hp Dodge terror on track but practical for the street
By now, even casual car enthusiasts are well aware of Chrysler’s mindboggling 707 horsepower Dodge Challenger Hellcat, which overloaded the Internet a couple of months ago.
Over the weekend, I was lucky to play host to one of only three Hellcats currently on the road in Canada and my time with the car showed just how widespread the legend of this monster has become in just a very short time.
I was followed by owners of more pedestrian Challengers, who jockeyed for space in traffic just to wave, smile and give a thumbs-up. I was approached in just about every parking lot by fans ranging from the drivers of other muscle cars to the grocery store shopping cart wrangler who begged me to start it up for him.
One guy asked if this was “that wildcat thing.” He didn’t know the details, but he was aware of the car and knew it was different from any other Challenger he had seen on the road.
To say that the made-in-Brampton Hellcat has the performance to back up the buzz would be an understatement, but I wanted to see if the angry cat was tame enough to see daily duty around town.
My first drive came in heavy rain, when I had to cross the top of the GTA, and I quickly learned that the Hellcat is not a car for the faint of heart. With 650 ft./lb. of torque lurking beneath the right pedal, even the slightest bit of throttle overwhelms the stability control system in the rain, tossing the car sideways. Only those with advanced driver training need apply.
Like every other Challenger, how- ever, the Hellcat offers many features that make it more usable than most other sporting models on the market. The back seat is big enough to carry three teenage boys to the rink comfortably, while the truck easily swallows a pair of big hockey bags. Hockey sticks have to ride in the cabin though.
My son and I even managed to bring a new folding ladder back home from the store, with the trunk lid closed. As one might expect, fuel economy is not the Hellcat’s strong suit, as it consumed gasoline at a rate of 18.3 L/100 km during the four days I drove it. Perhaps the most significant feature of the Hellcat is the sticker price, which starts at $63,995. My tester had a few options that bumped it up to a tick over $70,000. Perhaps my mechanic said it best: “My truck cost more than this. I can drive this car around town and then take it to the strip on the weekend. I’m buying one next spring.” This from a long-time import drag racer who would never have considered a traditional domestic. Appetite for new cars continues in October “Best October on record” was likely the most-used tag line in Canadian auto sales reporting press releases this month, as consumers continue to snap up new cars at an astonishing rate.
Overall sales grew by 6.5 per cent to 154,949 vehicles sold, driven by Canadian consumers’ hunger for light trucks that outsold passenger cars 90,009 to 64,940. Car sales saw a small increase of 1.2 per cent over 2013, while trucks were up by10.7 per cent.
Ford remains the year-to-date sales leader, while Fiat Chrysler Automobiles edged out the blue oval for the month by just116 units, selling 22,160 for an increase of 23.1 per cent.
General Motors was right in the thick of it last month, coming a close third, moving 22,002 vehicles. Toyota remains in fourth with 16,213 vehicles sold, which is a modest 1.6 per cent gain. Honda retained the fifth spot despite a decline of 4 per cent.
The most notable performances in October came from MINI (+55.1%), Acura (+44.2%), Mitsubishi (+31.0%), Infiniti (+29.5%) and Audi (+28.1%). Hyundai, Kia fined $100-million over inflated mileage claims Two years ago, the Korean automakers were caught misleading consumers with fuel economy numbers that were better than the actual figures.
On Monday, the manufacturers agreed to pay the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice $100-million (U.S.) fine and a further $50 million toward future measures to prevent other automakers from doing the same thing.
The companies must also forfeit about $200 million in greenhouse gas emissions credits that they did not legitimately earn.
Hyundai and Kia have already been hit with a class-action lawsuit that cost them $400 million for their actions. Pfaff Audi named best dealership to work for For the second year in a row, Newmarket-based H.J. Pfaff Audi was recognized with the Best Dealership to Work For Award. Pfaff is the only Canadian dealership to receive the coveted award, which is presented by Automotive News. wheels@thestar.ca