Hell Hath no fury…

FUN FACT

The forged parts and other modifications resulted in a crank so robust it can withstand firing pressures of 110 bar — i. e., five family sedans standing on each piston, every two revolutions.

POWERTRAIN & PERFORMANCE

With the Hellcat, you get two key fobs. Use the red one, and you can demand the supercharged 6.2- litre HEMI V8 to produce a massive 707 horsepower and 881Nm of peak torque. From the moment we got inside and fired up the engine, we knew this was a different kind of beast. And on the highways, as we coasted along, with even a gentle blip of throttle, it felt like a overwhelmingly famished Rottweiler decidedly straying from its master, kept on a tight leash only by complex electronic safety gimmicky. If you set it free, its 881 Nm of torque will instantly turn rubber to smoke and tarmac to ash.

Bury the throttle and, before you count to 4, it will fish tail its way to 100 km/ h — and storm past the quarter mile in an NHRA- certified 11.2 seconds with production tyres, with no lull in the action even beyond those speeds. The Hellcat is also the cheapest way to join the 200 mph club… that is, if you can find a speed oval somewhere! As for the soundtrack, the combination of supercharger whine and V8 growl is infectious: it raises the whole driving experience to the next level.

I know what you are wondering: with so much power on tap, how will you trust another person with it? Well, simply use the black key. It will automatically drop output to a “civil” 500bhp. And there is a valet mode activated by a 4- digit PIN code that reduces output, limits rpm to 4,000, locks out 1st gear, disables launch control and keeps everything in the aptly named “Street” mode.

On the road, the Challenger isn’t coupe cute; its massive steel expanse requires some attention to steer away from traffic and curb. The steering is muscle car precise, so it turns left when the wheel is rotated to the left and vice versa. But every time you approach a corner too fast, which may be the case every single time, the Brembo slotted and vented brakes are there to save the day with their 15.4- inch rotors ( 6- piston setup upfront) and 13.8- inch rotors ( 4- piston rear arrangement). And when you get to the muscle car’s

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